MarBEF, a network of excellence funded by the European Union and consisting of 91 European marine institutes, is a platform to integrate and disseminate knowledge and expertise on marine biodiversity, with links to researchers, industry, stakeholders and the general public.

The specific integration effort of MarBEF is focused into the following major activities:

1. Creating a virtual centre for durable integration

Our intention is that the Steering Committee and Board of Governance will together be able to use the demonstrated benefits of MarBEF to promote the formal establishment of the European Centre for the Study of Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (EMBEF) as a Europe-wide, virtual institution. The concept of a virtual centre of excellence is novel, and it will require a combined bottom-up and top-down approach. EMBEF is seen as a way of executing network activities and as an instrument for co-ordinated programming. It will provide a vehicle to embody the long term integration effects of the network.

2. Creating and improving access to resources

Resources currently available through MarBEF participants include:

• Inshore and ocean-going research vessels Research vessels are expensive but indispensable platforms for marine biology and oceanography. International cross participation in nationally-funded cruises is already happening in Europe but we will further encourage the process at the policy level, and facilitate it practically by creating links to national websites showing future research vessel programmes.
• Field stations The MARS network of marine stations and additional coastal facilities offer unrivalled access to European marine biota and habitats, including to the European network of Marine Biodiversity Research Sites. Facilities include:
  • Sampling and culturing equipment
  • Analytical equipment, electron and confocal microscopes, flow cytometers
  • Molecular sequencing facilities
  • Flow laboratories, mesocosms and specialist experimental facilities
  • Distributed computing facilities
  • Web-based analytical and taxonomic tools
• We will create links and provide metadata on existing web-based tools, however, it is clear that new tools are required. In particular, on-line identification tools are currently inadequate for European waters and MarBEF will promote the development of such tools, giving priority to abundant taxa.
• Databases A wide range of databases exists and these include databases with national, regional or global emphasis
• Reference collections, including culture collections, museums etc. We will create links with existing EU Infrastructures, including that co-ordinated by the Natural History Museum in London that offer funding for access to 20 European biological reference collections and specialist libraries who are members of Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF). Follow this link for the SYNTHESYS online application form: http://www.synthesys.info/access.html Plus, with initiatives such as BIOCASE (Biological Collections Access System for Europe).
• Specialist libraries Libraries are already well co-ordinated but we will list the links to electronic catalogues of libraries with major marine biological holdings, in collaboration with EURASLIC and IAMSLIC.

We will create a web-based register of the resources available through MarBEF, together with a list of the contact persons at each institution and the access details.

3. Providing specialist training

• Postdoctoral fellowships We will create five postdoctoral fellowships which will last for the full duration of MarBEF. One will be allocated to integration activities within each of the scientific research themes, and two will work in the overall integrated activities programme (one of these being dedicated to data and information management).
• Doctoral studentships In the second phase of MarBEF a series of responsive work package proposals will be considered and prioritised for their scientific excellence and relevance to the MarBEF programme. We envisage that the main resources provided by MarBEF towards the successful projects will be the expertise and facilities of the network plus PhD studentships. The work of all doctoral students will be supervised by an international panel, and each student will carry out research at a minimum of two different MarBEF institutions based in different countries. The total number of PhD studentships will be determined by the quality and requirements of the successful responsive proposals.
• Training of technicians There is an urgent and increasing need for cross training of technicians in novel methods, in standardised sampling procedures and in experimental protocols. This is especially important for MarBEF given the large scale coverage of our proposed research. We will hold standardisation workshops for technicians and researchers as part of the Strategic Research Programmes.

4. Developing an integrated data and information management system

Information on the existence of data is a prerequisite to data sharing. MarBEF will inventory all aspects of marine science relevant to marine biodiversity; in this collaboration will be sought with existing initiatives such as MEDI and EDMED. A database will be created storing information on planned, ongoing and finalised research. Lists of institutions, scientists and their expertise and publications will be maintained. A database of research facilities, oceanographic vessels and cruises will allow efficient sharing of resources. The most important type of information will consist of an inventory of existing biodiversity databases. These will be documented, giving details on taxonomic scope, information content, access constraints and quality, and where possible a direct link provided to an internet entry to the data.

A second step covers the need to create massive data sets on species and biogeography. MarBEF will establish a public European warehouse of biological databases together with intelligent tools for data mining. Development will be undertaken so that marine biological data sets will be accessed at their host institutes by the central MarBEF portal to build maps showing distribution of species and biotopes. The inventory of biodiversity data sets will be instrumental in identifying candidate data sets for integration. The work will be undertaken with and take advantage of development already undertaken by the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) so that a facility will be developed known as EurOBIS.

To facilitate exchange of research results, data formats and standards will be proposed; in this, efforts of other groups will be re-utilised. Links will be established with TDWG, ICES/MDM, IODE/GE-TADE, IODE/GE-BCDMEP and others for data standards for biological data. The taxonomic backbone to all the data activities will be the European Register of Marine Species. Mechanisms will be developed to keep the ERMS up-to-date, and synchronous with major data contributors such as ETI's World Biodiversity database, FishBase, Algaebase, CLEMAM and many others. ERMS will be available as a fully searchable database though two or more web sites. The use of a central register of taxonomic names will improve the quality of integration of data from several sources. MarBEF will represent its members in international activities on data management, such as IOC, OBIS and GBIF; based on its accumulated data and tools, it will be able to play a leading role in such initiatives.

5. The transformation of MarBEF's long-term, strategic approach into policy

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