The Interuniversity Center of Integrated Systems for the Marine Environment (ISME) has been founded in 1999 with the aim of supporting research activities in the fields of marine technologies and oceanic engineering. Current members are the Universities of Genova, Salento (formerly of Lecce), Pisa, Politecnica delle Marche (formerly of Ancona), Cassino and Southern Lazio (formerly of Cassino), Firenze, Rome La Sapienza, Calabria and Bologna.
The researchers of ISME are all active in oceanic engineering and marine technology research focusing mainly on the following research topics:
Marine robotics - ROV, AUV, GNC systems, Underwater manipulators
Underwater Acoustics - Acoustical Imaging, Sonar Systems, Geoacoustic
Underwater archaeological and biological sites documentation
Data Analysis - GIS, DSS, classification and pattern recognition
ISME benefits of the research infrastructure of the participating departments (laboratories, workshops, etc.), and has the purpose of exploiting synergies and collaborative efforts among the participants within an agile and flexible organizational structure.