Last date to apply Fibre-optic Sensing Enabling Marine Science

Currently, 90 percent of all fibre-optic cables between Europe and Asia pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The Polar Connect Cable is a Northern European initiative designed to connect the two continents via the Arctic, thereby enabling faster and more secure data communication. The cable is also intended for research purposes and can be equipped with sensors for applications such as:

• environmental and climate data – continuous monitoring of ocean temperatures and deep-water currents beneath the Arctic ice;
• seismic activity – detection of earthquakes and tectonic movements on the seabed;
• marine ecosystems – tracking of marine mammals and underwater sound;
• atmospheric and oceanographic disturbances – pressure variations caused by waves and turbulence, which can help improve numerical climate and weather models;
• cable status – self-diagnostics to detect external physical disturbances, such as those caused by passing vessels.

Success in this research requires the development of advanced, custom-designed sensors—sensors that could subsequently also be used to monitor subsea power transmission in the Baltic Sea or even Swedish railway tracks.

The application deadline for the call “Fibre-optic Sensing Enabling Marine Science” (SRC-SENSE) is March 9, 2027, at 14:00.

Project start is between 1 July and 31 December 2027.

Download the call for proposals here!

For further information, please contact:

Research Secretary Jonas Bjarne, jonas.bjarne@strategiska.se, 08-505 81 673, or

Program Manager Joakim Amorim, joakim.amorim@strategiska.se, 08-505 816 65