News

The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) is also experiencing the consequences of the Corona pandemic. But COVID-19 also created opportunities. In recent weeks, VLIZ has adjusted its activities to focus on social services and new research in the context of the current crisis. This resulted in a varied package of initiatives:

The 2019 annual report presents the highlights for VLIZ in 2019 and focuses on the services VLIZ offers to the marine scientific community, policymakers, the industry, educators and the general public. Performance indicators (KPIs), numbers and lists all together give a transparent overview of the organization and functioning of the institute.

With the preparation of a joint Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), the 13 countries located around the Baltic Sea and the North Sea (BANOS) are providing the basis for the future Research and Innovation Program that needs to generate new knowledge and innovation in support of the decision-making in the region. The three major strategic objectives of this new program have been...

Every year VLIZ awards several prizes to encourage innovative fundamental or applied research in all disciplines of marine sciences. Unfortunately, the 20th VLIZ Marine Science Day, on 18 March 2020, had to be cancelled due to measures to contain the Corona virus and the prizes could not publically presented. In this news item, we list all the winners of the VLIZ Awards 2019. We would like to...

Today 19 March we celebrate all taxonomists: those who are busy day-to-day with discovering and describing new species. Many creatures living in our ocean are still unknown to humankind! Every year, the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) holds an election among its 500 contributing experts for their favorite newly discovered species. Check the list of their "darlings" and the story behind...

Each year VLIZ recruits several students working for us in the months of July, August or September. Interested student employees can submit their application via the online form until 30 April 2020. In the first half of May you will be contacted by the HR department.

Scientists use satellite data to gain better insight in algal blooms and sediment transport in coastal waters. Occasionally they have to check the accuracy of this data against measurements made at the spot - at the sea surface - and eventually correct for errors. Traditionally marine scientist undertake expeditions with a research vessel to measure the actual situation. Within the project...

The Think Thank North Sea is working on a widely supported long-term vision 2050 for the Belgian part of the North Sea. Two working groups set to work in 2019 on the themes 'Working with nature' and 'Living with climate change'. They now come up with recommendations and core principles that stakeholders can take into account in their operations today to guarantee a nice future for our part of the...

What once started as an investigation into an environmentally friendly and fuel-saving alternative to traditional beam trawling in the late 1970s, ends in July 2021 in a ban on pulse fishing in all waters of the European Union. In the Belgian and French 12-mile zone, this ban has been in place since August 14 2019. In this way, the competitive interactions between pulse fishing and other fisheries...

The newest 2020 edition of the culinary competition Olivier Roellinger calls on to work with sustainable fish and to provide a motivated explanation to customers. The competition is open to young chefs and students from European catering schools who personally want to contribute to the conservation of marine resources and the protection of the seas and ocean. New this year is the separate...

The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) exists for twenty years. And this has to be celebrated! On Thursday 28 November, the kick-off of the 2020 party year was given in the Versluys Arena in Ostend. A new VLIZ video and an audio expo with stories from 20 privileged witnesses were launched. In order to be able to celebrate the birthday with its extensive network, VLIZ organizes various activities...

Marine Regions – an open database of global maritime boundaries and names of underwater locations – launched a new version of its Maritime Boundaries component. This version 11 contains updates of downloadable polygons from the global Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), supplemented with new treaties where necessary, as well as all 12- and 24-nautical mile zones, internal and archipelagic waters of...

Established in 2004, EurOBIS aims at centralising and making available the largely scattered marine species biogeographic data in Europe. Today – 15 years later – it hosts no less than 24 million distribution records of 62.299 species. Thanks to EurOBIS and the effort of many scientists working on a voluntary basis, these valuable data have a second life.

VLIZ launches a call for a ‘Brilliant Marine Research Ideas’ intended to inspire and enable PhD students affiliated to a Flemish University or Flemish University College to execute a brilliant idea during their PhD within the frame of their research. Deadline for the submission of proposals is 31 December 2019.

SeaBioComp is a new collaborative project launched earlier this summer. Aim is to develop and produce novel bio-based thermoplastic composite materials. In time, these could potentially replace the traditionally oil-based fiber-reinforced composites widely used in the maritime industry. The project also develops analytical protocols to evaluate the long-term durability of these new materials, and...

The Dr Edouard Delcroix Prize is a triennial international scientific prize (25 000 EUR) which will be awarded to a researcher or a research team for a scientific study on the links between oceans and human health. For the second time, a Dr Edouard Delcroix Incentive Award (2 500 EUR) will reward the work of an early career scientist. The submission deadline is 31 December 2019.

To recognize the work of meritorious marine researchers, encourage them to continue doing this in the future, and promote marine scientific research in Flanders: that is what the Flanders Marine Institute wants to achieve with its annual science awards. Until 31 December, candidates for the VLIZ North Sea Award, VLIZ Master Thesis Awards and VLIZ Professional Bachelor Thesis Award can register for...

The beach nourishments on the Flemish coast (Belgium) provide solid protection against flooding. Despite the regularly occurring ‘cliffs’, the sand suppletions reinforce the beaches, as well as the sea dikes and dunes lying behind them. This is one of the final findings of the CREST research project. The ten partners formulated nine key messages, and a compact list of striking results for each of...