The new Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre (IOMRC) will boost marine science capacity in Australia.

A collaborative project

The Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre (IOMRC) is a collaboration that brings together four of Australia's leading research organisations working in and around the Indian Ocean. These are the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), CSIRO, the Department of Fisheries and UWA's Oceans Institute.

Through the IOMRC, the partner organisations are developing new multi-disciplinary research teams and creating a graduate training environment that will significantly advance Australia's marine science capacity, capability, and profile.

By integrating the research strengths of the partners, the IOMRC will be able to address greater challenges, risks and opportunities in the sustainable and safe use of marine resources, and in the conservation of the Indian Ocean's biodiversity.

The IOMRC will build Australia's potential for international competitiveness through stimulating innovative research and the teaching and training of next generation researchers and will be the largest collaborative marine research partnership in the Southern Hemisphere and the largest marine research capability in the Indian Ocean Rim.

Infrastructure

As part of the collaboration, the partners are developing new marine research facilities. The project, led by The University of Western Australia, will see a significant upgrade to the Watermans Bay Marine Centre. These upgrades will also complement future plans for a new facility to be built at UWA. Collectively the buildings will be known as the Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre.

Support and funding

The development of these new facilities is being made possible through an initiative of the Australian Government as part of the Education Investment Fund in association with the four collaborating partners.

The Western Australian Government, through the Department of Fisheries, strongly supports Indian Ocean marine research and is a key stakeholder in the Watermans Bay Marine Centre.