Project leaders: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kreyling (University of Greifswald), Prof. Dr. Nicole Wrage-Mönnig (University of Rostock)

Z1 coordinates the interdisciplinary research and supports the whole consortium administratively. The internal communication and integration are fostered by project meetings in various compositions and formats. Our five Mercator Fellows, an annual lecture series and an international symposium to be held in year four of the first phase will support networking and mutual exchange of ideas and developments. All these activities are coordinated in Z1, where a central Scientific Coordinator will support the spokespersons in the operative management of WETSCAPES2.0. In this regard, the central Scientific Coordinator will liaise closely with the technical staff (Z2), the Integrator-Postdocs (S1-S4) and the central Data Steward (postdoc Z3) to ensure that experiments and sampling campaigns are synchronized and can be used for joint analyses beyond the single projects. The Coordinator will furthermore manage the communication with the DFG.

Administratively, Z1 provides the central management of WETSCAPES2.0, including the organization of internal meetings, caring for guests (e.g. the Mercator Fellows described below or speakers in the WETSCAPES2.0 colloquium), interacting with the land owners and relevant administrative authorities concerning the study sites, and establishing gender equality and family support measures. The Scientific Coordinator is based at UG. For these foreseeable and any unexpected tasks that come up in particular with the coordination of all field sites and the WETSCAPES2.0 administration at UR, the Scientific Coordinator will be supported by an administrative manager (100% administrative position) at UR, who is funded by UR.

Z1 provides the project-related travel such as frequent field trips with university-owned cars and conferences for the staff of the central projects, i.e. the Scientific Coordinator (Z1), the technical staff (Z2), the Data Steward (postdoc Z3), the Coordinator of the IRTG (Z4), PR Manager (Z5) and the spokespersons. Z1 furthermore manages all general travel expenses of all WETSCAPES2.0 members (project meetings, workshops, participation at conferences, lab exchanges). Project-specific travel to field sites, though, is organized by each project to its own needs (see each single project‘s funding plans). We furthermore request funds to invite guests such as the speakers in the annual WETSCAPES2.0 colloquium organized together with the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald, cooperation partners and members of the advisory board to Greifswald or Rostock.

We will integrate renowned, internationally-based researchers into WETSCAPES2.0 via five Mercator Fellowships. The Mercator Fellows will contribute additional disciplinary expertise and international background (see 1.2.2.7 ‘Cooperation concept’ and the single project descriptions for details). They will visit WETSCAPES2.0 for field work and joint analyses, will provide additional input to annual meetings and workshops, will be available for lab exchanges of our doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, and will generally be linked to WETSCAPES2.0 for the full first phase. This will lead to intensive and sustainable exchange with researchers from abroad and add additional value to the consortium. We request lump sums to remunerate their expenses during stays in Rostock or Greifswald as well as to enable additional experiments and analyses. The Coordinating Board will decide upon the use of the lump sums upon request.

We ask for the full standard allowance for gender equality measures in order to increase the number of female researchers’ project leadership level in the future, increase the career qualifications in addition to the academic qualifications of early-career female researchers working in WETSCAPES2.0, and to make jobs in science and academia more family-friendly. See 1.4.2 for details on gender equality measures.

We request funding for an international conference ‘Wetscapes 2.0 - local to global consequences of peatland rewetting’ in order to discuss our results of the first phase with international colleagues and practitioners and get their input on recent insights into the topic. We draw on the very positive experience of our international ‘WETSCAPES Conference - Understanding the ecology of restored fen peatlands for protection and sustainable use’ with 157 participants from 21 countries in 2019. Introductory and further specific workshops fostering international communication are covered in the IRTG (Z4).

We apply for lump-sum funds covering open-access publication costs, postdoc start-up grants, and an innovation fund. We strongly believe in the benefits of open science and open publication and will invest parts of the lump sums into gold open-access publications. Excellent early-career researchers who have recently completed their doctoral degree will be offered start-up grants to prepare them for a role as PI in the upcoming phases of WETSCAPES2.0. They will be able to use the funds as needed, e.g. to finance student research assistants, lab exchanges and/or provide them with short-term contracts. Any early-career researcher from within WETSCAPES2.0 or outside can apply for postdoc start-up funding at any time. This will be prominently announced and transparently managed on the project’s website. Finally, we will create an innovation fund to facilitate rapid investment into novel equipment or project ideas. Any member of WETSCAPES2.0 can apply for innovation funds at any time. The Coordinating Board decides upon all applications for start-up funding and to the innovation fund.