Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

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UU-NIOZ projects

Twenty four pairs of scientists from Utrecht University and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research will conduct joint research concerning the functioning of (coastal) seas and oceans. They will carry out interdisciplinary research into pressing scientific and societal issues that tie in with the strategic themes of both organisations. In addition to the Faculties of Science and Geosciences, also the Faculties of Law, Economics and Governance, and Veterinary Medicine of the UU are involved. The projects are part of the agreement to intensify the collaboration UU-NIOZ (2016-2025), funded by UU. Combining complementary knowledge and research facilities and working together more intensively, increases the clout of these projects. This can be a first step on the road to broad, national programmes in which the entire knowledge chain works together. The first call yielded thirteen joint projects. A similar, 2^nd call for joint proposals was due on 1 July 2021 and yielded eleven projects.

Our Dynamic Coasts

This theme connects physical, chemical, and biological processes that take place in coastal zones, deltas and estuaries. This research theme links the hub Water, Climate and Future Deltas in the UU Pathways to Sustainability with the NIOZ theme Our Coast.

New in 2021: Avian nutrient pump

Do birds impact the formation of their own breeding islands? Small sandy islands are formed by vegetation-sedimentation feedbacks. In many tidal systems, including the Wadden Sea, these sandy islands host large populations of coastal birds for br...

New in 2021: Greenland fjords as gateways

The Greenland Ice Sheet is losing mass at an accelerated rate, especially at its marine terminating glaciers, where the ice sheet meets the ocean. The regulating role of fjords in providing ocean heat to melt the glacier fronts remains largely un...

New in 2021: Defending our coast

Coastal systems are under increasing threat by sea level rise. We will develop models to understand and predict critical transitions in coastal ecosystems, being tidal flats, salt marshes, and coastal reed- and peatlands in response to the rate o...

New in 2021: Sea levels and intertidal ecosystems

Intertidal ecosystems, like the Wadden Sea, provide rich habitats for shellfish, worms, fish, and millions of shorebirds, but are threatened by sea-level rise. While sea level rise may partly be compensated by increased sedimentation, sediment-co...

Sea-level relationships

The long-term relationship between sea-level change and sedimentation in the North Sea. Analyzing the evolution of the Dutch coast requires dynamically coupled models of glacio- and hydro isostatic adjustment (GIA) and sedimentation.

Builders on the beach

How do establishing dune grasses survive flooding and drought? Ecosystems are under increasing stress from sea-level rise and drought and rapidly declining worldwide. Recent findings reveal that, similar to other stressed ecosystems like drylands...

Impact of microphytobenthos

Impact of microphytobenthos on C, N, P and Si cycling in dynamic intertidal systems. Intertidal sediments such as those found in the Wadden Sea experience rapid fluctuations driven by tides and variation in light. We will study biogeochemical pro...

Sustainable functioning of Coastal and Shelf Seas

This theme aims at an integral view on ecosystem functioning, human impact and use of coastal and shelf seas. Projects target, for instance, nutrient and carbon transfers from land and cycling in the ocean (e.g. eutrophication, greenhouse gases) and limitations on multiple use of our continental shelves (e.g. legal and governance aspects). Research in this theme links the UU Pathways to Sustainability and/or Institutions for Open Societies to the NIOZ theme Our Coast.

New in 2021: It takes guts!

Food webs are altering under climate change and many animals have needed to switch to alternative food sources due to changes in their prey resources. This obviously requires flexible foraging adaptations. We hypothesize that changes in the gut m...

New in 2021: Parasite invasions

Human actions can impact the structure and stability of ecosystems, altering the emergence and dynamics of infectious diseases. This project proposes to use a novel approach of combining empirical and experimental data with recently developed eco...

Smile, you're on camera!

Developing automated image analysis to examine an overlooked link in the North Sea: Zooplankton - SMILE. Zooplankton has a key role in marine ecosystems by transferring energy and nutrients from autotrophs to organisms higher up the food web. How...

Turning the tide

Coastal ecosystems worldwide are changing due to increased anthropogenic disturbances such as nutrient runoff. In coral reefs these phase shifts are characterized by higher abundances of copiotrophic and pathogenic bacteria, creating a feedback

Harmful Algal Blooms

Have they really become more frequent? Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are phenomena caused by the proliferation of (micro)organisms in a water body. HABs can negatively affect human health (toxins production), the socio-economic sectors (fishery, to...

Using isotopic indicators

Using isotopic indicators to identify foraging history and nutritional condition prior to stranding of Phocoena phocoena. Since 2005, harbour porpoise strandings in Europe have occurred predominately on Dutch beaches at higher rates than expecte...

Ocean of Discovery

This theme focuses on the major unknowns in biogeochemical cycling, microbial life in the oceans linking past, present and future. Projects involve microbiology, microbial ecology, biogeochemical cycles and bio-informatics, among other subjects. This research theme links the UU Pathways to Sustainability with the NIOZ theme Our Ocean.

Nanoplastics pollution

Overlooked but high impact material. The nanoscale of the ocean plastic problem is a truly new discovery. The existence of ocean nanoplastics has been shown, but we lack knowledge of the processes that drive plastic pollution to the nanoscale and...

Eukaryotic metabolism

The origin and diversification of eukaryotic metabolisms in light of Earth history - from the deep past into the future. The origin of eukaryotic life represents a defining and enigmatic event in life's history hypothesized to have occurred in......

Marine Flavobacteria

The Role of Marine Flavobacteria in Nitrous Oxide Reduction. While some microorganisms capable of reducing the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) into dinitrogen have been shown to act as net N2O sinks, the impact of these...

Hydrothermal iron nanoparticles

Unraveling the impact of iron nanoparticles on ocean biogeochemistry (I-NANO). Hydrothermal vents deliver abundant iron nanoparticles (nano-Fe) to the deep sea, but it is unknown how this supply of a key trace metal impacts ocean biogeochemistry....

Our Future Ocean

This theme includes research on physical, chemical and biological oceanography. Topics within this theme are ocean warming, ocean acidification and the biological pump. This theme also includes paleoceanography and paleoclimatology (what can we learn from changes in the past) as well as potential socio-economic impact.