Abstract
The planning for Future Marine Research Infrastructure (FMRI) must be driven by national science requirements that meet the needs of all stakeholders in UK marine science. The Science Requirements Framework (SRF) has been developed by the UK marine science community to specify the knowledge required by society to benefit from the ocean and to ensure the marine environment remains in a healthy state in the future. The science needed to gather this knowledge is specified around five marine science ‘Grand Challenges’, each focusing on the marine research needs of climate change, marine biodiversity, marine pollution, natural hazards and the blue economy, which outline the steps to enable Marine Science in 2040 and beyond.
‘FMRI provides a unique opportunity to take a holistic and forward-looking approach to guiding the UK’s future investment in marine research infrastructure to maximise science impact and science value for investment by combining observations and digital tools in new and innovative ways.’
This process is not starting from scratch. It will build on the significant progress made during the Net Zero Oceanographic Capability (NZOC) scoping study (National Oceanography Centre, 2021), particularly Work Package (WP) 1 on Future Science Needs, which includes an in-depth analysis of UK marine science activities.
Within the context of future marine science goals, it is important to articulate science requirements in a way that informs decision making; enabling priorities, interdependencies, synergies, trade-offs and consequences to be considered in context, when recommendations on options for investment in infrastructure are made.
The aim is to have a FMRI SRF available for comment by the UK Marine Science community by Spring 2025, so that options for investment can be considered against that framework.