About Us
Researching the oceans of southern Africa to better navigate global change across the continent.
The Nansen-Tutu Research Centre for Marine Environmental Research was established in 2010 and is hosted at the Department of Oceanography at the University of Cape Town (UCT)
It is a joint venture between South African, French, American and Norwegian partners committed to international collaboration and research of the Agulhas and ocean currents around southern Africa.
The vision of the Nansen-Tutu Centre for Marine Environmental Research is to serve Africa through advancing knowledge of the marine environment and climate system in the spirit of Nobel Peace laureates Fridtjof Nansen and Desmond Tutu.
Our Vision
The vision of the Nansen-Tutu Centre for Marine Environmental Research is to serve Africa through advancing knowledge of the marine environment and climate system in the spirit of Nobel Peace laureates Fridtjof Nansen and Desmond Tutu.
Honouring visionary leaders
The centre is named in honour of both men, who demonstrated a passion for the natural environment as well as humanity.
Dr Fridtjof Nansen from Norway was a Nobel Peace Laureate honoured for humanitarian work to resettle millions of people displaced by political boundaries after World War I.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa, was a Nobel Peace Laureate who campaigned peacefully against apartheid, chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after, and spent his life working tirelessly for peace.
Our Aims
- Generation of joint research and development activities between scientists and students from the partner institutions and the Nansen Group.
- Exchange of visiting scientists and students between the participating institutions.
- Co-supervision of post-graduate students.
- Coordinating and facilitating joint project proposals to be submitted for funding through national, EU and international bodies.
- Technical development, infrastructure and support for pre-operational production and demonstration of information and services.
- Developing capacity through joint courses, workshops, training and research schools.
- Ensuring integration with other operational oceanography components in Africa.
- Ensuring open and free access to the centre’s resources, data, products and achievements.
- Cooperation in the fields of distance educational courses and research programmes.
- Joint participation in field campaigns.
- The stimulation of international collaboration and activities such as the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), CLIVAR, the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GOADAE) and the sustainable Marine Core Service (e.g. MyOcean).
- Outreach, including development of a web page, public interface with research, media and the involvement of stakeholders and users.
Our Partners
