The AQUARIUS project provides access to a diverse and integrated range of research infrastructures, including research vessels, marine mobile observation platforms, drones, satellite services, etc. This will enable addressing challenges and exploring opportunities to ensure the long-term sustainability of marine and freshwater ecosystems.

The project has launched its second Transnational Access (TA) call to support marine and freshwater research and innovation projects to access a diverse array of world-class research infrastructure services.

Objectives

The AQUARIUS project’s second TA call focuses on the overarching challenges of Mission Ocean and Waters. The call aims to advance marine and freshwater research and innovation, promote transnational scientific collaboration, and raise awareness of Europe’s array of top-class research infrastructures. The call challenges cover:

• Sustainable Use of Aquatic Resources: Encouraging responsible management of fisheries, aquaculture, and water systems to ensure long-term availability and balance in resource use.
• Ecosystem Protection and Biodiversity Recovery: Safeguarding aquatic habitats, enhancing biodiversity, and restoring degraded ecosystems.
• Pollution Prevention and Circular Approaches: Reducing chemical, nutrient, and plastic pollution while advancing circular economy practices and minimizing waste.
• Climate Adaptation and Resilience: Strengthening the ability of aquatic environments to cope with climate change and multiple stressors through nature-based solutions and integrated assessments.
• Innovative and Sustainable Blue Economy: Driving eco-friendly growth in marine industries, including renewable energy, green shipping, sustainable tourism, and aquaculture.
• Inclusive Governance and Community Engagement: Fostering participation of local communities, valuing traditional knowledge, and raising awareness to support sustainable policies and practices.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants include any person/entity or group of people/entities that are engaged in research on marine and freshwater ecosystems: academic or government scientists; private sector organisations; NGOs and/or citizen science organisations. Single applicants/entities are eligble to apply, and user groups with more than four users from different organisations need to include partners from at least two different countries (based on current affiliation).