European Network of Marine Research Institutes and Stations

MARS: The European Network of Marine Research Institutes and Stations being represented by The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) will be the contractual partner to represent MARS in the proposal. The MARS network is a foundation created by, and open to, Europe's marine research institutes and stations. MARS member organisations are world leaders in fundamental marine research and have important research infrastructure facilities available with direct access to the sea. MARS communicates with international organisations, including the Commission of the European Community in Brussels and the Marine Board of the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg and Ostend. MARS members are located all over Europe, along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, the North, Irish, Baltic, Adriatic, White, Black and Mediterranean Seas. MARS provides a unique framework or umbrella for uniting these diverse marine disciplines where ecosystem and biodiversity research goes hand in hand with genomics and marine biogeochemistry. Many members are partners in one or more of the currently existing European Networks of Excellence: Marine Genomics Europe (MGE) and Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (MarBEF) have agreed to establish a “virtual network status” within an umbrella provided by MARS. Other relevant networks, like LAGUNET, ILNET, and symposium series EMBS and ECSA, have also expressed their interest to join MARS.