NECCTON to be showcased for Franco-British Collaboration at RISE Fr-UK 2025

Monday 3 November 2025

Location: Royal Society in London

The NECCTON (New Copernicus Capability for Trophic Ocean Networks) project has been selected for inclusion in the upcoming RISE Fr-UK event, recognising it as a leading example of European research excellence built on strong Franco-British cooperation.

NECCTON is designed to support the delivery of products that inform marine biodiversity conservation and food resources management, by fusing innovative ocean ecosystem models and new data. Plymouth Marine Laboratory has been involved in the NECCTON from the start, joining a consortium of 22 other world-leading research-intensive institutes, universities, and small and medium enterprises, who have each brought unique skills and expertise to the project.

RISE Fr-UK – Research and Innovation Excellence in Science for Europe – France–UK – highlights ambitious European projects where partnerships between France and the United Kingdom generate added value and accelerate innovation. The initiative honours coordinators and teams for their commitment to European collaboration, while creating a platform to strengthen bilateral research and innovation ties.

The event will take place on 3 November 2025 at the Royal Society in London, bringing together representatives from European policy, funding agencies, the scientific community, and industry leaders from both countries. NECCTON’s selection reflects its success in harnessing cross-channel expertise to address shared scientific challenges and deliver impactful results.

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PML’s Dr James Clark, Marine Systems Modeller at PML, leads Work Package 5 “Improving the CMEMS capability in lower-trophic level modelling” of the NECCTON project, and describes it in more detail below:

“NECCTON is an exciting project that can benefit marine biodiversity conservation and food resources management in two key areas.

Firstly, NECCTON aims to better meet information needs for policymakers to assess biodiversity and food resources, to better inform decisions in managing our ocean responsibly.

Secondly, NECCTON aims to improve the quality and range of biogeochemical products and services available through the Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS). CMEMS provides free, regular and systematic authoritative information on the state of the ocean, globally and regionally. It is designed to increase global ocean literacy and boost the blue economy across all maritime sectors by providing state-of-the-art ocean data and information free of charge.

NECCTON will allow the delivery of quality-assessed products required by the Copernicus Marine service user community, and this essential data can contribute to: combating pollution, marine protection, maritime safety and routing, sustainable use of ocean resources, developing renewable marine energy resources, supporting blue growth, climate monitoring, forecasting, and more.”

The consortium is coordinated by Mercator Ocean International (MOi), which is the entrusted entity of the Copernicus Marine Service, and led by Dr Stefano Ciavatta from MOi. PML supports with management of the project.