About NIOZ
Royal NIOZ, the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, is part of NWO-I, the institutes organisation of NWO (Dutch Research Council).
Excellent, world-leading
An independent, international committee of experts, evaluating NIOZ according to the Standard Evaluation Protocol (SEP), finds 'that NIOZ is a world leading marine research institute producing excellent science. The four marine research departments are all world leading as measured by the highest quality research output, award of major prizes, and an outstanding record of external research funding. This all makes it evident that NIOZ is one of the most influential oceanographic research institutes world wide.'
Mission statement
NWO-NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research is the national oceanographic institute and principally performs academically excellent multidisciplinary fundamental and frontier applied marine research addressing important scientific and societal questions pertinent to the functioning of oceans and seas. Second, NIOZ serves as national marine research facilitator (NMF) for The Netherlands scientific community. Third, NIOZ stimulates and supports multidisciplinary fundamental and frontier applied marine research, education and marine policy development in the national and international context.
Strategy and Science Plan 2020-2025
In essence, NIOZ research was and is inspired by three major notions: seas and oceans (1) as unknowns, (2) in trouble, and (3) as source. Oceanographic institutions focusing on these issues and the required fundamental, process-oriented, innovative marine research such as NIOZ clearly have a pivotal societal role. This is most notably so in the UN IOC proclaimed ‘Decade of the Ocean 2021-2030’. Hence, clearly, NIOZ Mission 2014-2019, called Blue Planet should be continued. We should push further in generating innovative, and ever more needed critical multidisciplinary expertise, fundamental knowledge, and new insights vital to underpin and improve longer-term sustainable and responsible marine management of our changing seas and oceans in an internal and external cooperative spirit. We framed this for 2020-2025 as Our Ocean, Our Coast, Our Future, discussed in terms of next level research.
NIOZ organisation
NIOZ is made up of four science departments, along with two support departments: National Marine Facilities (NMF) and General Support (GES). Our science departments are:
Our facilities are located on the Wadden island of Texel and in the town of Yerseke on the border of the Eastern Scheldt.
The institute is managed by our director prof. dr. Han Dolman, supervised by the Foundation Board of NWO-I and advised by the Institute Advisory Committee and the Scientific Advisory Committee.
Our primary source of basic funding is the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Another long-term financial partner is Utrecht University. An overview of the budget can be found in our Annual Report.
Read more about our organisation, partners and history.
