Meet the Team – Prof. Dr. Nils Meyer-Larsen
Get to know the people behind the ISL! With our new “Meet the Team“ series, we offer a more personal insight into what makes our staff tick. From their career paths and areas of expertise to what drives them. This gives you a glimpse of who is behind the projects and helping to shape the ISL.
Today’s profile: Prof. Dr Nils Meyer-Larsen, Scientific Director at ISL and an expert in maritime security, resilience and civil defence, as well as maritime hydrogen technologies.
How did you come to join the ISL?
After completing my physics degree at the University of Hamburg and my PhD at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg, a former colleague who was by then working at the ISL recruited me to the institute in autumn 2000. There, I initially worked on various smaller projects before moving into the ISL’s national and EU research programmes. After leading the ISL’s activities in some of these projects, I took over the overall coordination of the EU project CHINOS in 2006 and, from 2008, that of the INTEGRITY project, both of which dealt with security, transparency and optimisation in global container transport chains. This focus continued with the EU projects CASSANDRA and CORE until 2018 and was then expanded to include the topic of cybersecurity with SecProPort. Following several projects in the field of maritime satellite applications for the European Space Agency (esa) and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), I coordinated the EU Horizon 2020 project IW-NET in the field of European inland waterway transport. Since 2020, I have established the ISL’s Maritime Hydrogen research group and led various projects and studies in this field. Finally, in February 2025, I became Scientific Director at the ISL.
What does your work at the institute involve?
I am the Scientific Director at ISL, which means I run the institute alongside my two fellow directors. One of my key responsibilities is securing new projects. In this context, I strive to maintain close contact with ISL’s ongoing project work in order to identify potential synergies. I also represent the ISL in several national and European associations and committees and help the institute build networks with new partners and institutions. As a professor at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, I teach on the Master’s programme in Safety and Security Management.
What do you like most about your work?
I particularly enjoy getting to know new partners and colleagues through national and European projects. I find it incredibly rewarding to travel around Europe for our projects and to represent the ISL in this context, working alongside both long-standing and new project partners to advance European research.
Would you share a personal detail with us?
My family and I love travelling around Europe by train and ferry. Our last holiday took us by train from Bremerhaven to Brittany, from where we crossed by ferry to southern England and visited various towns and cities such as Plymouth, Portsmouth, Eastbourne and Canterbury. The return journey took us by ferry from Dover to Calais and then by train via Brussels back to Bremerhaven. These trips are very immersive, and you have far more opportunity to get to know the country and its people – that’s what fascinates us.
