THEMATIC AREAS

THE NORTH-WEST OF THE IBERIAN PENINSULA IS A REFERENCE POINT FOR MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY, ON ACCOUNT OF THE CONSIDERABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AQUACULTURE SECTOR WHICH HAS TAKEN PLACE IN RECENT YEARS. EXCELLENT NATURAL CONDITIONS HAVE MEANT THAT THE GALICIA–NORTH PORTUGAL AREA HAS BENEFITTED FROM LEADING RESEARCH, TRAINING AND APPLIED SEA FARMING TECHNOLOGIES INSTITUTES, AS WELL AS PROVEN BUSINESS EXPERIENCE IN THE SECTOR. THIS HAS RESULTED IN CONSIDERABLE ADVANCES IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PHYSIOLOGY OF ORGANISMS AND THE CONTROL OF DISEASES. THE PARTIES INVOLVED WITH CAMPUS DO MAR WHICH WORK IN THIS AREA ARE THE SEVEN UNIVERSITIES WHICH FORM PART OF THE GROUP, AS WELL AS R&D CENTRES AND VARIOUS TECHNOLOGICAL CENTRES AND PLATFORMS.

THE BROAD EXPERIENCE IN MARINE SCIENCES OF THE PARTIES INVOLVED IN CAMPUS DO MAR COMES FROM A WIDE RANGE OF DISCIPLINES AND ALLOWS FOR MULTI-FOCUSED APPROACHES TO PROBLEMS IN A FIELD AS COMPLEX AS MARINE SCIENCES. ADDITIONALLY, THERE IS ALSO A HIGH LEVEL OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN SPECIALISTS IN A WIDE RANGE OF OCEANOGRAPHIC AREAS. THIS WEALTH OF RESEARCH, COMBINED WITH THE AVAILABLE INFRASTRUCTURE, GUARANTEES QUALITY IN THIS AREA. THE FIELD OF MARINE SCIENCES COVERS 3 BROAD AREAS: OCEANOGRAPHY AND EARTH SCIENCES, BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY AND MARINE BIOLOGY. THE PARTIES INVOLVED IN CAMPUS DO MAR WHICH WORK IN THE AREA OF MARINE SCIENCES ARE THE 3 UNIVERSITIES IN GALICIA AND THE UNIVERSITIES OF THE NORTH OF PORTUGAL, TOGETHER WITH THE IIM-CSIC MARINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, THE IEO CENTRES IN VIGO AND LA CORUÑA, CIMA, INTECMAR AND CETMAR. THESE FORM THE LARGEST CRITICAL MASS OF MARINE SCIENCE RESEARCH IN SPANISH TERRITORY.

THE SEA IS, AND HISTORICALLY HAS BEEN, A SOURCE OF MATERIALS WHICH CAN BE USED IN MEDICINE, PHARMACOLOGY AND HEALTH. THE GROWING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEALTH AND THE SEA IS REFLECTED IN THE SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH BEING CARRIED OUT IN THIS GEOGRAPHICAL AREA, ON MANY OCCASIONS IN COLLABORATION WITH HOSPITAL INSTITUTES, AS WELL AS IN THE INCREASE IN THE USE OF MARINE PRODUCTS FOR THALASSOTHERAPY TREATMENTS AND THE IMPORTANT PRESENCE OF PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES LINKED TO MARINE PRODUCTS. THE PRESENCE OF ORGANIZATIONS FROM THE HEALTH SECTOR IN THE CAMPUS DO MAR GROUP IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, BOTH IN THE GALICIAN UNIVERSITIES AND IN THE NORTH OF PORTUGAL.

RESEARCH ON TECHNOLOGY, QUALITY AND SAFETY OF MARINE-RELATED FOOD IN THE CAMPUS DO MAR GROUPING OCCUPIES A LEADING POSITION AT A NATIONAL LEVEL. THE GROUPING SEARCHES IN THIS AREA FOR THE SYNERGY OF GROUPS TO DEVELOP LEADERSHIP IN THE GALICIA-NORTH PORTUGAL EURO-REGION AND BEING A WORLDWIDE REFERENT IN RESEARCH OF MARINE-RELATED FOOD PRODUCTION, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND FOOD SAFETY. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS GROUPING IS TO TRANSFER BASIC KNOWLEDGE TO SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS IN THESE AREAS OF INTEREST, COOPERATING WITH ITS SOCIO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT.

CAMPUS DO MAR’S CONSIDERABLE POTENTIAL IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IS TO BE FOCUSED ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND ADVANCEMENT OF SYSTEMS WHICH APPLY TO SECTORS RELATED TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT (E.G. THE FISHING SECTOR) IN ORDER TO DEVELOP THE RESOURCES REQUIRED TO FACE FUTURE CHALLENGES FOR THE SECTOR AND IMPROVE ITS PRODUCTIVITY. THE GROUP HAS CENTRES SPECIALIZING IN ICT, SUCH AS THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SCHOOL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIGO AND OFFERS A WIDE RANGE OF UNDERGRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE TRAINING AT CAMPUS DO MAR’S 7 UNIVERSITIES, AS WELL AS SPECIALIZED TECHNOLOGY CENTRES.

NAVAL AND FISHING ENGINEERING IS AN AREA OF STRATEGIC INTEREST IN THE PRODUCTION STRUCTURE OF THE GALICIA–NORTH PORTUGAL EURO-REGION. THIS REALITY IS REFLECTED IN THE ACTIVITIES OF THE CAMPUS DO MAR UNIVERSITIES, TECHNOLOGICAL CENTRES AND BUSINESSES. THIS SPECIALIZATION CURRENTLY COVERS BOTH PRESENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES RELATED TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, NAVAL ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL MODERNIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW EFFICIENT MATERIALS AND LOGISTICS. THE CAMPUS DO MAR GROUP HAS A NUMBER OF ENGINEERING CENTRES WHICH WORK IN A WIDE RANGE OF AREAS, MANY OF THESE FOCUSED ON MARINE ENGINEERING.

ECONOMICS, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND LAW IN THE EURO-REGION HAVE HISTORICALLY DEVELOPED UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT GIVEN ITS GREAT SIGNIFICANCE IN THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC MODEL OF THE AREA. CAMPUS DO MAR'S DEPARTMENTS AND SCHOOLS DEVELOP RESEARCH, TEACHING AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER WITH APPLICATION OF MANY AREAS RELATED TO THE SEA. THESE AREAS INCLUDE MANY RESEARCH LINES, PRESENT IN THE 7 UNIVERSITIES GROUPED IN THE CAMPUS DO MAR, AND IN CENTRES SUCH AS THE TECHNOLOGICAL SEA CENTER - FOUNDATION CETMAR, AND THE INSTITUTE OF MARITIME STUDIES.