SEAS programme at UiB unites several academic fields in exploring marine sustainability

 The SEAS programme is a career and mobility fellowship programme where 37 postdoctoral researchers from all over the world have 3 years to develop and run their own research project within the broad field of marine sustainability. Their varied academic backgrounds and scientific methods are exactly what makes the inter- and trans-disciplinary focus of the larger programme possible. Of these 37 Post Doc fellows, 7 have now completed their SEAS projects, as the programmed peaked in scale in the first half of 2025. 

Meet our fellows!

|Below: All board!! The first cohort of SEAS fellows arrived in 2022 - here taking to the high seas near Telavåg, just outside Bergen, during our first official gathering.|

Photo:

E. Farmer

Among the academic fields of the SEAS fellows are social scientists, biologists, oceanographers, mathematics, informatics scientists, archaeologists and experts of law. The acronym SEAS stands for “Shaping European Research Leaders for Marine Sustainability. 

Many of the SEAS fellows have expressed that both the city of Bergen and the University of Bergen have contributed to the success of the programme. Evolutionary archaeologist Jeremy A. Beller even found parallels from his project on historical ancient sea level fluctuation to possible future scenarios for Bergen:  

“If sea level rose or fell on a coastal city, such as Bergen, what would that mean for where you would go shopping, set up industry, or raise children?”

This is one of the lines of thinking SEAS fellow Jeremy follows when trying to understand the techno-economies of earlier societies through archaeological findings and then looking at implications for contemporary society.  

Other SEAS fellows simply appreciate the location in Bergen for all its variety - as Virginie Comorge says:

"Bergen is a great city to live and work in. It is a dynamic city with many possibilities in biology and aquaculture, and culturally lively, making it very pleasant. It has this delicate balance between the calm of small cities and the commodities and infrastructures found in bigger cities that protect us from stress and lets us feel comfortable in the city."

Early in 2025, The SEAS programme at the University of Bergen was endorsed as a UN Ocean Decade Action.  

“This endorsement is a great honour and fits right into the work we do with our local partners as part of One Ocean City Bergen, our European partners to establish a Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) on water, and our global position as the SDG14 Hub Chair for United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI),” Rector Margareth Hagen at the University of Bergen said of the endorsement. 

Photo:

UN