The President of the National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation (ANCSI), Tudor Prisecaru, inaugurated on Wednesday in Murighiol the first module of the International Centre for Advanced Studies on River-Sea Systems (DANUBIUS-RI), a project declared last year by the Romanian Government as a 'strategic project of national importance in the field of scientific research'.

"This is Romania's second major project, besides the Magurele Laser. Unlike the Laser, it is a Europe-wide distributed infrastructure and will allow researchers from all European countries to work together much faster to ensure environmental conservation. This is the main goal of the project, but there are also secondary goals, including protecting Europe's population from viruses that come with migratory birds and preserving the Danube Delta, unique in Europe,' said ANCSI's president.

The event was also attended by the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Alexandru Mîrșu, who reminded that this area of Romania is of major interest for the Naval Forces.

"We are open to cooperation with the researchers who work here, as well as with the other institutions in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve in order to have a fruitful activity for both the Naval Forces and our partners," said Rear Admiral Mîrșu.

The DANUBIUS-RI Hub is a project run by the National Research and Development Institute for Biological Sciences (INCDSB) and the National Research and Development Institute for Marine Geology and Geoecology (GeoEcoMar).

"This project, in which we have research institutes from 16 countries as partners, is extremely important in a context where river-sea systems are extremely fragmented and all researchers want an integrated approach," said Director Manuela Sidoroff.

The Hub of the International Research Centre in Tulcea County was declared on 7 October 2014 by the Romanian Government as a 'strategic project of national importance in the field of scientific research'.

The inauguration of the DANUBIUS-RI hub was followed on Thursday by a scientific symposium on 'Modern approaches for the sustainable development of the Danube Delta', organised by INCDSB and attended by representatives of central and local authorities, academia, universities and science.

The project is the first and only step towards integrated, high-level research on river-sea systems in Europe, and aims to provide a world-class research infrastructure for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies of river-sea systems.

The project was chosen as a Flagship project of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (SUERD), priority axis 7 on 24 September 2013, its coordinators being INCDSB and GeoEcoMar, both institutes under the coordination of the National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation.