Overview
SEA-UNICORN allowed to bring together a broad, interdisciplinary community of scientists, marine managers and policy-makers, from more than 150 organizations spread around the world, in order to advance knowledge and unify concepts and approaches in the emerging field of Marine Functional Connectivity (MFC).
The SEA-UNICORN network:
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>300 participants
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>150 institutions
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42 countries, spread over Europe (and beyond).
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The SEA-UNICORN consortium has expertise on MFC:
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in all oceans/seas
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for all types of marine taxa, including invasive species
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for organisms living at the sea-continent interface.
Its Management Committee was formed by ~70 experts in very diverse disciplines in link with MFC.
Many of them have solid experience in marine policy and management.
For four years, SEA-UNICORN scientists shared their complementary expertise to identify knowledge gaps in the field of MFC, and integrate information gained from a wide range of tools such as genetics, remote sensing / telemetry, morphological analyses, and dispersal modelling.
Inputs from theoreticians, ecosystem modellers, and conservation scientists, but also from marine policy-makers and resource or ecosystem managers in the network, also contributed to advance concepts and methods in MFC science.
Our common aim was to improve knowledge on MFC and facilitate the incorporation of MFC data into the projection models and decision support tools used for decision-taking in marine policy and management.
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Learn more about
What is a COST Action?
The European COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) program is a funding agency for international research networks, called COST Actions.
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COST Actions offer an open space for collaboration among scientists and stakeholders across Europe (and beyond). This allows groups to grow their ideas by sharing them with their peers as well as across disciplines, thereby boosting European research and innovation. COST Actions provide their members unique opportunities to develop their careers and enhance their professional networks.
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As other COST Actions, SEA-UNICORN was an open, interdisciplinary and growing network, welcoming new academics and relevant stakeholders each year to contribute to the activities listed in its Memorandum of Understanding. Its network grew from 72 proposers (from 26 countries) in 2020 to over 700 participants from all over the world (including >200 active members) in 2024.