The new university research institute, ECOAQUA, has been approved by the Social Council.

ECOAQUA (Sustainable Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems) is composed of four separate research teams: GIA (Group for Aquaculture Research); BIOCON (Biodiversity and Conservation Research Group); EOMAR (Marine Ecophysiology Group); and the legal research group, Maritime and Environmental Sustainability Law. The ECOAQUA Institute is staffed by 76 professors, researchers, technicians, Ramon y Cajal Investigators, administrators, and students collectively characterized by a high level of scientific productivity.  In the last 30 years they have produced more than 500 scientific publications in internationally prestigious peer-reviewed journals.