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Tatiana Ilyina appointed Director at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Our institute is growing! As of February 2026, Tatiana Ilyina is joining the board of directors of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (MPI-MM), initiating a generational change. The climate scientist, highly renowned in her field, will add her expertise to the current know-how at our institute to broaden our research focus and adapt to current challenges in marine research. Ilyina will focus on integrating current insights from microbiology into Earth system models, thus contributing to better understanding of carbon cycle in the ocean and its role in the Earth’s climate. She is now starting to build her team and will take up full duties as a director at the MPI-MM in May 2026.
“We are very happy and proud to welcome Tatiana here in Bremen”, says Rudolf Amann, managing director of the MPI-MM. “With her expertise and dedication, we will be able to conduct outstanding and important research. Moreover, Tatiana will enrich our institute with her open nature, leadership qualities, and excellent support for young talent.”
Modelling the Ocean Carbon Cycle in the Earth System
Tatiana Ilyina is a professor in Earth System Sciences at the University of Hamburg and at the Helmholtz Centre Hereon. She has led the research group “Ocean Biogeochemistry” at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology from 2010 until 2026. Ilyina significantly contributes to climate science by building and using Earth System Models to better understand the ocean carbon cycle and its critical role for our climate. For her outstanding achievements, she received the coveted Fritjof Nansen Medal from the European Geosciences Union in 2025, one of the most important awards in oceanography.
“I center on modelling the ocean carbon cycle in the Earth system”, says Ilyina. “After all, climate change is essentially a carbon dioxide problem, and addressing it requires rapid decarbonization informed by predictive models of anthropogenic carbon dioxide sources and sinks.” The ocean is the largest carbon reservoir that exchanges carbon dioxide with the atmosphere. Even though microorganisms control the storage and pathways of carbon in the ocean, they are rarely present in Earth system models.
“This is what I’ll focus on”, Ilyina continues. “Integrating novel empirical microbiological observations into the next generation of Earth system models — capable of resolving mesoscale and even submesoscale processes (processes at horizontal scales of approximately one to several hundred kilometres) in the ocean and atmosphere —opens great opportunities for discovery. As director at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, I will be uniquely positioned to drive this integration and realize its full scientific potential. I am genuinely excited to bring together my expertise in modelling with emerging directions in marine microbiology at the institute. The Bremen area feels like the ideal place for this work, given its exceptional strength in marine sciences, and I look forward to helping shape a collaborative research environment that enables bold ideas, deep integration across disciplines, and lasting scientific impact.”
The management board of directors – Rudolf Amann, Nicole Dubilier and Marcel Kuypers – and all our employees welcome you and your group on board!
Please direct your queries to:
Head of Press & Communications
MPI for Marine Microbiology
Celsiusstr. 1
D-28359 Bremen
Germany
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Room: |
1345 |
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