ICES Annual Science Conference 2026

Educational trips in Brest

ASC 2026 offers an exciting selection of field trips on Monday 14 September.

Registration is now open. Please sign up for each programme you wish to attend.

Discover France’s most vibrant marine research ecosystems
During the Annual Science Conference 2026, a limited number of participants will get the opportunity to ttake part in exclusive excursions to leading laboratories, innovative companies, and major research infrastructures located along the western tip of Brittany.

The excursions are hosted by Campus Mondial de la Mer, France’s leading community for marine science and technology. The Campus spans the entire Finistère region, the country’s foremost coastal department, home to over 43,800 maritime jobs across 2,720 organizations. Campus Mondial de la Mer is coordinated by Brest-Iroise Technopôle.

Registration

Use the link under each of the excursions below to register.

Participation is free of charge.

Marine Renewable Energies course

Meet France Energies Marines, the national reference institute dedicated to marine renewable energies. Its aim is to support this new industrial sector and covers all MRE, including land-based and floating offshore wind power, tidal power, wave power and ocean thermal energy. Based on a broad public-private partnership, France Energies Marines strengthens synergies between public research and industrial players, thanks to multi-disciplinary research teams.

Visit the assembly site of Eolink, developing an integrated turbine-float solution for floating wind turbines that can be industrialised on a large scale as part of the French and European industrial revival.

Organizations

Amure lab, France Energies marines, Eolink, Brest Port

Date and time
Monday 14 September
14:00-17:00

Max. participants
50

Meeting point
To be confirmed

Registration
Click here to register

Aquatic waste and long-term post-pollution monitoring

Meet Labocea, Sedisor, Cerema, and Cedre!

Labocea is a COFRAC-accredited laboratory, approved by the Ministries for the analysis of water, sludge, soil and sediment, living matter and foodstuffs, physico-chemical, pollutant and microbiological analyses and animal health. Labocea provides advice and expertise in the fields of environment and food, diagnostics (BV, bay contracts, SAGE, coastal water quality) audit, consultancy and training

Sedisor specializes in the analysis of concentrations (major, trace and ultra-trace) and isotopic compositions (Sr, Nd, Hf, Pb, Li, O, C, N... and dating). Sedisor works on all types of inorganic, organic, fluid and solid matrices, operating as a service provider or as part of a research collaboration in the geosciences as well as the environment, pollution, quality or fraud control and carries out measurements using IRMS, ICP-OES, ICP-MS-HR, MC-ICP-MS and TIMS in association with the Pôle de Spectrométrie Océan (PSO).

Cerema is a public administrative body under the supervision of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Solidarity (MTES) and the Ministry for Territorial Cohesion (MCT). It is a resource centre for scientific and technical expertise, providing support for the design, implementation and evaluation of public policies implemented by government departments and local authorities. It operates in the major technical areas of the ministries (planning, housing, urban policy, transport, mobility, road safety, environment, sustainable cities, buildings, risks, public infrastructure, etc.) and offers a very wide range of services: applied research, innovation, experimentation, technology watch, methodology, expertise, advanced engineering, etc. Its specificity is based on its strong local roots and its ability to act as a link between central government departments, decentralised government services and local authorities.

Cedre is an international expert in accidental water pollution organised around five activities: response support, planning, training, analysis and testing, and research. Also a recognised documentation resource centre, the Cedre has been active in France and internationally for almost 40 years. Its multidisciplinary team is made up of 50 technicians, engineers, and PhDs.

Organization

Cedre, Labocea, Sedisor, Cerema

Date and time
Monday 14 September
14:00-16:45

Max. participants
50

Meeting point

715 Rue Alain Colas, 29200 Brest

Registration

Click here to register

Transdisciplinary course

Organizations

IUEM-ISBlue, Oceanopolis

Date and Time

Monday 14 September

14:00 - 17:00

Max. Participants

Meeting point

To be confirmed

Registration

Click here to register

Meet ISblue, the “Interdisciplinary graduate School for the blue planet” (ISblue) created to train the next generation of ocean innovators and science leaders and place them at the forefront of research to answer the needs of the growing blue economy through top level research-based training.

ISblue gathers most of the forces in marine science and technology in West and South Brittany, belonging to the universities (UBO, UBS), research national organisms (CNRS, Ifremer, IRD), engineering schools (IMT-Atlantique, ENSTA Bretagne, ENIB) and the French naval academy.

Aquaculture course

Meet Roscoff Biological Station, a centre for research and higher education in marine biology and ecology, founded in 1872. It is under the joint supervision of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Sorbonne University (SU). The research carried out at the Station Biologique de Roscoff aims to provide a better understanding of the origin and evolution of life, the functioning of ecosystems and the adaptation of marine organisms to global change.

The SBR also contributes to local development by:

Developing sustainable production systems for marine bio-resources (microbial, plant or animal).
Researching molecules for applications in animal and plant nutrition and health, thalassotherapy and cosmetics.

Blue Valley, whose ambition is to develop the blue bioeconomy, and more specifically marine biotechnologies, an industrial sector of the future for the tip of Brittany. Blue Valley® has 2 main objectives:

To support employment and employability in the sector by developing a local animation. In concrete terms, this means organizing events designed to:
1. Raise awareness of entrepreneurship in higher education and research institutions.
2. Make students and young researchers aware of the professions.
3. Create projects, start-ups and attract companies.

Facilitate the entrepreneur's residential itinerary:
1. By setting up a referral point of contact to connect and direct project holders to the appropriate experts.
2. By promoting the installation of companies in specially designed locations (offices, laboratories, sites with direct access to the sea or land areas).

Visit France Haliotis, nestled in the heart of Aber Wrac’h, in northern Finistère, where they cultivate seaweed and farms Breton abalones in the open sea, feeding them exclusively on seaweed harvested locally by hand. Alongside the organic edible seaweed they cultivate, the abalone is an iconic Breton seafood product that forms part of the region’s culinary traditions. France Haliotis’ values and commitment to innovative, environmentally friendly production methods are recognised in Brittany and around the world. It is a quality artisan producer, recognised by the Collège Culinaire de France, and a supplier listed by ECOTABLE. France Haliotis’ abalones and seaweed are served at Europe’s finest restaurants, such as Le Meurice, the Hôtel de la Butte, Maison Bras, Zilte in Belgium, Ma Langue Sourit in Luxembourg and the restaurant at the Hôtel de Ville in Crissier, Switzerland.

We are still finalizing a few more partners and will share updates shortly.

Organizations

France Haliotis, Blue Valley, Roscoff Biological Station (TBC), Blue Valley

Date and Time

Monday 14 September

15:00 - 17:00

Max. Participants

Meeting point

Brest train station

Registration

Click here to register

Visit the Thalassa

Visit the Thalassa, a deep-sea fisheries research vessel, 73.65m long, capable of sailing in all oceans. Its main tasks relate to: population ecology, monitoring fished species, studying resource distribution over time and space, fishing and processing methods, physical oceanography, occasional deployment of the ROV Victor 6000. The Thalassa was the result of cooperation between Ifremer and the IEO (Instituto Español de Oceanografia).

Date and time

Monday 14 September

Morning excursion: 10:00 - 12:00
Afternoon excursion: 14:00 - 16:00

Max. participants
30 in the morning
30 in the afternoon

Meeting point
To be confirmed

Registration
Click here to register - morning

Click here to register - afternoon

Biodiversity protection - During the week

Meet the French Office for Biodiversity, a public body dedicated to protecting and restoring biodiversity in mainland France and the French overseas territories, under the supervision of the Ministries of Ecology and Agriculture. The Brittany regional office of the French Office for Biodiversity employs around 130 people throughout the country.

Questions?

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]. We are happy to help!