In the summer of 2022, Ellen Oldenburg and Dr. Ovidiu Popa set off on an Arctic expedition with the research icebreaker "Polarstern". The two researchers investigated microbial ecosystems in the Arctic with regard to the question: How is the melting of the polar ice caps changing the diversity and composition of living organisms in the Arctic Ocean? The bioinformaticians provide insight into the expedition and experiments on board and on the ice in an interview with Anna Soßdorf (Bürgeruniversität).