The AQUARIUS kick-off meeting took place online from 23-24 April, providing an opportunity for the 45-partner consortium to come together and discuss the work plan for the next 4 years, share ideas and prioritise the next steps.
A highlight of the 2-day meeting was the pitch presentations by each of the 57 research infrastructure (RI) operators from across Europe. These RI include research vessels, mobile marine observation platforms, fixed marine facilities, experimental research facilities, river and basin supersites, aircraft, drones, and satellite services. Each of these will be featured in the AQUARIUS RI catalogue (coming soon!). Free-for-use access to these infrastructures will be provided by AQUARIUS, alongside all the necessary support and training to use them, with all data collected according to European and global best practices in data management. All training materials and resources will be made available via the AQUARIUS training hub, including marine internship opportunities for career researchers to participate in floating universities and glider schools.
The first of the two calls for free-for-use transnational access to the reseach infrastructures will open for applications in November 2024.
Over the coming weeks and months we will be rolling out more information on these resources and opportunities. Stay tuned here and follow us on social media to be kept informed!