National Inter-University Consortium for Marine Sciences

CoNISMa is a national inter-university Consortium established in February 1994 to promote and coordinate research activities in marine sciences among Italian Universities. It is also legally recognized and under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MUR).

The main aim pursued by CoNISMa is to promote and coordinate research and various other scientific and applicative activities in the field of marine sciences by favouring cooperation not only among the associated universities, but also with other universities, public and private research organizations, local and regional bodies and productive structures.

CoNISMa also promotes and encourages the training of experts in the various fields of research, by granting scholarships. It plays a major effort to make the results of Italian and international marine research available for application in the public and private areas and to support Italian and international projects.

Since October 2011, CoNISMa has been a member of the European Marine Board and of other European Networks such as EMBRC (European Marine Biological Resource Centre) and EUROMARINE (European Marine Research Network).