NIOZ, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, is the national oceanographic institute and the Netherlands’ centre of expertise for ocean, sea and coast. We advance fundamental understanding of marine systems, the way they change, the role they play in climate and biodiversity, and how they may provide sustainable solutions to society in the future.
Featured news
The fate of marine plastics in subtropical waters
On 2 October, Maaike Goudriaan will defend her PhD thesis at Utrecht University. Her research focused on marine plastics that pollute (sub)tropical waters, and how they are colonized and even degraded by marine bacteria
Rare whale species observed during Antarctic expedition
During a research expedition in 2022, the crew of icebreaker Polarstern observed a group of Arnoux Beaker whales, a very rare whale species. In the previous 11 Polarstern expeditions conducted between 1988 and 2018, they never saw these whales.
Tracing the evolutionary history of cellular life
On 13 September, Tara Mahendrarajah will defend her PhD thesis at Utrecht University. She studied various elements of cellular evolution and looked into the place of the 'last universal common ancestor' or LUCA within the so-called 'three of life'.
Scientific Departments
Our science is conducted in four scientific departments;. Three of them are area oriented: estuaries and delta areas, coastal seas and open oceans. Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry conducts science in all three area types.
