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Instituto de Ciencias del Mar – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ICM)
The Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM-CSIC) [Institute of Marine Science], a subsidiary body of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), is a multidisciplinary centre for the study of the ocean. Its scientists are mainly involved in research conducted in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Pacific, and Antarctic areas. The ICM-CSIC is organized in three departments: Marine Biology and Oceanography, Marine Geology and Physical Oceanography, and Renewable Resources. It also has several support units such as the Chemical Analysis, Electron Microscopy, Computer Centre, Graphics and Design Service, Biological Collections, Library, and an Oceanographic Vessel and Polar Facilities Unit. The latter takes care of the operations, management, and maintenance of the CSIC’s R/V “García del Cid" (37 m long) and of the scientific instruments on board the R/V “Hespérides" (80 m long) administrated by the Spanish Navy and the Spanish Science and Technology Ministry. The ICM-CSIC currently has a staff of 160 persons and is the largest center of marine research in Spain and a leading institution in the Mediterranean area. Furthermore, the ICM-CSIC actively participates in the diffusion of science to the public and shares educational programmes with local universities.
The Marine Benthic Ecology Group is part of the Marine Biology and Oceanography Department and has more than 20 years of experience conducting and managing national and international research projects and guarantees high capacity participating in multidisciplinary studies. It is also member of the Marine Sciences European Associated Laboratory. At present the group participates, in several cases as project leaders, in cooperative projects with institutions from different countries (Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom, France, USA, Italy, etc.). Among the most active cooperation is the work with the Alfred-Wegener-Institut (Germany), the Queen Mary and Wetsfield College (U.K.), and the New York State University at Buffalo (USA), performing joint research in Chile, Panama, Great Britain, Antarctica, and the Mediterranean.
The group performs basic research on all aspects of planktonic and benthic marine ecology. Organisms from viruses to zooplankton are studied in a descriptive and a process-oriented way. The structure in food webs and the patterns of carbon and nutrient cycling among planktonic organisms are also main topics. The two main research topics are: biodiversity and dynamics of marine communities and biogeochemical cycles in oceanic and littoral systems.
The Marine Geology Group was constituted in 1980 and is inscribed in the Marine Geology and Physical Oceanography Department. Since then it has reached a relevant position in the field of the Marine Geosciencies in Spain and Europe, being leaders at a national level. Its members are part of several national (e.g., National Plan of R&D) and international (e.g., European Scientific Committee of the Ocean Drilling Program, SCAR) scientific committees. This group has developed a work of great transcendence in both basic science and marine technology, obtaining its best results in main projects of international scientific cooperation including EU and UNESCO funded actions.
The main research topics of the group are Shelf-Ocean Transfer of particulate matter and associated pollutants in the marine environment, Coastal Dynamics, Continental Margin and Ocean Basin Modelling, Global Climate Change, and the evaluation of Environmental and Geologic Hazards. This group carries out research at different latitudes including temperate, tropical, and polar regions.
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