AIMS is a strategy-led organisation with research aligned to the nation’s evolving science priorities to develop globally relevant and innovative research solutions. AIMS has been a key leader in the National Marine Science Committee since its inception, and is a strong contributor to Australia’s National Marine Science Plan.
AIMS and our partners contribute significantly to the health of our tropical marine ecosystems which face a combination of pollution, over-exploitation and the effects of climate change.
Global science excellence
We are currently ranked as the top science organisation globally in the field of marine and freshwater biology (when ranked by category normalised citation impact, Clarivate Analytics InCites research analytical tool).
AIMS’ science accomplishments are due to our:
- dedicated teams of highly qualified and motivated people – the best talent from around Australia and the world - who are developing practical solutions to achieve positive impact for the nation;
- fit-for-purpose, world-class platforms and facilities for conducting marine science such as the National Sea Simulator and our fleet of coastal research vessels;
- ability to access and conduct science in distant, remote, tropical waters;
- unparalleled understanding of long-term cycles of tropical marine impact and recovery;
- holdings of tropical reef and coastal ocean-related data sets;
- bringing together Indigenous knowledge with other areas of science to create new insights into our marine systems; and
- focus on big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence to enhance collection, increase information output and quality, and speed-up information generation at less cost.
Through the impact we help create, AIMS’ marine science research contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - most notably SDG 14 (Life below water) – and the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).
Enhancing science quality
AIMS’ is committed to research of the highest quality and integrity. It is why we apply an internal, multi-layered process of quality assurance in addition to the peer review publication and acceptance process:
- Rigorous design of experimentation and field sampling, and our data analysis and interpretation
- Documented standard procedures for key activities across the spectrum of our activities
- Requiring our scientists to follow the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, and comply with our own internal research code of conduct policies in order to ensure our objectivity.
- An organisational credo of continuous improvement
- Subjecting all reports and papers to rigorous internal peer and supervisor review
- Ensuring that our people are experts in their fields, and have career progression pathways that stress academic rigour, impact, and scientific quality.
- Access to the very best marine science infrastructure available anywhere on the planet.
- The careful curation of long-term data sets and sample archives (some collected over decades) allow us to revisit and review our science outputs, and to build our understanding of complex ecosystems as our knowledge base expands.
- Five-yearly complete organisational science reviews by an independent panel of international experts.
Trusted data repository
AIMS holds a trusted data repository, as recognised by the CoreTrustSeal certification since 2024.
This repository is pivotal in collecting, storing, and making data available for research, both within AIMS and externally, over the long term.
