NIOZ will be present at 'Expeditie NEXT'
The RV Wim Wolff at sunset on the Wadden Sea (photo: Hailley Danielson-Owczynsky)
On Friday 1 May 2026, the National Science Agenda (NWA) will be organising the sixth edition of Expedition NEXT: the national science festival for children. The NIOZ will be taking part again this year with the RV Wim Wolff, the “Aquanauts” - a new deep-sea experience - and more activities.
At the Westerkerk, you’ll find a thrilling new deep-sea experience called ‘The Aquanauts’: Step into the shoes of a deep-sea scientist and embark on a unique mission in our interactive submarine! Discover mysterious habitats, meet extraordinary deep-sea creatures and experience just how fascinating — and fragile — our ocean is. 'Aquanauts' is a collaboration between NWA, NIOZ (Sabine Gollner and Furu Mienis), Organism Studios and Chloé Rutzerveld.
Moored in the harbour of Enkhuizen you will find the NIOZ research vessel RV Wim Wolff, where children and their parents can:
- Collect plankton samples themselves, examine them under a microscope and identify them in the wet lab; for the little ones, there are plankton mandalas to draw or colour
- Search for benthic animals in our sieve tray
- Have their photo taken as a Wadden Sea researcher in our photo boat
Take a tour of the ship, where the crew will explain how a research vessel works.
On the quay, you can learn about dyke protection at the Lego trolleys. Or you can join Expedition Migratory Bird, the active redshank game.
You need to reserve tickets for the festival (free for children and €7.50 for parents).