Eurofleets+ has organized four Blue Skills Labs workshops to provide marine researchers with training on the latest technologies in the field. The workshops aim to bridge the gap between the technical complexity of new scientific instrumentation and the operational skills of marine researchers. The workshops will take place in different locations across Europe and will be offered to different levels of researchers with different specialties.
The first workshop was the Eurofleets+ Borehole Seismic workshop which was held at the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics in Trieste, Italy. The three-day workshop took place from October 12th to 14th, 2022 and was aimed at marine sciences-related researchers with little or no experience with borehole seismic data acquisition and processing. The workshop was related to the ECCSEL-ERIC and ECCSELERATE projects and had on-field activities at the PITOP test site, which is part of ECCSEL. The workshop received four applications and had three participants from three different countries – Greece, Italy, and Portugal. The participants included a researcher, a PhD student, a post-doctoral fellow, and a master’s student. There were two female and one male participant.
The second workshop was the Eurofleets+ Seismic workshop, also held at the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics in Trieste, Italy from October 10th to 12th, 2022. The workshop was intended for researchers in the field of marine science with limited experience with multichannel seismic data acquisition and processing. The workshop received five applications, with four participants from three different nationalities participating. The participants consisted of one researcher, two PhD students, and one post-doc. The Seismic Lab workshop was an important step in expanding the knowledge and skills of marine researchers, and helping them to fully utilize the potential of seismic data in their work.
The Eurofleets+ AUV workshop took place at the Robotics Lab workshop of Gothenburg University in collaboration with the Swedish Marine Robotics Centre. The five-day workshop held from October 31st to November 4th and offered to European PhD and post-graduate students enrolled in European universities. The course covered topics such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicle operation, mission planning, scientific payload integration, and data acquisition and processing of various sensors, with a focus on hydroacoustic sensors. There were 11 applications, with 10 participants from 8 different nationalities, including Italy, Portugal, Belgium, China, Estonia, Brazil, and Spain. The participants included 4 PhD students, 2 MSc students, 1 senior technician, 1 associate professor, 1 research assistant, and 1 self-employed marine biologist. The gender ratio of the participants was 8 females and 2 males.
Finally, the Eurofleets+ ROV Lab workshop held at MARUM – Center for Environmental Sciences, University Bremen, Germany. The three-day workshop took place from November 22nd to 24th, 2022 and aimed at European research-ROV Pilots/Technicians with limited experience and knowledge of ROV operations and technology. The course covered topics such as dive preparation, mobilization, manipulator exercises, and training dives in the ROV QUEST Simulator and the ROV MARUM Squid. There were 14 applications for the workshop, with 5 participants from 5 different nationalities (Italy, Greece, Estonia, Malta, and the UK) plus 2 participants from the organising institution. The participants include 1 Marine Consultant, 1 Marine Technician, 1 ROV Pilot, 2 Researchers, 1 female and 4 males.
These workshops are a great opportunity for marine researchers to enhance their skills and knowledge of the latest technologies in the field. The training programs will be highly beneficial for their careers, enabling them to fully utilize the possibilities offered by modern scientific instrumentation on research vessels.
