News

The SOS-ZEROPOL2030 project made a compilation of legislation and policy-relevant documents, clarifying the feasibility of EU’s ambition to achieve zero pollution in marine waters. “Are you looking for a way out of the European pollution policy labyrinth? Stop searching for the magic and check the new delivery by the SOS-ZEROPOL2030 team!” This quote by Thomas Maes (GRID-Arendal) to introduce the...

The Ocean Decade global partners’ network keeps expanding. The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) has recently been endorsed by the UN as an Decade Implementing partner due to its general commitment in supporting the goals of the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). In particular, the Brilliant Marine Research Idea Grant (#BMRI) and the VLIZ Marine Science Day (#VMSD) are...

The Sea as a Good Cause – the philanthropy work of VLIZ – awards several Brilliant Marine Research Idea grants every year. These BMRI grants, each worth €5000, are made possible thanks to the membership fees of the more than 1000 VLIZ member, as well as thanks to donations and sponsorship. The six laureates for 2023 have been announced: Jadon Beerlandt (KU Leuven), Joëlle De Weerdt (VUB), Bram...

Anyone with 3 minutes time and an internet connection can assist coral researchers, and help to restore coral reefs around the world. Google Arts & Culture is launching the unique experiment 'Calling in our Corals', and you all can contribute! Train your ear to recognise the sounds of a coral reef, and start identifying in-situ underwater recordings. By doing so, you'll help create a better...

ILVO and VLIZ, together with local actors in Flanders fisheries, are entering into a close collaboration in the framework of the 'Brexit Adjustment Reserve' (BAR). After all, Brexit has far-reaching consequences for the Flanders fishing fleet. Especially the smaller vessels with limited fall-back options, are severely disadvantaged and are looking for a sustainable way out for the future. The...

The past couple of weeks, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), in collaboration with an international team of scientists, carried out a research mission deploying simultaneously the underwater robot AUV Barabas and the glider Yoko from the Spanish research vessel García del Cid. The aim of this multi-robot mission was to study the geology and physical oceanography of submarine canyons in the...

Every year VLIZ recruits several students working for us in the months July, August or September. For the summer of 2023 we are looking for a number of enthusiastic students for the various departments of the Flanders Marine Institute. Interested students can submit their candidacy via the online form (up to April 16). Mid-May you will be contacted by our HR department.

In the Clay Tectonics project, researchers from the Flanders Marine Institute, Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel join forces to study the influence of faults and deformations in the North Sea subsoil on the installation of offshore wind turbines. The project aims to fill an important knowledge gap in view of the construction of the new wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea.

The latest policy informing brief by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) highlights the concept of carbon accounting within the marine context. What are the main challenges and opportunities? What is the potential climatic importance of sediment-bound organic carbon in shallow seas, such as the North Sea? What role can the Oceans Network of the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) play in...

On December 2nd the Belgium National Decade Committee (NDC) was launched during the VLIZ Open Scientific Committee at the InnovOcean Campus. The NDC was presented to all marine research groups and broader group of stakeholders in Belgium by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) who was designated to host the secretariat of this Decade Committee for Belgium and Flanders. Participants from private...

On Monday 5 December, ILVO, VLIZ and its partners officially moved into the brand new InnovOcean Campus at Jacobsenstraat 1 in Ostend. The inauguration, in the presence of Hilde Crevits, Flemish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Fisheries, was attended by more than a hundred prominent figures and staff members.

The Sea as a Good Cause offers no less than 6 (!) grants, of 5000 euro each, for young, original-thinking marine researchers. PhD students and junior postdocs in Flanders, as well as PhD students from the South, who dare to think outside the box, are eligible for this research funding. Deadline for submitting your proposal is 27 January 2023.

Have you recently graduated as a bachelor or master with a thesis on a marine research topic? Or have you lately obtained a PhD in a marine scientific discipline in a country bordering the North Sea? Then you can apply for one of the three scientific prizes of the Flanders Marine Institute: the VLIZ Professional Bachelor Thesis Award 2022, the VLIZ Master Thesis Award 2022 or the VLIZ North Sea...

Researchers have discovered that an 80 year old historic World War II shipwreck is still influencing the microbiology and geochemistry of the ocean floor where it rests. In Frontiers in Marine Science, they show how the wreck is leaking hazardous pollutants, such as explosives and heavy metals, into the ocean floor sediment of the North Sea, influencing the marine microbiology around it.

The VLIZ Marine Regions team developed a brand new, open and global dataset of the so-called 'extended continental shelves'. These are parts of the sea where a country can assert exclusive rights to the natural resources on the seabed and in the subsoil, e.g. marine species living on the seabed, oil and gas. Consequently, if manganese nodules - sometimes called 'the new gold' - are located in this...

Exactly ten years ago, on 12 October 2012, the Provincial Court in Bruges provided a suitable setting for the First Conference on Ocean Literacy in Europe. That day, the organizers VLIZ and the European Marine Board, welcomed the founding fathers of the US Ocean Literacy movement, Craig Strang and Peter Tuddenham, and representatives of IOC UNESCO, European Commission, EMSEA, National Geographic...

A training for tsunami warning centers in the Southeast Pacific region was supported by the Flanders Marine Institute and IOC/UNESCO. Participating countries optimized the exchange of real-time data from sea level stations as a practical tool for risk management and warning in case of a tsunami risk.