GROUPS

University & Academic Partnerships

Marine Research Projects works directly with universities, marine biology departments, and environmental science faculties to design meaningful, academically rigorous field experiences for undergraduate students and research groups. Whether your department is looking to offer a structured field course, support student dissertation research, or bring real-world marine science into your lecture programme, we have the expertise, the destinations, and the established research infrastructure to make it happen.

Our projects are active across some of the world’s most important marine ecosystems — from the coral reefs and dolphin populations of Zanzibar to the whale sharks of Mozambique and the great white sharks of South Africa’s Western Cape. These are not tourist experiences. They are active, data-driven conservation programmes that your students can genuinely contribute to.

What We Offer Academic Partners

We offer three core ways to partner with your university or department. Each can be tailored to your curriculum, student level, group size, and academic calendar.

Research Destinations & Active Projects

Our academic partners gain access to established, long-running research programmes in extraordinary locations. Current active projects available for university partnerships include:

• Zanzibar, Tanzania — Bottlenose dolphin behavioural research and coral reef health monitoring in Menai Bay. Ongoing since 2013 in partnership with the University of Dar es Salaam.
• Mozambique — Whale shark identification, manta ray population studies, and marine megafauna surveys in the Bazaruto Archipelago and Tofo area.
• South Africa (Western Cape) — Great white shark research, cage diving behavioural studies, and marine predator ecology around Gansbaai and False Bay.
• Further destinations — Additional projects across the Indian Ocean and East African coastline available on request depending on group size, timing, and research focus.

All projects involve genuine data collection that contributes to peer-reviewed research and conservation policy. Students leave with real field experience, original datasets, and direct exposure to the challenges of applied marine conservation.

How It Works

Getting a university partnership up and running is straightforward. Here’s how we typically work with new academic partners:

1. Initial consultation — We speak with your department to understand your curriculum goals, student level, group size, preferred timing, and any specific research focus areas.
2. Programme design — We put together a tailored proposal including destination, project structure, daily schedule, academic outputs, logistics, and pricing. Typically delivered within five working days.
3. Review & refinement — We work with you to adjust the programme until it fits your department’s exact requirements, including any risk assessment or ethical approval documentation you need.
4. Pre-departure briefing — Our team delivers a pre-departure session (in person or online) to prepare students for fieldwork, covering methodology, safety, and what to expect on the ground.
5. Field experience — Students join the project with full support from our resident marine biologists, field coordinators, and local research partners.
6. Post-expedition support — We provide data summaries, field reports, and follow-up sessions to support student write-up and academic submission.

Get in Touch

If you’re a university lecturer, department head, or field course coordinator looking to give your students a genuinely transformative research experience, we’d love to hear from you. We’re happy to discuss your requirements informally before any commitment — just get in touch and we’ll take it from there.

Contact us to discuss your academic partnership →

Explore Our Academic Programmes

Browse our current group and academic programmes below, or get in touch to discuss a fully customised expedition for your department: