General Info

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research is the National Oceanographic Institution of the Netherlands. The institute was founded in 1876 and is part of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).
NIOZ employs around 220 people and the annual budget is approximately €20 million. The institute is located on the island of Texel at the border between the North Sea and the Wadden Sea, and about 100 km north of Amsterdam. In 'FOKUZ' (Fundamental research Coast and Sea), NIOZ cooperates closely with the Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology (CEME) of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in the delta area (Yerseke). The mission of NIOZ is to gain and communicate scientific knowledge on seas and oceans for the understanding and sustainability of our planet, and to facilitate and support marine research and education in the Netherlands and Europe.
In order to fulfil its mission, the institute performs tasks in three specific fields. Research: The emphasis is on innovative and independent fundamental research in shallow coastal seas and in open oceans. The institute also carries out research based on societal questions when this merges well with its fundamental work. The senior scientists at NIOZ all participate in international research projects. Education: The institute educates PhD and other students of universities and schools for professional education. Together several universities and CEME, NIOZ also organises courses for PhD students and master students in the marine sciences. A number of our senior scientists is also appointed as professor at Dutch and foreign universities. Facilities: NIOZ invites marine scientists from Dutch and foreign institutes and universities to write scientific proposals involving the institute’s research vessels, laboratories, and the large research equipment, which is often designed and built by the institute’s own technical department.
Organization
The four basic disciplines of oceanography at NIOZ are physics, chemistry, biology and geology. Multidisciplinary interdepartmental co-operation is regarded as one of the main strengths of NIOZ. Therefore, the research is organised in five multi-disciplinary themes and carried out by five scientific departments Together with a number of research institutes in the Netherlands and Belgium, NIOZ maintains the educational website “Sea on Screen” (www.seaonscreen.org ). This website contains information for a broad audience about the North Sea and soon also about the Wadden Sea and the Delta area.