Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University

The Institute of Marine Sciences (Turkish: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Deniz Bilimleri Enstitüsü) is a research institute at Middle East Technical University. Established in 1975, it is located on the university's Erdemli Campus in Erdemli, Mersin. The institute's campus includes specialized laboratories, administrative buildings, computing and remote sensing resources, a library, an atmospheric tower, as well as facilities for housing staff and students. Additionally, the campus features a harbor to support research and fieldwork activities.

History The establishment of the Institute dates to December 1974, when Professor Warren Wooster from the University of Miami was invited to METU to discuss the creation of a marine sciences department. After a year of preliminary work, METU’s Board of Trustees approved the founding of the Department of Marine Sciences on December 21, 1974. Initially based in Ankara, the department was intended to relocate to Turkey’s southern coast once a permanent campus was completed, underscoring the need for coastal proximity in marine sciences research.

In 1975, it entered a collaboration with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California. As part of the agreement, the Department obtained the designs and rights for the R/V Alpha Helix, which was later constructed in Turkey as R/V Bilim. The collaboration also included visits by Dr. William Nierenberg and Prof. Edward Goldberg , who contributed to academic and research activities.In the late 1970s, the Department took part in the United Nations Environment Programme’s Mediterranean Action Plan (MED-POL). It was designated as a national and regional activity center and conducted pilot studies on heavy metal pollution, chlorinated pesticides, PCBs, petroleum hydrocarbons, and ocean currents in the Mediterranean. During the same period, the Department moved to its permanent campus in Erdemli, Mersin, where it established laboratories, facilities, and research vessels, including R/V Erdemli and R/V Lamas. The construction of R/V Bilim, completed in 1984, expanded the Institute’s capacity for offshore research. These resources supported participation in research programs such as studies related to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant and coastal oceanography projects. During the 1980s, the Institute participated in the Physical Oceanography of the Eastern Mediterranean (POEM) project, coordinated by Prof. Allan R. Robinson of Harvard University. The project supported international collaboration and studies in physical and biochemical oceanography of the Eastern Mediterranean. In the 1990s, the Institute expanded its work to the Black Sea. Projects such as the NATO-supported TU-FISHERIES and CoMS-BLACK examined fisheries and ecosystem dynamics and involved cooperation among Black Sea littoral states.

Location Although the main campus of METU is located in Ankara, the Institute of Marine Sciences was established in Mersin, a coastal region along the Mediterranean Sea in Turkey. The institute is situated at 36°40′01″N 34°15′18″E in the town of Limonlu (historically known as Lamas) within the district of Erdemli. It lies approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from Erdemli and 47 kilometers (29 miles) from the city of Mersin.

The infrastructure The institute covers an area of approximately 0.66 square kilometres (0.25 sq mi) and is bisected by the Turkish state highway D.400, which connects Mersin and Antalya. The majority of the institute's buildings are located south of the highway, near the seafront. The northern section consists of Mediterranean scrub vegetation and an abandoned stone quarry, previously utilized during the construction of Mersin Harbor.

Education The institute is organized into four primary divisions: Chemical Oceanography, Marine Biology and Fisheries, Marine Geology and Geophysics, and Physical Oceanography. Applicants to the programs are required to hold a Bachelor of Science degree or its equivalent in natural sciences or engineering. Additionally, candidates are expected to have a foundational understanding of subjects such as statistics, differential equations, and calculus.

Research The institute operates three research vessels to support its scientific activities. The primary vessel, RV/Bilim, with a capacity of 433 gross tons, is employed for extensive oceanographic research, including fisheries studies. In addition, the institute maintains two smaller vessels, the Lamas and the Erdemli, each 16 meters in length, which are utilized for daily research excursions in coastal regions.

R/V Bilim 2

The primary research vessel of the Institute of Marine Sciences, R/V Bilim 2, was designed based on blueprints donated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, originally used for their R/V Alpha Helix. Constructed in Istanbul and launched in 1983, the vessel features a steel hull and specifications tailored for diverse marine research activities:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.