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The Station Biologique de Roscoff and the Scottish Marine Station for Scientific Research in Oban: “Une Histoire Croisée” across France and Scotland
Mon, July 13, 4:15 to 5:45pm, EFI, 1.52English Abstract
This paper discusses the interactions between two marine stations: the Station Biologique de Roscoff (SBR) founded in 1872 and its Scottish counterpart currently known as the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) which can be traced back to its establishment in Granton on the east coast of Scotland, near Edinburgh in in 1884 but which is currently located in Oban on the west coast. Despite distinct institutional trajectories, the two stations share many characteristics, including hosting, training, research, shipment of biological specimens and public engagement, while comprising a scientific specialisation in phycology and the curation of a culture collection of marine organisms. In this paper, which borrows from the cross-history approach [histoire croisée], we retrace the trajectory of these two stations from their origins, identifying the points of convergence and divergence that have punctuated their trajectories. Using archival materials, bibliometric data and interviews, we show that, despite the limited number of direct connections between the two stations up to the end of the twentieth century, they did not develop in isolation from each other, but they were embedded in larger international networks that partially overlap. We conclude by looking at contemporary research on algae carried out at the two stations. We show that recent collaborations have emerged on this subject supported by institutional links through the establishment of the European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC) infrastructure, established by the Roscoff station. As Brexit put an end to Oban's participation in this scheme, we consider the possibility that this event may represent a new stage in this cross-fertilisation between Roscoff and Oban.
This paper present results from the Geography of Collaborations project [GEOCOLLAB] funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2021-2025), and the ANR funded project OCEANLINKS (2025-2028).