Marine research and innovation is more important than ever before. This is partly driven by the key role played by the ocean in addressing major societal challenges. The Flemish and Belgian marine research and innovation landscape is therefore becoming ever more prominent with its high-quality, internationally oriented research into the interface between humans, the natural environment and economy. This is apparent from the standardised counts conducted annually by the Policy Information division of VLIZ within the scope of the Compendium for Coast and Sea. In 2023, VLIZ made an inventory for the tenth year in a row and compiled the results in the new ‘2023 Marine Research and Innovation Indicator Report’.
Increasing importance of marine research and innovation
The increasing attention for multidisciplinary marine research is expressed in a steady growth of the marine research capacity in Belgium and Flanders. Our marine research landscape is currently composed of no fewer than 135 research groups and over 1,900 staff members, a strong increase in comparison with the 82 groups and 1,075 staff members in 2013. This is particularly visible in the natural sciences as well as engineering and technological sciences. It takes place in Flemish and French-language university associations and colleges as well as in Flemish and Belgian scientific institutions. Incidentally, we observe this growth not just in the research capacity of the traditional marine research groups. Research groups that did initially not revolve around the sea are developing marine research projects, either temporarily or permanently.
Together with the growth of the marine sciences in Flanders and Belgium, the number of peer-reviewed publications is increasing too: from 486 (in 2008) to 879 (in 2021). In this context, the marine researchers strongly focus on what’s happening abroad, both within their own study area and in the field of cooperation. Another characteristic of Flemish and Belgian marine research is the citation impact that largely exceeds the global average and the high degree of open access. This increase in quantity and impact of Flemish/Belgian marine research goes hand in hand with significant investments in state-of-the-art research infrastructure. Prime examples of this are the two modern marine research vessels, RV Belgica (Belgian) and RV Simon Stevin (Flemish).
Increasing funding for marine research and innovation
The excellence of the Flemish/Belgian marine research and innovation community and the growing attention for the ocean are translated into a considerable increase in the competitive means allocated. This manifests itself primarily in channels such as the Horizon Europe programme, with a remarkable increase in the field of applied marine research and innovation. On the Flemish regional level, Blue Cluster (2018) – the Flemish spearhead cluster concerning the blue economy – serves as an important catalyst for marine research and innovation. The financing of fundamental scientific research through channels such as FWO, BOF and BELSPO showed a stagnating or slightly declining trend over the period studied, although the resources allocated remain considerable. On the Belgian federal level, we have seen a major increase in the subsidies granted by the Energy transition Fund (2016), an important funding instrument for offshore energy research, while the R&D resources allocated via BELSPO have clearly decreased.