The Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre was established 1 January 2013, and is a merger of two existing organizations: Stockholm University Marine Research Centre, SMF and Baltic Nest Institute, BNI, and will administer the University’s strategic marine environmental research programme Baltic Ecosystem Adaptive Management, BEAM. The centre’s total budget will comprise nearly 45 million SEK.
- The Baltic Sea Centre is a clear sign that Baltic Sea research is of central importance to the University, and that there is a need to better coordinate and communicate its results and analyses to the scientific world as well as to environmental managers and the public, says Professor Ragnar Elmgren, BEAM:s programme coordinator and researcher at the Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences at Stockholm University.
Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre will:
- carry out vital research and environmental analysis to support management
- gather useful knowledge and communicate it to society
- provide attractive infrastructure for marine research and education
An important goal is to highlight and enhance all marine research and education at Stockholm University.
- The BEAM programme was one important component in the establishment of the centre. This valuable initiative by the university means an extra push in the right direction for BEAM – towards our goal of building a common research platform in support of ecosystem-based management of the Baltic Sea, in continued close cooperation with the Stockholm Resilience Centre, also at Stockholm University. It will increase opportunities for researchers to network by providing a natural meeting point where marine research is the central focus of all activities, says Ragnar Elmgren.
The process of the formation of the new centre has been hurried, so details remain to be resolved. In February the University’s vice-chancellor will visit the new centre and a new homepage will be published. Later this spring, Marine research days will be arranged for scientists at the University to further inform about the new centre.
