Queen's University Belfast, Marine Laboratory

Queen's University Marine Laboratory, Portaferry, is the marine research station in Northern Ireland and a specialist research institute within Queen's University Belfast. The Marine Lab is used by a community of 60 staff and students, some of which are resident on site year round, as well as international visitors. These cover an interdisciplinary research team from three parts of the university: School of Biological Sciences, the School of Planning Architecture and Civil Engineering and the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology. Facilities in Portaferry include the University scientific SCUBA diving team, small boats for coastal sampling, wave basin test facility for coastal engineering, extensive modern laboratories, and flow-through seawater system. Located at the entrance of Strangford Lough, the largest sea lough in Britain or Ireland, the Marine Lab is positioned adjacent to one of the fastest tidal races in Europe and the site of extensive testing and monitoring of the efficiency and environmental impacts of tidal energy converters.