C1. Marine Geosciences

1.1. Seabed gas venting, fluid flow and gas hydrates

1.2. Marine geohazards along continental margins

1.3. Canyon processes

1.4. Underwater geo-archaeology, submerged prehistoric landscapes and settlements

1.5. Shoreline dynamics and sea level change (including coastal erosion and subsidence)

1.6. Salt under the Mediterranean Sea (Messinian salinity crisis, the response of sedimentary basins and the deep biosphere, modern salt production, the cultural heritage of Mediterranean salt)

1.7. Interaction of deep sea circulation with seabed morphology (canyons, seamounts, escarpments)

1.8. Applications of high-resolution imagery techniques (multi-beam, Lidar, satellite)

1.9. The land-sea continuum (including watershed inputs)

1.10. Metal distribution in sediments

1.11. Sedimentary processes on continental margins

1.12. Gas and oil exploration studies (seismic surveys)

1.13. Marine tectonics, geodynamics

1.14. Paleoceanography

1.15. Microbes in sediments (geo-microbiology, impact of microbes in the sediments, early diagenesis, methane, etc.)

C2. Physics & Climate of the Ocean

2.1. High frequency Lagrangian and Eulerian observing systems

2.2. Sea level – variability from climatic to tsunami temporal scales

2.3. Basin-wide and mesoscale circulation - features and effects on ecosystem

2.4. Circulation – effects of atmospheric, radiative and lateral forcings

2.5. Recent circulation models

2.6. Coastal/ open sea exchanges

2.7. In situ observations (cruises, buoys, drifters, satellites, gliders) of essential ocean Variables (physical, geochemical, biological)

2.8. Interannual and decadal variations of thermohaline properties

2.9. Hydrochanges Program – results and perspectives

2.10. Lateral forcings in the Mediterranean (Gibraltar, Turkish straits, Suez Canal)

2.11. Variability on climatic scales

2.12. Physical/ biological coupling

2.13. Global change and extreme events

2.14. Networking Initiatives in Oceanography (Jerico, EMSO, EuroArgo, FixO3, Emodnet, ICOS, etc ...)

C3. Marine Biogeochemistry

3.1. Coastal lagoons / marshes (biogeochemistry, fluxes, processes, sediment and water contamination)

3.2. Sources of pollution (sans in the Med) effluents, industrial pollution, urban pollution, water treatment, maritime transport)

3.3. Fluxes in estuaries and deltas (riverine inputs, dispersion, hydro sedimentary processes)

3.4. Deep sea contamination (deep sea effluents, deep sea fans, deep sea transport and accumulation)

3.5. Bioaccumulation and trophic transfer (ingestion and partition of pollutants, excretion, biological processes, bio-magnification)

3.6. Marine litter and microplastics (inputs, distribution and impacts of marine debris, degradation, rafted species, transfer of pollutants)

3.7. Toxicity, ecotoxicity, biomarkers (mechanisms, toxicological tests, response of marine organisms to pollutants, indicators)

3.8. Modelling the chemical contamination (fate of pollutants and litter, prediction and backtracking, oils spills)

3.9. Remote sensing and marine pollution (satellites, LIDAR, drones, gliders, etc)

3.10. Latest methods in marine chemistry (passive sampling, nanoparticles, in situ detection, Gliders, new approaches)

3.11. Large scale marine pollution surveys

3.12. Ocean acidification (processes, impacts)

3.13. Atmospheric chemical pollutants (sources, fluxes, properties, analytical tools, ocean-atmosphere, interface)

3.14. Biogeochemical cycles, past and present (budgets, transformation, processes)

3.15. Blue carbon stock and C sequestration

C4. Marine Microbiology & Biotechnology

4.1. Marine microbial diversity

4.2. Virus diversity

4.3. Microbial pathways

4.4. Mega sequencing projects & marine bioinformatics

4.5. Meta-Omics'

4.6. Single cell genomics

4.7. Microbial symbioses (biology, ecology, biotech dvpmts, ...)

4.8. Blue biotechnology

4.9. Essential biodiversity variables & Ocean Health Index

4.10. Marine genetic resources and the Nagoya protocol

4.11. Extremophiles

4.12. Phytoplankton (including nano-plankton)

4.13. HABs

4.14. Marine biofilms (ecological role and related biotech developments)

4.15. New microbiological techniques

C5. Living Resources & Marine Ecosystems

5.1. Food webs and trophic dynamics

5.2. Open sea and conservation (incl. offshore wind farms and oil and gas platforms)

5.3. Artificial habitats

5.4. Human treats on top predators (underwater noise, litter, maritime traffic, overfishing)

5.5. Exotic species (including invasive species and Baltic/Med/Black sea connections)

5.6. Climatic and anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity / Tropical Signals

5.7. Indicators and tools for biodiversity conservation

5.8. Threatened and totemic species

5.9. Large scale biodiversity surveys

5.10. Key habitats (maerl beds, seagrass beds, coralligenous, intertidal biotic reefs, etc.)

5.11. The new Suez Canal and its impacts

5.12. Biotic impact of extreme events

5.13. Marine caves

5.14. Deep sea ecosystems

5.15. Gelatinous plankton

5.16. Other zooplankton

5.17. Assessing and forecasting populations

5.18. Cartilaginous fish

5.19. Corridors and connectivity

5.20. Rocky shore ecology

5.21. Soft bottom ecology

5.22. Genetic /genomics techniques for biodiversity investigations

5.23. Ship transported biota (ballast, hull)

5.24. Shared fishery stocks

5.25. Seaweeds (and sea grass)

C6. Coastal Systems & Marine Policies

6.1. Valuation of marine ecosystem, marine societal value

6.2. Ocean policies and local implementation

6.3. Success stories of partnerships with civil society

6.4. Local Ecological Knowledge (collaborations with fishermen)

6.5. Cumulative impacts of stressors

6.6. Integrated coastal observatories

6.7. Ecological-economic modelling of small-scale fisheries

6.8. Aquaculture impacts

6.9. Hotspots of coastal pollution

6.10. Blue carbon socio-economic valuation

6.11. Trans-boundary conservation actions (MPAs, etc)

6.12. GIS applications to coastal ecosystem management

6.13. Green coastal tourism:challenges and success stories