To mark the Institute’s 50th anniversary in 2016, its Chair, Patricia Ricard, and the Chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard, Alexandre Ricard, launched Take OFF, Take Ocean For Future.
This is a two-pronged programme that:
› supports young researchers from the international community and 
› encourages businesses to offer corporate sponsorship for science.

The Take OFF, Take Ocean For Future initiative is focused on research activities around nature-based solutions in fields like biomimetism, sustainable aquaculture and ecosystem restoration.
The research centre on Les Embiez island welcomed its first international student, from South Korea’s Korea Maritime and Ocean University (KMOU), in 2017. He worked on biofouling* (link to research program) under the supervision of Dr Robert Bunet. He studied alternative materials for preventing organisms from attaching to submerged objects like ships’ hulls, and the use of biocides in paint, which are toxic for living organisms.

In spring 2018, Bok Il Jan, a young researcher also from the Korea Maritime and Ocean University and specialised in aquatic animal nutrition, spent six weeks at the Institute researching the feeding of farmed species and alternatives to fishmeal.