Future Marine Research Infrastructure (FMRI)

About The Programme

The Future Marine Research Infrastructure programme is delivering the next generation of large-scale, marine research infrastructure. It is exploring the requirements, constraints, partnerships and technical options for the future capability, which will lay the foundations for a major investment in UK research infrastructure.

Objectives

FMRI aspires to deliver a marine research infrastructure that allows us to observe the ocean in greater detail than ever before, enables cutting-edge scientific research and offers solutions for a sustainable planet. The programme will:

• Establish an environmentally and economically sustainable marine observation and experimentation infrastructure for current and future research.
• Establish a marine infrastructure portfolio that leads using innovations in measurements and platforms to push the frontiers of marine science.
• Pursue an approach that is outward looking and offers global leadership, collaboration opportunities and opening access to under-represented groups.

It is clear to me that we have the opportunity, through the adoption of new technologies and the development of new observational techniques, to better understand and predict the rising levels of ocean acidification, deoxygenation and warming with the associated, catastrophic impacts upon that ecosystem. And we can be part of the solution to those issues. The leadership shown by UKRI and NERC in this context is incredibly important, and I hugely value the chance to be a part of this endeavour.