Press release
SAMOS at SAMSS 2025: a week of collaboration, engagement and outreach
From 8-12 September 2025, the South African Marine Science Symposium (SAMSS), organised by Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and the South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research (SANCOR), was held at the Southern Sun Cape Sun in Cape Town, South Africa. The SAMOS consortium took full advantage of this biennial event to convene in-person working meetings, strengthen academic partnerships, and engage with the broader marine science community in Southern Africa.
The week opened on Monday, 8 September, with an intensive day of project meetings hosted at the University of Cape Town. In the morning, Steven Herbette (UBO), coordinator of SAMOS, provided the Steering Committee with a comprehensive update on recent achievements and ongoing developments before moving on to the main topic of the meeting: the review of AOS-SAMOS student applications and the selection committee of the 2026 student cohort, coordinated by Louise Gammage and Marcello Vichi (UCT). The afternoon was dedicated to a consolidation workshop, coordinated by Louise Gammage with partner universities, during which the 2026 Academic Teaching Plan was refined.
On Tuesday, 9 September, SAMOS was represented in the main SAMSS programme. Steven Herbette (UBO), SAMOS coordinator, presented the project under Subtheme 6: Community Engagement and Education, highlighting the project’s commitment to ocean sciences education and capacity building. Later that day, a “Meet & Greet” event was organised by Garth van Heerden (NRF) and Mark Gibbons (UWC) in the framework of the SAMOS twinning programme. This initiative fostered networking among academics from partner universities, laying the foundation for the joint development of coursework modules and future collaborative research projects.
Engagement with the wider community continued on Wednesday, 10 September, when SAMOS team members hosted an exhibition stand at the conference venue. This space attracted students, scientists, and stakeholders eager to learn more about the AOS-SAMOS Master’s programme and the activities carried out within the project.
