Welcome to MARiS 

MARiS is formerly known as Ma-Re (the Marine Research Institute), which underwent a review process in October 2018 and re-branded. The new name, MARiS (Marine and Antarctic Research centre for Innovation and Sustainability) derives from the Latin word maris meaning “of the sea”, indicating that it pertains to the sea.

MARiS is officially recognised as the new interdisciplinary centre for marine and Antarctic scientific research, involving multiple departments within the University of Cape Town: Biological Sciences, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Oceanography. 

Our new identity and purpose is based on UCT's Vision 2030 transformative plan. Vision 2030 includes assembling planning teams, cross-functional teams and working groups applying themselves to the task of giving expression to UCT's massive transformative purpose – “Unleash human potential to create a fair and just society” – in the core academic functions, the cross-cutting responsibilities of transformation and social responsiveness, and the systems that support and sustain UCT’s work. 

                                     

 

Our Mission

The MARiS centre is an aggregator of competence and expertise which considers academic and technological knowledge in relation to societal benefits, with the overarching aim of enhancing the production of knowledge and human capacity in marine and Antarctic research. This is achieved through:

  • Collaborative national and international research projects generated by the the academic participants and various partners;
  • Support of students and their integration in the academic environment, particularly supporting interdisciplinarity to address complex problems in interconnected marine systems;
  • Development of technological and innovative solutions for interdisciplinary marine problems;
  • Promotion and maintenance of post-graduate training courses, including interdisciplinary curricula such as the Applied Ocean Sciences (AOS) master course;
  • Contribution to national programmes and infrastructures

The MARiS Centre is structured around inter-related science foci: Antarctic and Southern Ocean Research, Marine Research on the southern African margin, and Innovation in Chemical, Materials and Observational Engineering.

MARIS is a UCT initiative that recognizes the importance of the national research framework outlined in the recent White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation by DSI2, and the role played by external (regional, national and international) partners in terms of innovation and expertise. It therefore aims to integrate national and international partners through collaborative actions that are aligned with the above objectives.