NEW PROJECT: SMART EXPERIMENTAL FACILITIES FOR AQUATIC PROCESSES (SEFAP)

The Netherlands, often called the “land of water,” faces increasing challenges in maintaining the ecological quality of its ponds, ditches, wetlands, and lakes. Escalating human pressures—including pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss—are putting inland waters under severe stress. The SMART Experimental Facilities for Aquatic Processes (SEFAP) project aims to address these challenges by bringing together leading Dutch aquatic experimentalists, research infrastructures, and data scientists.

SEFAP will enable the future of aquatic ecosystems to be experimentally created and tested using SMART-enabled replicated mini-lake ecosystems. These advanced mesocosm systems will integrate new technologies such as environmental sensors, automated samplers, improved heating and cooling systems, advanced analytical techniques, and data science pipelines. By combining these innovations with experimental aquatic ecosystems, SEFAP will provide new capabilities for understanding and predicting how freshwater systems respond to interacting pressures such as climate change and pollution.

The project will upgrade four major mesocosm facilities in the Netherlands located at NIOO-KNAW, Leiden University, Radboud University, and Wageningen University & Research. Together with expertise in data standardization and open science from the University of Twente and DANS-KNAW, SEFAP will establish a national research facility with integrated goals and improved access policies. This collaboration will strengthen the ability of researchers to predict and mitigate undesirable futures in aquatic ecosystems.

🔗 Learn more:
https://nioo.knaw.nl/en/projects/sefap-smart-experimental-facilities-for-aquatic-processes