阿尔弗雷德·韦格纳研究所是以发现大陆漂移的德国极地探险家阿尔弗雷德·魏格纳的名字命名，成立于1980年，隶属于德国亥姆霍兹协会。它是世界上极少数同样活跃在北极和南极的科学机构之一，协调德国的极地研究工作，同时还在德国的北海和邻近沿海地区进行研究。AWI是公法下的基金会，总部设在不来梅港，同时在波茨坦、黑尔戈兰岛和叙尔特岛的拥有运营设施。
研究所结合创新的方法、出色的研究基础设施和多年的专业知识，探索了地球系统从海底到气候的几乎所有方面，把握地球上与气候有关的进程。研究所的工作特点是高度的国际和跨学科合作，来自生物，地理和气候科学的专家在AWI密切合作。极端条件下的实地研究与使用尖端实验室设备和高性能超级计算机进行的分析一样，都是该研究所日常工作的一部分。
AWI的研究人员运营着各种高性能基础架构，在更长的时间范围内收集测量数据，通过分析来自气候档案的数据，研究大气、冰、海洋和海岸。在认识到极地和海洋研究经常带来严重的后勤挑战后，AWI保持了良好的基础设施，使其能够为国家和国际研究界提供资源。同时，研究所也将极地和海洋的研究成果提供给政策决定着和整个社会，致力于教育和培训研究人员，促使气候、海洋和极地研究为解决环境和社会问题提供方案。
Named after the German polar explorer Alfred Wegener, who discovered continental drift, the Alfred Wegener Institute was founded in 1980 and is affiliated with the Helmholtz Society of Germany. It is one of the very few scientific institutions in the world that is equally active in the Arctic and Antarctic, coordinating polar research in Germany, as well as in the North Sea and adjacent coastal areas of Germany. AWI is a foundation under public law, headquartered in Bremerhaven, with operating facilities in Potsdam, Helgoland and Sylt.
Combining innovative approaches, excellent research infrastructure and years of expertise, the Institute explores almost all aspects of the Earth's system, from the seabed to the climate, and grasps climate-related processes on Earth. The work of the Institute is characterized by a high degree of international and interdisciplinary collaboration, with experts from biological, geographical and climatic sciences working closely together at AWI. Field studies under extreme conditions, like those carried out using cutting-edge laboratory equipment and high-performance supercomputers, are part of the institute's daily work.
AWI's researchers operate a variety of high-performance infrastructures to collect measurements over longer time frames, studying the atmosphere, ice, oceans, and coasts by analyzing data from climate archives. Recognizing that polar and marine research often poses serious logistical challenges, AWI maintains a good infrastructure that enables it to provide resources for the national and international research community. At the same time, the Institute makes polar and ocean research available to policy-makers and society as a whole, committed to educating and training researchers and promoting climate, ocean and polar research to provide solutions to environmental and social problems.