Mediterranean Targeted Project - Research synthesis
The European Commission, DG XII, has published a synthesis of scientific results from the Mediterranean Targeted Project (MTP), Phase 1, entitled "Interdisciplinary research in the Mediterranean Sea". The Mediterranean Targeted Project was established in 1993 under the Community's Marine Science and Technology (MAST) programme. It combined ten different projects, involving 200 scientists from 70 institutions from around Europe. The aim of the MTP was to examine the functioning of the Mediterranean Sea in all its aspects, with a strong multidisciplinary approach considering physical, geochemical and biological processes at the same time. The first phase of the MTP was completed in 1996, and had a total budget of ECU 11 million from the Community, matched by Member States' funding. The present publication contains synthesis reports from each of the ten projects. In addition, two articles, on biogeochemical budgets and on coupled physical-biogeochemical models are included. These are the result of two workshops held to synthesize the research results towards the end of the MTP. The Mediterranean Targeted Project is now in its second phase, again supported by the MAST programme. This project, MTP-II MATER (mass transfer and ecosystem response), involves some 53 partners from 13 European countries as well as Morocco and Tunisia.