The Centre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIMA) at the University of Algarve, in Faro, Portugal, hosted the first International advanced course on anthropogenic impacts in the deep sea. This course was co-organized with Okeanos, University of the Azores in the framework of the project BiDiRisk, led by Nelia Mestre and co-led by Ana Colaço and funded by FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology). Seventeen students from 12 different nationalities around the globe attended this course. The course provided a broad perspective on the deep-sea ecosystems, and an overview on the current research on the different anthropogenic impacts affecting the deep sea, such as pollution, deep-sea mining, climate change and noise. The practical’s involved learning methodologies used in ecotoxicology, such as biomarkers and molecular biology towards omics. The applicability of data obtained was demonstrated with examples of environmental risk analysis. To finalize, the relevance of acquiring this type of scientific data, in terms of supporting decision making and the definition and implementation of policies, was explained under the international marine environmental law. This course involved a collaboration with local and international experts, and was organized with the support of researchers, students and research fellows involved in deep-sea ecotoxicology at CIMA. DOSI and SEA-EU kindly sponsored the course.
