Partners and collaborations

The ambition of the Centre for Deep Sea Research is to engage broadly in international research cooperation to ensure that we are positioned at the forefront of deep-sea research and can capitalize on our expertise and infrastructure. Our attention to cooperation has been an important factor facilitating submission of successful proposals with strong international partners. Centre staff is currently collaborating with more than 100 international researchers through ongoing projects and activities. Our collaborators are spread across more than 50 different academic institutions in Europe, Asia and North America, including influential marine institutions such as Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (MPI), Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Institut De Physique Du Globe De Paris (IPGP), French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). Together with our colleagues at JAMSTEC, we are currently leading an initiative, which aims at getting the Japanese drillship Chikyu to the Arctic region for a high-profile scientific drilling expedition in 2021.  

The Centre is also actively taking part in research collaboration within Norway. We are particularly active in collaborative efforts aiming at developing state-of-the-art national marine infrastructure. In the quest to develop a national deep-sea autonomous underwater vehicle, we are collaborating closely with the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI), the Institute of Marine Research (IMR), the Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE), the University of Tromsø (UiT) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). As part of the Lofoten-Vesterålen Cabled Observatory (LoVe), which is led by IMR, we are collaborating with a number of institutions in establishing a large cabled ocean observatory off the coast of Lofoten and Vesterålen. Furthermore, we have collaboration agreements with IMR and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) and are presently developing close research collaboration with UiT, involving exchange of researchers and joint supervision of students. 

Besides academic collaborations, the Centre is engaged in a variety of collaborations with industry partners aimed to develop advanced underwater technology (Kongsberg, Kystdesign, Argus Remote Systems, DofSubsea, DeepOcean) and discovering new biotechnological resources in the form of proteins and enzymes (NovoZyme).  

As a mean to nurse new and old collaborations, we invite foreign senior scientists and students to our yearly cruises. Members of our staff have been part of international oceanographic expeditions and drilling projects, which serve as great platforms for broadening scientific networks. Two of our senior staffs hold positions at WHOI, as Adjunct scientist and long-term guest investigator.  

Our Centre staff are part of several strategic networks, panels and boards, such as the ASPIRE network (Atlantic network on seabed mapping), the AORA working group on Ocean Health and Stressors (EU), ERC reviewing panels and InterRidge.