ISA-China Joint Training and Research Centre
About the JTRC
The ISA-China Joint Training and Research Centre (JTRC) was launched in November 2020 during a virtual ceremony hosted by ISA Secretary-General and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, Mr. Wang Hong.
The JTRC was established as the first-ever joint training and research centre in Qingdao, China following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between ISA and the State Oceanic Administration of China in October 2019. The JTRC provides a new platform for ISA to promote capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology to developing States to advance and share human knowledge of the deep ocean and its environment.
Training workshops
The JTRC offers training programmes in marine science and technology, as well as in techniques for marine scientific research designed to facilitate the full participation of developing States in activities in the international deep-seabed area.
It supports the conduct of collaborative research programmes related to the latest developments concerning activities in the deep seabed, along with organizing conferences and workshops and disseminating the results of marine scientific research in easily accessible publications.
The first training took place virtually from 24 to 26 May 2022 and involved 55 participants from 20 countries, including 45 per cent of nationals from least developed countries, landlocked developing countries or small island developing States and 45 per cent of women.
The first JTRC workshop focused on survey and assessment of mineral resources, characteristics of deep-sea ecosystems and environmental management, and the global repository of data from exploration activities in the Area.
The second JTRC training workshop took place in Qingdao, China and focused on marine science and technology. It was targeted at junior scientists and engineers from diverse backgrounds (marine geologists, marine biologists, oceanographers, biogeochemists and others) with an interest in the deep sea as well as governmental officials.
The programme of the two-week training workshop included:
- Theoretical lectures on deep-sea related topics such as mineral resources, environmental protection, deep-sea biodiversity and habitats, and deep-sea technologies and equipment
- Operational practice of underwater vehicles and simulators
- Site visits to the ocean-related institutions in Qingdao
- Offshore operation onboard a research vessel
- Participation in an international symposium that will take place in Qingdao
- Group assignment and evaluation.
The third training workshop on the title “Advancing Marine Spatial Planning in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction for Sustainable Deep-Sea Stewardship: Best Practices and Key Insights from the REMP Process” will take place in Qingdao, China. The workshop will focus on the scientific and technical needs of developing States, members of ISA related to REMPs.
The objective of the five-day workshop is to provide comprehensive training related to:
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- concepts and scientific approaches in spatial planning
- the policy context and procedures in developing and implementing REMPs in the Area
- environmental characteristics and risks from activities in the Area, and their implications for spatial planning; and
- sources of data and methodologies used in REMP processes
Call for project proposals under the ISA-China Joint Training and Research Centre
Project proposals are invited on the following two distinct topics:
Topic 1. Scientific biological data analysis and management in deep-sea habitats
Key activities envisioned under this topic include
- conducting a scientific review of biological data contained in ISA’s DeepData database, as well as a compilation of biological data publicly available from global taxonomic databases and published peer-reviewed literature for the Northwest Pacific or the Indian Ocean[1]
- developing species identification tools, such as a regional species checklist and/or catalogues for the Northwest Pacific or the Indian Ocean
- assessing biodiversity metrics for the Northwest Pacific or the Indian Ocean and validating existing habitat suitability models using newly collected data.
The expected outcomes include
- technical and scientific knowledge products describing results of biological data analysis and synthesis, including bio-geographic distribution and biodiversity indices, and assessment of needs and priorities for taxonomic descriptions and data standardization in the study region(s)
- regional species checklists to aid in species identification and descriptions in selected regions in the Area and available for future taxonomic projects and collaborations.
Topic 2. Historical data scientific analysis, new data processing and machine learning techniques for DeepData
Key activities envisioned under this topic include
- cleaning and validation of historic data in the DeepData in collaboration with the data team of the Authority. A sample of the historical environmental data for the analysis is available here.
- developing statistical models or artificial intelligence approaches to analyse clean data sets of DeepData and extract meaningful insights
- digitization of reporting templates of DeepData: converting existing VBS scripting used in Excel macros into modern web-based JavaScript applications.
[1] ISA. DeepData Database.
Deadline: 31 March 2025
Call for proposals | Application form | Proponent information form
JTRC Steering Committee
The JTRC Steering Committee is the governing body of the JTRC. It was established in 2020 with the purpose of guiding the institutional set-up of the Centre and the work of the JTRC Secretariat. The Committee has held three meetings so far (in 2020, 2021 and 2022). The Committee was responsible for creating the Centre’s structure and work plan, and adopted documents related to the JTRC training activities.
The JTRC Steering Committee is composed of the following members:
- Mr. José Dallo Moros, Chair of the Steering Committee and Director of the Office of Environmental Management and Mineral Resources, ISA
- Dr. Georgy Cherkashov, Research Director of The All-Russia Scientific Research Institute for Geology and Mineral Resources of the Ocean, The Russian Federation
- Dr. Suzan Mohamed El-Gharabawy, Head of the Marine Geophysics Department at the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Egypt
- Mr. Fan Jingsheng, Deputy Director-General of China Deep Ocean Affairs Administration
- Ms. Chen Danhong, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Natural Resources of China
- Mr. Pan Xinchun, Vice President and Secretary-General of China Oceanic Development Foundation
- Ms. Gu Wu, Director-General of National Deep Sea Center of China
