The Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems (EDS), part of the Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ), is looking for a highly motivated PhD student with a background in biology or ecology to investigate marine zooplankton dynamics and their mortality. Your research will be a 4-year funded project, working with your supervisory team: Andrew Hirst, Dick van Oevelen and Karline Soetaert. The successful applicant will be trained in a wide range of modern biological oceanographic methodologies, and undertake both laboratory and sea-going work, while being based at our Yerseke facility.

This research focuses on the design and use of serious/simulation games to support diverse stakeholder in exploring ways to improve climate resilience. Seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to develop a serious/simulation game on sand nourishment strategies in support of maintaining and shaping resilient, multifunctional coastal landscapes, particularly in the context of sea level rise. This PhD position will be embedded in the Human Centred Design (HCD) chair, within the Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET). This research position is part of the NWO-funded **SOURCE** program: Sand nOURisment strategies for sustainable Coastal Ecosystems.

The PulseOcean Summer School aims to train the next generation of marine scientists with skills and knowledge needed to address the pressing challenges of global environmental change and marine biodiversity loss. The program will provide participants with foundations on: • Characterization of seawater chemistry • Identification of key benthic species in the study area • Insights into blue carbon by working with seagrasses • R and GitHub for effective data and code sharing • Preparing aerial drone surveys for coastal ecological studies • Photogrammetry and AI-image analysis The course fosters a dynamic, multidisciplinary, and interactive learning environment, emphasizing best practices in transparent and reproducible research. Participants will engage with new technologies and methodologies, with a strong focus on data and code sharing. By working hands-on in a unique natural marine laboratory at the CO2 vents in Ischia (Italy), participants will develop practical skills and interdisciplinary knowledge to enhance their research in marine ecology and towards a sustainable ocean.

The BlueTech Competition is a technological challenge designed to encourage STEAM in schools and inspire children and young people for the blue economy. The Competition provides a next step of complexity for blue schools and aims at empowering the students to actively contribute for the sustainable use of the ocean, seas and freshwater systems, playing a key role in the conservation of the Planet. Students will be challenged to create a prototype, instrumented model, or biotechnological product that facilitates the monitoring of the EU waters and their ecosystems or that promotes the sustainable use of its resources. Examples of topics to work on are marine robotics, renewable energy, solar vessels, aquaculture, and valorization of aquatic food products. The students should work in groups and communicate their results to the community, thus acquiring important transferable skills. The competition will reward the best practical applications created, based on the scores given by the jury.

EMSEA Annual conference will take place in Ostend, Belgium, 17-19 September 2025. The call for abstract is open for the following topics: 1. Ocean literacy and the blue economy 2. Ocean literacy in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea 3. Ocean literacy and education 4. Future of ocean literacy 5. Ocean literacy and advocacy 7. Open session

As the world increasingly turns to the ocean for sustainable solutions, innovation plays a critical role in shaping the future of the blue economy. The #EU4Ocean Webinar Series, dedicated to bridging the gap between ocean literacy and EU business, is back with its sixth episode, focusing on Blue Innovation. This session will highlight how entrepreneurship, investment, and cutting-edge technologies are transforming the way we interact with marine resources. By bringing together experts in blue economy development, this webinar will explore the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities for businesses and policymakers working towards a sustainable ocean economy.

The webinar will explore future scenarios for the region’s blue economy, focusing on innovation, governance, and transformative pathways co-designed with stakeholders through Living Labs. It assesses the environmental impacts of these scenarios using risk-based tools, guiding sustainable development across the Black Sea basin and its regions. Objective: This webinar will present the multiscale scenarios and tools developed by BRIDGE-BS to explore the potential of the Blue Economy in the Black Sea. Focus Areas: – Purpose of the scenarios – Key findings – Who can use them, how, and next steps Format: Online | 2 hours

The University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia invites applications for the Mediterranean Ecosystems: Biodiversity, Threats, and Conservation Actions summer program. This English-language program, held in Barcelona, Spain, is designed for students and professionals interested in Mediterranean biodiversity and conservation. Participants will gain a blend of theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience in marine environments, exploring the Mediterranean's rich ecology while enhancing their scientific understanding and sustainability skills. The objectives of the Mediterranean Ecosystems: Biodiversity, Threats and Conservation Actions summer programme is to understand the evolution and the current state of the Mediterranean Ecosystems, increasing the scientific knowledge of students while acquiring strategies to contribute and protect the sensitive ecosystems. It also aims to discover the Mediterranean ecosystems throughout practice and theory needed to complement the workshops and field visits. The programme is addressed to undergraduate students from the fields of Biology and Natural Sciences, even though other related backgrounds might be considered.

The EU4Ocean Summer School on Ocean Literacy and Collaboration is a five-day event (from 29 June to 4 July) in the city of Venice (Italy) dedicated to thinking about how to better collaborate on ocean-related projects to advance a sustainable economy. The in-presence programme will host different international guests and speakers to address the following topics at local and regional level: empathy for collaboration, storytelling and communication, impact measurement, project management, ocean policy and governance, stakeholder and community engagement, and nature-based solutions. The Summer School will have an online self-paced module prior to the in-presence activities. All the activities will be held in English. The EU4Ocean Summer School will gather 20 youths from EU and non-EU countries of the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea region who are students enrolled/graduated in a Master Degree/PhD programme, or already early career professionals. No matter your background, the programme welcomes people coming from all the sectors but with a shared passion for the ocean. The deadline for applications is 16 March. The organisers provide accommodation, lunches and dinners, and five travel grants. The training is organised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC) in partnership with the European Commission-DG MARE as part of the European Ocean Coalition (EU4Ocean).

From 17-20 November 2026, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) is organizing the 7th edition of the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity (WCMB 2026) in the city of Bruges, Belgium. The conference has been endorsed as a UN Ocean Decade Event. The overall theme of the conference is “The marine biodiversity insights we need, for the ocean we want”. The call for session proposals for the WCMB 2026 is already open. The deadline for submission of the proposals is 31 March 2025. Applicants will receive feedback on their proposals until 15 May 2025. Each session proposal needs to be linked to one of the conference sub-themes: 1. Challenges to achieve the UN Ocean Decade goals 2. Marine biodiversity: it’s all about the base(line)s and trends 3. Building e-oceans to help us fill our knowledge gaps 4. Marine biodiversity enthusiasts and stewards for the future: who are they, where do they come from, what are their needs and what drives them? 5. Challenges, changes and opportunities in marine taxonomic research: from specimens to genes 6. Science that makes a difference: supporting knowledge-based policies 7. Taking the pulse of the ocean: measuring our current marine biodiversity knowledge through monitoring networks and programs 8. Other A session may be constructed around a network, project, initiative or a specific, clearly defined scientific topic or question of broad interest within the field of marine biodiversity and in connection with the chosen sub-theme. Sessions can be constructed as presentations only, or a combination of presentations and discussions.