SIMS - About Us

About Us

Eastern weedy seadragon.
© 2009 Erik Schlogl eschlogl.redbubble.com

The Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) is a not for profit unlisted public company founded in 2005 by four universities (Macquarie, NSW, Sydney and UTS) as a collaborative research institute bringing together scientists from the universities in the greater Sydney region and from several state and federal government departments, The Australian Museum and the Australian Defence Science & Technology Organisation.
It is the principal marine research institute on the South-East Australian coast providing a focal point for:

world class collaborative marine research;

provision of marine research for policy makers and managers;

research training and teaching in the marine sciences; and

national and international collaboration.

What does SIMS do?

Research

Research at SIMS covers a broad spectrum of the marine sciences, including the sustainability of our oceans and estuarine marine environments, the development of new marine technologies and protection against invasive pest species and diseases that can cause great harm to our marine ecosystems. SIMS is also the manager for the NSW node of the Australian Government's Integrated Marine Observing System - IMOS

Training

SIMS plays a vital role in helping to produce the next generation of researchers and managers of the marine environment by encouraging significant numbers of PhD candidates to pursue their research at SIMS and by conducting a broad range of post-graduate specialty marines courses.

Enthusing and informing Australians about science

Members of the public are encouraged to visit SIMS at Chowder Bay, overlooking Sydney Harbour. Visitors should leave with the impression that marine science is both relevant and important to the community and that SIMS is a dynamic research centre.

Governance

SIMS is overseen by a Board of Directors and the research programme is under the direction of the Scientific Advisory Committee.

Chowder Bay facilities

SIMS is located in historic buildings at Chowder Bay, Mosman under a long term lease from the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust. Chowder Bay is an ideal location for marine research as it is near the Sydney Heads and has high quality seawater available to service SIMS' research aquarium.