ZMT offers international academics the opportunity to conduct research for a period of a time as a guest researcher at ZMT. Each year, up to five academics from tropical countries receive a NAM Fellowship, allowing them to spend up to three months conducting research at the institute and networking with colleagues. ZMT also welcomes holders of fellowships from the UN Nippon Foundation who work in science and policy areas in developing nations. As a member of the POGO network (Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean), the ZMT can also accept fellows from the POGO-SCOR fellowship program.