TURK DENIZ ARASTIRMALARI VAKFI

Their core work

TUDAV (Turkish Marine Research Foundation) is a non-profit research organisation based in Istanbul dedicated to marine science, conservation, and education in Turkish coastal waters and the wider Black Sea and Mediterranean region. They conduct field-based ecological research, contribute historical and archaeological perspectives on long-term changes in marine vertebrate populations, and monitor contemporary marine ecosystems for biodiversity, biogeochemistry, and resilience. In their most recent EU engagement, they are helping to advance Black Sea marine science infrastructure while building regional capacity for blue economy innovation, including incubating marine start-ups. They serve as a regional gateway — bringing Turkish and Black Sea field access to pan-European research consortia that would otherwise lack it.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earliest H2020 involvement (SeaChanges, from 2019), TUDAV's contribution was anchored in historical and archaeological science — zooarchaeology, environmental history, and economic archaeology applied to understanding past human pressure on marine vertebrates. By their second project (BRIDGE-BS, from 2021), the vocabulary shifted entirely toward applied ecosystem management: resilience, multi-stressors, biogeochemistry, blue growth, and capacity building. This is a meaningful pivot from retrospective ecological analysis toward forward-looking marine governance and economic development, likely reflecting both organisational strategy and the shifting priorities of EU marine funding.

TUDAV is moving from purely academic historical ecology toward applied Black Sea ecosystem management and blue economy development, positioning itself as a bridge between regional marine science and economic opportunity.

How they like to work

TUDAV has never coordinated an EU project — they join as partner or participant, consistently contributing specialist regional or thematic expertise to consortia led by others. Their two projects involved 66 distinct partners across 24 countries, which means they are comfortable operating inside large, complex international consortia. This pattern suggests an organisation that is a reliable contributor of niche regional knowledge rather than a project driver, and that prospective partners should expect TUDAV to be a responsive but non-dominant collaborator.

Despite only two H2020 projects, TUDAV has connected with 66 unique consortium partners spanning 24 countries — a direct consequence of joining large RIA and MSCA-ITN consortia. Their network likely concentrates around Black Sea riparian nations and European marine research institutes with Mediterranean and eastern European interests.

What sets them apart

TUDAV is one of the very few Turkish marine research organisations with demonstrated EU H2020 participation, making them an uncommon bridge between EU research networks and Turkish coastal and Black Sea field infrastructure. Their combination of deep-time historical ecology methods and present-day marine ecosystem science is rare — few organisations can connect zooarchaeological records of past fisheries exploitation to contemporary biogeochemical monitoring. For any consortium needing credible Black Sea or Turkish marine coverage, TUDAV fills a regional gap that western or northern European institutes cannot replicate.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BRIDGE-BS
  The only project in which TUDAV received direct EC funding (EUR 225,875), combining Black Sea ecosystem resilience science with blue economy start-up development — an unusual pairing of hard science and economic capacity building.
• SeaChanges
  A large MSCA Innovative Training Network applying zooarchaeology and environmental history to marine vertebrate exploitation — an interdisciplinary topic that is genuinely rare in EU marine funding.