About us
Kristineberg Center is located by the Gullmar fjord in the centre of Bohuslän province. Here you find ships, field equipment, diving facilities, laboratories, sea water systems, lecture halls, accomodation, mess, as well as skilled and helpful staff.
Many different types of projects within a series of marine areas are conducted at Kristineberg. Some include developing new materials and foods from the sea. Others deal with the climate’s impact on marine life and include both underwater robots and digital technologies. The centre is operated and developed jointly by Chalmers University of Technology, University of Gothenburg, IVL Swedish Environmental Institute, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden.
History
Kristineberg was created in 1877 on the initiative of Sven Lovén, and is one of the oldest marine stations for education and research in the world.
During 20th century the name was changed, first to Kristinebergs Marine Biological Station and then Kristineberg Marine Research Station. Up to 2007, it was run by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in close partnership with the University of Gothenburg. After 2008, the station was been run by the University of Gothenburg. From 2008 to 2016 the station was a part of the Sven Lovén Centre for Marine Sciences (renamed Sven Lovén Centre for Marine Infrastructure in 2016). Since 2018, Kristineberg is a part of the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Gothenburg. Since 2022 the station is operated and developed jointly by Chalmers University of Technology, University of Gothenburg, IVL Swedish Environmental Institute, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, under the name Kristineberg Center for Marine Research and Innovation.
Surroundings
Kristineberg is located at the mouth of the Gullmar fjord, with easy access to coastal habitats and open sea.
The Gullmar fjord is 30 km long with a maximum depth of 118 m. Key features that makes this an important marine environment are the excellent water quality with three rather distinct water-masses; surface water of varying salinity depending on the mixture of local runoff and water from the Baltic and Kattegat/Skagerrak surface water, inter-mediate layer dominated by Skagerrak surface water and high saline bottom water from the North Sea at greater depths.
A large number of different habitats including steep rocks, deep basin sediments, sand and mud flats, sea grass beds, and exposed and protected shores, resulting in a very high biodiversity. Scientific studies have taken place in the Gullmar fjord since the 1830s, therefore the fjord is now well documented. The Gullmar fjord is a nature reserve, since 1983, as well as an EU BIOMARE reference area.