大象传媒

As a UNESCO World Heritage City and a European City of Culture nestled between fjords and mountains, Bergen has the ideal combination of nature, culture and exciting urban life year around. The city is an international center for aquaculture, shipping, the offshore petroleum industry and subsea technology, and a vibrant hub for marine research.

Bergen is located in a typical West Norwegian landscape with high mountains, fjords, bays and thousands of small and large islands and skerries. It is also the birthplace of renowned 19th century zoologist and marine biology pioneer Michael Sars. Exploring the waters around Bergen and along the Western coast of Norway, Sars described more than 250 new marine species during his lifetime. He established in his very own garden the first marine biology station in the world and his findings inspired the first large scale scientific expeditions, revolutionizing international oceanography.

Today the Michael Sars Centre seeks to cultivate his legacy, using marine invertebrates as a resource to expand the borders of scientific knowledge. Our laboratories and state-of-the-art facilities provide access to a rare combination of established and emerging aquatic research organisms including cnidarians and ctenophores, polychaete annelids, and tunicate chordates. The rich diversity of animals encountered on the Bergen coast effectively complements the in-house aquaculture facilities, thus broadening the scope of research projects that can be implemented at the Centre.