SAMS has a wide range of international, national and regional research and industry partnerships with leading marine universities, institutes and businesses globally. Our staff are members of over 250 international and national advisory committees and many have adjunct research or teaching positions in institutions all over the world.
Our partnerships help us produce world-leading publications and policy briefs and host conferences on a wide range of topics linked to our areas of expertise. They also help us in our capacity building activities, such as running workshops and interactive sessions with local communities and indigenous peoples to meet societal and industrial challenges in ocean-related sectors.
International collaborations
In 2012 SAMS became the first marine research organisation to be appointed an associated institution of the University of the United Nations (UNU). Since then we work closely with the UNU Institute for Comparative Regional Integrated Studies. This provides us with opportunities to work internationally to promote research, postgraduate training and knowledge exchange, focusing especially on the challenges faced by developing nations.
We are an active member of the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean, the World Association of Marine Stations, the Global Seaweed Coalition, World Federation of Culture Collections, Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative, GlobalHAB (Harmful Algal Blooms) and a number of ICES, UNEP and IUCN working groups. In addition, we run a successful Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters in Aquaculture, Environment and Society, which has over 60 affiliated international partners and over 200 alumni from 49 countries worldwide.
At the European level, we are on the steering committees of the EuroMarine General Assembly and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s initiative for Food Education and are a member of the European Marine Spatial Planning Platform, the European Mussel Organisation and the European Culture Collection Organisation amongst others.
National collaborations
In the UK, we partner with UKRI's Natural Environment Research Council, providing unique national capability through long-term monitoring of the Northeast Atlantic via the Scottish Marine Robotics Facility and by curating living microbial and algal resources through the Culture Collection for Algae and Protozoa.
We are also on the Steering Committees for National Partnership for Ocean Prediction, the UK Marine Facilities Advisory Board, the UK Arctic and Antarctic Partnership, UK Association for Computing Machinery, UKRI Future Marine Research Infrastructure and Science, UK DNA and the UK Biological Resource Centre Network, amongst many others.
Within Scotland we are founder members of two Scottish Funding Council research pooling initiatives: SAGES (Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society) and MASTS (Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland).
Our Ocean Explorer visitor and outreach centre is a member of the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres.
Scottish collaborations
Within Scotland, our most important partnership is with the University of the Highlands and Islands, the United Kingdom’s leading integrated university encompassing both further and higher education. The university partnership comprises of 48 campuses and runs 350 courses. The university is our pathway to Research Excellence Funding.
We are represented on the Scottish Science Advisory Council, Scottish Seaweed Industry Association, Scottish Alliance for Food, Scotland Marine Energy Research Programme, amongst others. Physical oceanographer Professor Mark Inall is Chief Scientific Advisor Marine to the Scottish Government.
We are also a founding member of two Scottish Funding Council research pooling initiatives: the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society and the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland. We are also a member of the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre, the Centre of Excellence for Sensor and Imaging Systems and the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Cluster.
Whilst SAMS does not hold any regulatory or statutory role, we work closely with colleagues in marine.gov.scot, NatureScot, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Crown Estate Scotland in areas such as marine restoration and natural capital, marine energy, environmental monitoring and modelling and aquaculture.
Locally we work with Argyll and Bute Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise regarding regional development in particular of the adjacent European Marine Science Park.
Contact us
To explore an institutional or research partnership with SAMS, please contact our Associate Director for Science and External Engagement, Professor Elizabeth Cottier-Cook.
Undergraduate exchanges
We currently have student exchange programmes with the University Centre in Svalbard, Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands); Coastal Carolina University in the USA and Dalhousie University in Canada.
If you want to know more or begin a new exchange collaboration, please contact Shona Magill (E: shona.magill@sams.ac.uk).
Masters
We deliver a joint Master programme in Aquaculture, Environment and Society with the universities of Crete and Nantes. We also contribute to a Master programme in Industrial Biotechnology by the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre at Strathclyde University.
Doctorates
We are involved in doctoral training partnerships with the University of Edinburgh and the University of Southampton. Our researchers co-supervise students at many universities throughout Europe although most of our PhD students are registered at our closest partner, the University of the Highlands and Islands.
If you want to know more about postgraduate collaborations or begin a new one, please contact the head of our graduate school, Professor Bhavani Narayanaswamy (E: bhavani.narayanaswamy@sams.ac.uk).