Tvärminne Zoological Station is an important focal point for research

At the University of Helsinki, empirical research on ecosystem functioning in the Baltic Sea is carried out at the zoological station at Tvärminne. It is the largest marine research centre in the Northern Baltic and a nationally and internationally significant focal point for research and infrastructure.


The station belongs to the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences of the University of Helsinki. Here, basic research, marine status monitoring, and field courses related to marine science are carried out.

This more than a century old station provides data for research into environmental change

Marine research at the Tvärminne Zoological Station concentrates on the links between the biodiversity of the Baltic Sea and the functioning of the ecosystem, as well as human-induced changes, such as eutrophication, climate warming, and marine acidification.

Clawed fork weed (Furcellaria lumbricalis) in Tvärminne.

The station was established as early as 1902. As such, it offers excellent background data for studying long-term environmental changes.

There are equipment and boats for year-round research

The station provides research equipment and boats for studies close to the coast, such as an 18-metre research catamaran or a hovercraft for wintertime surveys. In addition, the station offers scuba diving equipment and services, facilities for flowing seawater aquarium tests, as well as laboratory spaces and services.

The station also has a continuous measurement buoy network, known as MONICOAST, which transmits data directly to the web portal. This portal can monitor how temperature, salinity, oxygen, pH, and turbidity fluctuate in coastal waters.

Tvärminne acts as the Deputy Coordinator for FINMARI

The Tvärminne Zoological Station acts as the Deputy Coordinator in the Finnish Marine Research Infrastructure Consortium (FINMARI), which is coordinated by the Marine Research Centre of the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE). The consortium brings together key Finnish marine research infrastructures and develops equipment for top-level research.

In addition to SYKE and the University of Helsinki, the consortium includes the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the Finnish Natural Resources Institute (LUKE), the universities of Turku and Åbo Akademi, as well as the shipping company Arctia Oy.