News

More than 200 historical maps of the Belgian coastal zone and the southern bight of the North Sea, dating back from the 16th to the 20th century, are made freely available on the website HisGISKust (Historical Maps of the Coastal Zone - www.vliz.be/hisgiskust) by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and partners. Highly useful is that all the old maps are georeferenced to compare them in the...

The World register for marine species (WoRMS) aspires to contain all marine species ever described worldwide in one list. With the financial assistance of the project LifeWatch we were able to organize several data grants, meetings and workshops for experts in the course of 2016 designed to further improve this register and continue to complete it. The result? Thousands of new names added, a...

At the CommOCEAN 2016 conference (6-7 December - Bruges, Belgium) we welcomed 200 delegates of 29 countries worldwide: marine scientist that liked to be speed-trained by experts in the skills of modern ocean science communication and communicators at marine institutes, governmental bodies and NGOs curious to learn about the best of blue science. The conference hosted two days of oral and poster...

VLIZ did it before: bring together scientists and artists. And we do it again within the frame of the European research project ALFF (‘Algae microbiomes: Friends or Foes?’) that focuses on innovative research on algae. Fifteen PhD students from all over Europe are investigating how algae co-exist with bacteria, other microbes and algae. Young art students – from the BSc Multimedia & Communication...

From 1st January 2017 onwards the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) has a renewed mission and expanded strategic objectives. Under its expanded mission, VLIZ will take on additional responsibilities in research and in the provision of policy advice, underpinned by its strong competences in data and research infrastructure.

The VLIZ Communication Award was launched in 2015 in order to assist young marine scientists or engineers in communicating their work. The selected laureate benefits from assistance by the VLIZ Communication department in the course of the following year. Take your chance by sending us your motivation letter prior to 31 January 2017!

Although many people are not aware of this, Aristotle has made many contributions to the field of marine biology. Within the frame of the UNESCO Year of Aristotle 2016 we are featuring 5 stories linking Aristotle's scientific contributions to taxonomy, ecology and species distributions to current day initiatives.

Calling all - junior and senior - marine scientists in Flanders and the wider region: block 3 March 2017 in your diary for the 17th VLIZ Marine Science Day in Bruges! Do not let this opportunity pass to show your own research to your peers from other institutions and disciplines, and submit an abstract for a presentation or demo. Final deadline for submission is January 15, 2017. Make sure you're...

The 2017 edition of the 'Olivier Roellinger contest – for the conservation of marine resources' is officially launched now. This contest is open to young chefs (under 35) and catering students from all European countries. They have to create two recipes with sustainable fish and defend their species of choice to the jury. We hope to welcome a lot of applications from Belgium!

For the first time, VLIZ launches a call for a ‘Brilliant Marine Research Ideas’ intended to inspire and enable PhD students affiliated to a Flemish University or Flemish University College to execute a brilliant idea during their PhD within the frame of their research. Deadline for the submission of proposals is 8 December 2016.

To enhance ocean literacy in a class or towards another target audience, there are yet a lot of learning elements available: from individual units (videos, images, illustrations) to full packs containing multiple elements (manuals, field trips, experiments). All these resources are now centralized in the Sea Change Ocean EDGE database (European Data base of Good Examples in marine education and...

Harbour porpoises and dolphins are often seen in the Belgian part of the North Sea. Because these animals do not easy show, it is quite difficult for scientists to estimate their numbers and distribution. Currently the VLIZ is developing – within the framework of the LifeWatch project – a network of acoustic receivers, able to detect the echolocation sounds produced by harbour porpoises and...

Thanks to the high-tech sensor network for LifeWatch, it seems that the behavior of gulls cannot be lumped all together. Each individual seems to have its own character and individual preferences. The bird GPS data from June 2013 to August 2016 reveals a lot of peculiar foraging behavior and interesting migration patterns.

Annually, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) awards the North Sea Award to a researcher or a research group to encourage their innovative fundamental or applied research dedicated to the studying the structure or functioning of our world's oceans. Applications are welcome until 30 November 2016.

The annual VLIZ Master Thesis Awards are intended at recognising and rewarding the work of meritorious young marine researchers. That to encourage them in their future career to continue delivering high-quality scientific contributions and to promote marine research in Flanders. Did you recently graduated from a Flemish university or university college on a marine related subject and are you proud...

From 2020 onwards, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) will be housed in a new estate in the harbour of Ostend. The new building in the Ankerstraat will be a shared accommodation for both VLIZ and its international partners, as well as for the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO).

VLIZ puts a unique multi-transducer sub-bottom echosounder at the disposal of marine researchers. The device provides ultra-high resolution, three-dimensional acoustic data of the seabed and burrowed structures and proved to have a good performance, even in shallow water depths of less than 10 meters. The brand-new SES-2000 Quattro opens the way to ground-breaking new marine research lines in...

Sediment cores, taken in preparation for the construction of an undersea electricity cable, now serve marine scientific research.