National Institute of Oceanography

India has a shoreline of more than 7,000 kms running along the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. The coastline is rich in biodiversity with wide variety in marine species, supporting a thriving economy. So a need to study various aspects of the ocean was felt. With this in mind the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, established an Institute structured along the best traditions of any marine laboratory in the world. The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), founded on 1st January 1966, in outskirts of Panaji city, has now grown to become one of the premier marine research institutions in the world.

The primary objective of NIO, at the time of its establishment, was to give Indian oceanography an identity of its own. The R&D activities during the first decade of its existence were to bring all branches of science relevant to oceanography together and develop a synthetic approach. The success of this became evident in the second decade itself. It was at this time the industrial development along Indian coasts was in exponential phase and at the same time there was also an increased awareness for environmental protection. The ability of NIO to view the problem holistically, involving engineers, physicists, chemists, biologists and geologists, played a pivotal role in promoting environmentally sustainable industrial development along the Indian coasts.

The Institute has three regional centers, at Kochi, Mumbai and Vishakapatnam. More than 200 scientists at the headquarters and its regional centres endeavor to sustain NIO's ambition towards excellence in science and through that, service to society. In this, they are supported by 400 technical and administrative staff, besides a number of doctoral students. While the service to industries still remains a major activity, NIO entered a third phase in the recent years by restructuring its R&D efforts towards tasks that are industrially, economically and socially relevant. Besides retaining research in open and coastal waters as the core activity, NIO has also begun to direct the R&D efforts towards creation of patents and intellectual property rights.

The major research areas are:

1) Sustainable use of the coastal zone
2) Development of marine instruments
3) Coastal dynamics
4) Deterioration of materials in marine environment
5) Land-ocean interaction
6) Archaeological exploration
7) Role of Indian Ocean in monsoon & climate variability
8) Biodiversity & biomedical potential
9) Biotechnology for industrial & aquaculture applications
10) Offshore mineral resources

Address:
Dona Paula, Panaji,
Goa - 403 004,
Phone: 223 340,
Email: ocean@darya.nio.org

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