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[Gudmundur Vidir Helgason]

SANDGERDI MARINE CENTRE
FIRST CALL FOR APPLICATIONS TO WORK AT THE LARGE SCALE FACILITY


The Sandgerdi Marine Centre (SMC) in Iceland has been granted the status of
Large Scale Facility under the TMR (Training and Mobility of Researchers)
programme of the European Commission. This opens possibilities for
scientists to apply for grants to stay at SMC for a period of 2 to 12 weeks.
Comfortable accommodation is provided for visiting scientists within the SMC
building. The grant covers travel expenses, accommodations at SMC, and other
expenses connected with scientific work.=20

Systematic collection of marine benthic invertebrates.

Iceland is located on the Greenland-Scotland Ridge (GS- Ridge) on the
biogeographic border of the North Atlantic Boreal and the Arctic Regions.
The main attraction of the Sandgerdi Marine Centre (SMC) is a unique
collection of benthic invertebrates, collected at both sides of the
GS-Ridge, down to depths of 3000m and where bottom water temperatures range
between -0.9=B0C and 8=B0C. The samples were collected during the=
 international
BIOICE project (Benthic Invertebrates of Icelandic Waters) which has been
operated since 1992, and is still in progress.  The initial stages of
sorting have been carried out, providing an accessible array of most major
taxa of benthic invertebrates.=20

The systematic collection of bentich animals at the SMC and the Icelandic
Museum of Natural History offer a wide variety of possible research
projects, including studies on taxonomy, phylogeny, zoogeography, and
biodiversity of benthic communities in the Arctic and the North Atlantic
Oceans.=20

Laboratory facilities

The SMC is located in Sandgerdi, a small fishing village on the southwest
coast of Iceland (50 km from the capital city, Reykjavik). The SMC is
equipped with high quality standard laboratory instruments (microscopes with
camera, videocamera, computers, etc), running seawater of exceptionally high
quality (constant 9=B0C, salinity 32.05 PSU) originating from a 50m deep=
 well
in the lava-beds. The contaminant-free seawater offer unique possibilities
for experimental work with marine organisms, like studies on toxicology,
physiology, behaviour and other general marine biological studies under
controlled conditions. Access to Scanning Electronic Microscope can be
arranged through the University of Iceland, Reykjavik.

Collecting opportunities

The seashore around the lab harbours a great variety of shore organisms that
are easily attainable during low tide (approximately 3.5 m tidal range). A
small research vessel equipped with a wide variety of sampling gear (grabs,
dredges, nets etc.) is available.=20

Eligibility

Scientists from CEC member states and associated states (Norway,
Liechtenstein and Israel; Switzerland in negotiation) except from Iceland
may submit proposals.  Proposals for the first call should be sent as soon
as possible, but at the latest by 31.05.1998, to: =20

The Project Manager of the Sandgerdi Marine Centre
Gudmundur V. Helgason,=20
Institute of Biology, University of Iceland,=20
Grensasvegur 12, IS-108 Reykjavik,=20
Iceland, E-mail:=20
gudmvid at hi.is.=20
Tel: + 354 525 4619
Fax: + 354 525 4069

For further information and application form see our web site
http://www.hi.is/pub/smc