European Research Centre in the Danube Delta
Romanian and European scientists will study the Danube, the Danube Delta and the Black Sea in a research centre in Murighiol, south-eastern Romania.
România Internațional, 20.10.2014, 13:03
The south-eastern Romanian village of Murighiol is located in a unique European region, the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. Included on the UNESCO world heritage list, the Reserve is viewed as a museum of biodiversity, which comprises 30 types of ecosystems. A natural gene bank for the world natural heritage, the Danube Delta is also one of the few inhabited deltas in the world and one of the world’s largest wetlands. In breathtaking scenery, protected from accelerated modernisation, the locals live on agriculture, fishing, and tourism.
The decision to locate the command centre of a pan-European research project in Murighiol is, therefore, quite appropriate. Romanian and European scientists will study the Danube River, Danube Delta and the Black Sea and will look for solutions to problems such as flooding, landslides or pollution. Here is Adrian Stanica, the coordinator of this project:
Adrian Stanica: “We are trying to conduct on-site measurements in the Danube Delta, which will thus become a living lab. What happens in Europe whenever there is a flash flood? Fifty to one hundred people die. So this is a global issue, and this is the kind of themes we will research. The Danube Delta will only host the core of the project, which will have branches in various labs in Europe, in research institutions and universities from 15 European countries.”
The centre, which will be the meeting point for thousands of students, researchers and Ph.D. students, will also train experts in this field. The international involvement is particularly necessary considering that in Romania there are no researchers specialising in the thousands of plant and animal species of the Danube Delta. The Romanian Government has already allotted funds for the centre, which is viewed as a representative project for the EU. Its scope is comparable to that of the platform in Magurele, near Bucharest, which will host the world’s greatest laser as of 2017.
Once completed, the super-laser in Magurele will be used in research as well as for practical purposes, such as for the remote identification of nuclear materials, for the non-intrusive inspection of cargo shipments as well as for radioactive waste management. Last, but not least, scientists will use it to identify innovative treatments in medicine, given that the laser in Magurele will enable them to produce new types of radio isotopes or new medical imaging technologies.
