Dr. Tanja Stratmann

Me getting a 2.4 Mio 💶 research grant to solve undescribed N cycling processes in (deep-sea) sponges. Also me: desperately trying to understand differences in inorg. nutrient + DIC fluxes in incubations with intertidal animals, until I realize 🦪🦪 are likely calcifying in summer (no N mystery 😅🫣).

Apparently I told her that I lost one of the benthic incubation chambers at sea in 2015 (and again in 2022, though that's fortunately not part of her book 😅).

Today I check quotes in a book about the deep-sea that contemporary historian and writer Tirza Meyer (tirzameyer.com) has written and for which she interviewed me in 2022. In 20 years, I can look back and say, actually, there was a historian who wrote about research I did in my PhD 😍🤣.

At the moment there is a tendency/ call to publish scientific literature not in the 'lingua franca' English, but in the native language of the individual authors. Good luck with that. This morning, I already read scientific literature about limpets in French, German, and English.

Did I mention that I forgot that I promised my MSc student to read the first chapter of her report until next week. 🫣 4/4 #WomeninSTEM #NewPI #ERCStGrant

In fact this equipment has to be ordered + built prior to the actual start of my project, while I'm also dealing with admin to have a working contract myself at @marumunibremen.bsky.social and to hire my team (1 PhD student, 1 PostDoc). Life of a #NewPI, while I'm still working on another project🫣.

Only hours later, a lot of e-mails ended in my postbox that request timely to urgent action so that I can start my #ERCStG project SPYCLING in time on 1st February 2026. In this context, my favorite term is 'depreciation period' which is 5 years for all the equipment I will purchase. 2/n

Yesterday was the weekly meeting with my PhD student @itziarburgues.bsky.social and I was brave enough to announce that I would have lots of time until New Year's Eve to read all chapters of her PhD thesis so she can submit it by the end of this year/ early next year. 1/n

I'm thrilled to present our latest paper about the trophic ecology and behavior of sea stars (Asteroidea) and brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) from the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone. doi.org/10.1016/j.ds... It was a great collaboration with a team from 🇪🇸🇳🇱🇩🇪🇵🇹 and 🇦🇹 (incl. @bokamero.bsky.social). #SciArt

International research alliance investigates environmental impacts of deep-sea mining 11 September 2025/Ghent/Kiel. With a four-day meeting at Ghent University, the third phase of the European research project MiningImpact has officially begun. Researchers from nine countries are joini...

The third phase of the European research project #MiningImpact has officially begun. Researchers from nine countries are joining forces to study the ecological consequences of #deepseamining. Project coordinator is GEOMAR-biochemist Dr Matthias Haeckel.
www.geomar.de/en/news/arti...

Manganknolle auf Greifarm eines Tiefseeroboters.

Untersuchung einer Manganknolle in einem Labor an Bord des Forschungsschiffs Sonne.

Tiefseekrake am Meertesgrund.

Welche Folgen Eingriffe in die Tiefsee-Lebenswelten hätten, ist bisher nur wenig erforscht. Das europäische Forschungsprojekt MiningImpact3 versucht, diese Frage zu beantworten.

Weitere Informationen unter:
www.geomar.de/news/article...

Fotos: ROV Kiel 6000 / GEOMAR; Tim Kalvelage

Race to the Bottom Four Corners is the home of Australian investigative journalism.

Excellent coverage of current issues regarding deep seabed mining and emerging issues, particularly the recent executive order by President Trump. #deepseamining #marineconservation #marinelaw #unclos #internationalseabedauthority #marinebiodiversity
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

I'm always happy to help and support you. 😊

Greetings from the 🧽 conference and very much looking forward to reading the polished result chapter of your PhD thesis 😉.

Ein Schwamm im westlichen indischen Ozean, aufgenommen mit ROV MARUM-SQUID an Bord der Expedition SO 306. Foto: MARUM – Zentrum für Marine Umweltwissenschaften, Universität Bremen

Herzlichen Glückwunsch @drtanjastratmann.bsky.social! @erc.europa.eu fördert ihr Projekt zum marinen Stickstoffkreislauf und der Rolle von Tiefsee-Schwämmen ab 2026 am MARUM an der #UniBremen. 🧽🌊🔬
#ERCStG #OceanFloor #Umweltwissenschaften #MarineSciences
mehr Infos ➡️ www.marum.de/ERC-SPYCLING...

In 2025, successful ERC Starting Grant applicants have 51 different nationalities and will carry out their projects in 25 countries. This round of grants is estimated to create some 3,000 jobs within the teams of the new grantees.

More facts and figures 👉 buff.ly/ixs2NRf

The new ERC Starting Grant - funded projects include:

✴️ redefining false memories

✴️ making artificial touch feel more natural and realistic

✴️ how aging reshapes human tissues

✴️ ADHD in adults vs childhood

✴️ how plants shield from excessive sun exposure

Discover more 👉 buff.ly/APfNmCK

📣 The ERC Starting Grant call results are out!

Find out which early-career researchers will receive funding this year, what they will be investigating, where they will be based... plus lots of other #ERCStG facts & figures for 2025!

➡️ buff.ly/IsafuFh

#FrontierResearch 🇪🇺#EUfunded #HorizonEurope

I had to wait for 1.5 months to be allowed to pin this to my office door at #NIOZ. The @erc.europa.eu #ERCStG results for 2025 are out and my name is on the list, meaning I got one of the most prestigious grants in #EuropeanAcademia to study nitrogen cycle in 🧽 at @marumunibremen.bsky.social in 🇩🇪.

A 🧽 conference wouldn't be a 🧽 conference when you're not bringing actual 🧽🧽, would it? So, I prepared sub-samples of 22 glass sponge specimens from the abyssal Central Pacific for @anariesgo.bsky.social & Sergi Taboada for the 12th World Sponge Conference (@wscommunity.bsky.social) next week.

Today, I show really atypical behavior 🤔: I'm preparing the oral presentation for the @wscommunity.bsky.social a week ahead of the conference (as requested by the conference organizers). Usually, I finish preparing my oral presentation the night before the talk 🤷‍♀️.

I’m on a podcast! 🪨🪸🦑

Thanks @feltman.bsky.social for having me on to @sciam.bsky.social’s show.

We talked about “dark oxygen” and whats happened in the 12 months since the discovery making headlines.

Listen (& then watch our mini doc starring @drandrewthaler.bsky.social @jjmarlow.bsky.social)👇

I'm preparing an art exhibition to showcase 33 illustrations I drew 👩‍🎨 for 8 scientific papers published since 2021 (1 of them still needs to be submitted 🫣). The last drawing is finally framed 🖼️ and packed, so now I really have to speed up finishing the last manuscript and submit it. #SciArt

How do you mess up the agenda of your MSc and PhD students? Just go on vacation in the midst of August 😅😂. Let's see whether my Master student remembers our meeting tomorrow which is outside our usual (biweekly) meeting time 😉.

I‘m back from vacation and it’s still summer on the island of Texel 🇳🇱, so I‘m reviewing a manuscript on the #NIOZ terrace.

And now, I'm preparing for a last day of meetings abroad, before I turn into a stereotypical scientist based in Europe 😉 and am on vacation 🌅⛰️ in August 😅.

In the message to the editor, I offered to have another look at the manuscript when the reference issue was solved, because in the current form I wouldn't be able to judge the quality of the study. 5/n

I did so earlier this week, when I couldn't find several papers that were cited multiple times in the methods and were supposed to provide detailed information about sampling design. I didn't even read the whole manuscript, but send a message to the editor. 4/n

However, when I see that authors are just lazy, like for example preparing a proper reference list at the end of the document and cross checking that all the references cited in the manuscript are in the list (or just using a reference manager that would do the job), I reject a paper. 3/n

The lead author of the study did reach out to me and I just finished responding to the e-mail with more explanations/ clarifications and two of my papers attached as example how I have presented the calculations (without a request of being cited, of course). 2/n