The National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS) is a centre for research, teaching, and technology development in Ocean and Earth science. NOCS was created in 1995 , jointly between the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

and the UK Natural Environment Research Council and is located within the port of Southampton at a purpose-built dockside campus with modern facilities. In 2010 the university and NERC components demerged, and the NERC-managed component became the National Oceanography Centre (NOC – with the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory in Liverpool). The two components of NOCS continue close collaboration through the jointly run Graduate School, shared research facilities and laboratories, complementary research groups, and many joint research grants and publications. The university component “Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton” (OES) is part of the Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, (FELS). It was ranked 46th in the world for Earth and Marine Sciences by the

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

in 2019. In November 2019, NOC became formally independent from the NERC and now operates as a company limited by guarantee with charitable status.

History

The centre can trace its origins back to the years immediately after

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) was founded. The plan to create National Oceanography Centre Southampton as a centre of excellence in marine and earth science was formulated in the late 1980s to early 1990s by the Natural Environment Research Council in coordination with the University of Southampton. According to that plan a research and teaching complex was erected on the new Waterfront Campus dock-side location within the Port of Southampton to become the new home for the former National Institute of Oceanographic Science (from Wormley, Surrey), the Research Vessel Service (from Barry, Wales) and the former University of Southampton departments of Geology and Oceanography. NOCS was officially opened in 1996 as the Southampton Oceanography Centre by Prince Philip. He also performed the renaming ceremony when it became the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, in 2005. The centre's inaugural director from 1994 to 1999 was John Shepherd, a former deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and an Earth system scientist.

Research

Research at NOCS listed by groups affiliated with the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES) and the Southampton branch office of the National Oceanography Centre: OES (University of Southampton) * Geochemistry * Geology and Geophysics (G&G) * Marine Biology and Ecology (MBE) * Marine Biogeochemistry * Paleoceanography and Paleoclimate (PALEO) * Physical Oceanography (POC) NOC, Southampton (Natural Environment Research Council) * Marine Geoscience * Marine Physics and Ocean Climate * Marine Systems Modelling * Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems * Ocean Technology and Engineering NOCS's on-site resources include the National Marine Facilities, UK National Oceanographic Library, the Discovery Collections, a branch of the British Oceanographic Data Centre and the British Ocean Sediment Core Repository. The National Oceanographic Library holds the UK's most extensive collection of oceanographic literature and one of the largest marine science libraries in Europe. OES was ranked 30th in the world for Earth and Marine Sciences in 2014 by the

, rising from 47th in 2012 and 38th in 2013.

Facilities

NOCS consists of the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science, together with five NERC research divisions and the NERC's National Marine Facilities Sea Systems. In addition, NOCS houses teaching facilities for nearly 1000 students (undergraduate, Master and PhD).

Research vessels

NOCS is the base for the purpose-built research vessels and (and formerly RRS ''Charles Darwin''). For fieldwork and research by university staff and students OES operates a smaller vessel, the catamaran .

Autonomous and Robotic Systems

NOCS is home to the Marine Autonomous and Robotic Systems group; part of National Marine Facilities Sea Systems, which has the mission to "develop, coordinate and provide capabilities, platforms and expertise to meet the needs of UK marine science." The group operates three fleets of submersibles and autonomous vehicles, comprising Autosub submarines, underwater gliders and remotely operated vehicles.

Research aquariums

NOCS has multi-use aquarium facilities with a variety of tanks displaying a range of biotopes and habitats, including seagrass beds, rocky shores and rock pool environments. Additionally, it operates two IPOCAMPs and a number of smaller pressurized tanks for the study of deep-sea organisms. The Coral Reef Laboratory is equipped with a multi-compartment aquarium system that houses a range of

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

and other cnidarians.

Analytical instrumentation

NOCS has a variety of large and small analytical instrumentation. The Magnetism Laboratory is equipped with a MicroMag 3900 Vibrating Sample Magnetometer, an AGICO KLY4S Kappabridge and a 2G Superconducting Rock Magnetometer. The X-Ray Diffraction facility is equipped with a X’Pert pro XRD machine with Cu X-ray tube. For geochemical analysis NOCS houses a range of large analytical instrumentation, including two Thermo NEPTUNE multi collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers (MC-ICP-MS), a Thermo X-SERIES 2 Quadrupole ICP-MS, a Thermo ELEMENT 2XR high-resolution ICP-MS, a Thermo TRITON and a VG Sector 54 Thermal Ionization system, a New Wave NWR193 laser ablation system. For analysis of dissolved organic carbon and total dissolved nitrogen the Southampton-based branch of the NERC NOC is operating a Shimandzu TOV V CPN-TN at NOCS. For seismic studies of the seafloor, sediment packages and sub-seafloor structures the Marine Geophysics group at NOCS operates a wide range of instrumentation, including Chirp, Boomer, Sparker and 3D Chirp sources, single- and multi-channel hydrophones, several multibeam systems and a sidescan sonar. The Ocean Bottom Instrumentation Consortium based at NOCS provides the academic and commercial communities with access to a range of multi-sensor seabed instruments.

British Ocean Sediment Core Repository

The British Ocean Sediment Core Repository (BOSCORF) located at NOCS and operated by NERC is the central storage facility for sediment cores collected by NERC ships and NERC-funded research. All cores are logged and all data generated from the cores is archived for visualization and open access.

Education

Undergraduate programs

Three tracks of undergraduate education are offered at the NOCS: a three-year Bachelor of Science, a four-year Integrated Master of Science, and a Foundation Year for students without an appropriate A level. Four undergraduate programs are offered, in Oceanography, Marine Biology, Geology and Geophysics.

Postgraduate programs

The Graduate School of the National Oceanography Centre Southampton offers degree programs at both Master and PhD level. Furthermore, NOCS is the lead of the Southampton Partnership for Innovative Training of Future Investigators Researching the Environment consortium, which also includes the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

, the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, and others. The consortium is funded through NERCs Doctoral Training Partnership initiative.

General public

Activities and events include an annual Ocean and Earth Day, a public seminar series of marine life talks, and "Discover Oceanography" sessions aboard ''Callista''.

Policies

Diversity policies

Both OES and National Oceanography Centre have joined Athena SWAN. OES was awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze Award, showing that the wider university had "a solid foundation for eliminating gender bias and developing an inclusive culture that values all staff", and that the department had "identified particular challenges" and was "planning activities for the future".

Sustainability policies

In July 2008 NOCS achieved ISO14001 certification (see ISO 14000) for its Environmental Management System. As part of the wider efforts to conserve electrical power and water consumption 544 solar panels and waterless urinals were installed.

References

External links

National Oceanography Centre

National Oceanography Centre, Southampton

University of Southampton

NERC

Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory

History of NOC
National Oceanography Centre {{authority control Buildings and structures in Southampton Natural Environment Research Council Oceanographic organizations University of Southampton