About IIM

The Institute of Marine Research (IIM-CSIC) is one of the main marine research centers in the Iberian Peninsula. Looking at the Atlantic from Vigo, a city with a strong connection with the sea, the IIM-CSIC faces the challenge of increasing our knowledge about the ocean, from its physical characteristics to the food we take from it and the processes that bind the whole system together.

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Research

Research is at the core of the Institute of Marine Research's work. Working along 3 Core Research Themes, which intertwine and connect to each other, the researchers and technicians at the IIM-CSIC look for answers within 9 different research lines.

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Innovation

While our research provides us with new knowledge about our sea and shores, at the Institute of Marine Research we are committed to go a step further, creating new collaborations with the industry and other economic activities, be they already 'established' industries, such as fisheries or aquaculture, or 'emerging' ones, such as ocean observation.

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Society

Science is not complete until it is shared with society. As a public research institution, the IIM understands that its commitment is with society, fostering a two-way relationship with its surrounding community and an open perspective on science.

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Work & Study

Marine scientists, lab technicians, biologists, chemists and engineers, but also economists, lawyers or communicators (both working and in training) contribute to the interdisciplinary nature of our center. With more than 200 employees, the IIM-CSIC is a large community of people who work together for the sake of science, knowledge and sustainability.

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News & Events

Do you want to be aware of the latest at the IIM? The Institute has a whole team involved in communication & outreach, sharing all news that arise and organizing events to reach all sectors of society: from other peers working in science to children in schools or our neighbors from Vigo.

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Aquarium

With thoroughly refurbished facilities, the aquarium provides a space for the design of key animal experiments in an ethical and confortable environment for the animals.

The Aquarium service (also known as SACUIM) is staffed by several technicians specialized in the technical care and welfare of experimental marine organisms. They are also experts with a wide experience and training, able to assess and support researchers in animal experimentation project design and implementation.

The SACUIM team works with fish and molluscs such as zebrafish, turbot, cephalopods and mussel. Likewise, it has the necessary infrastructure to grow and store phytoplankton and zooplankton species that are used as food for fish and molluscs.

If you wish to know more about what the Institute does to ensure responsible animal experimentation and how we take care of the animals, click on the button below.

Experimentation & Animal Welfare Body (OEBA)

Occupying an area of 300 m2, the aquarium is divided into several independent rooms and properly equipped with wall and floor materials suitable for wet areas. All the rooms are equipped with freshwater, hot and cold seawater (filtered up to 10 μm), and raw water (filtered up to 50 μm) supplies, as well as filtered air conditioning and a spill containment system. A wastewater ozone pretreatment system, compliant with the limits established by the regulations, is also available.

This single infrastructure is considered a site for animal experimentation, breeding and use, registered under REGA code ES360570202001, and has recently been renovated and updated thanks to a grant aimed at scientific and technological infrastructures co-financed by FEDER funds (CSIC13-1E-2049 2012-2013).

Main tasks

  • Feeding, treating and taking care of the animals kept in the facilities while ensuring the proper conditions for the development and welfare of each species.
  • Recording animal additions and losses, as well as the procedures performed: numbers of individuals and species to which they belong, entries and exits, births, deaths, treatments administered, etc.
  • Assisting researchers at the IIM-CSIC in their procedures involving experimental animals in accordance with internal (OEBA) and corresponding external regulations.
  • Maintaining the technical infrastructure of aquarium systems such as pumps, blowers, filters, UV lamps, perlon cleaning, lighting, air conditioning, etc., in coordination with the Institute's Maintenance service.

 

Team

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Further info
Experimentation & Animal Welfare
Contact Us

Person in charge: Rubén Chamorro

sacuim@iim.csic.es | ext. 860199