Governance

SWERVE Consortium (SC): The SC will comprise representatives from the 7 organisations who are each responsible for a SWERVE research infrastructure. The consortium will be regulated by an agreement. GU ensure consortium members are kept informed about decisions relating to the infrastructure and provide opportunities for consultation and input. The consortium play an advisory role to the Steering Committee.

Steering Group (SG): The Steering Group (SG) was pointed out after consultation with VR. The SG is responsible for strategic oversight, review and prioritisation of ship-time applications based on scientific excellence, and allocation of project resources. The SG comprise 7 members, ensuring diversity in scientific and operational expertise, gender, and affiliation. The SG meet virtually several times a year, and in-person once a year, including meetings with the ship operators, secretariat and module leads where required.

Ship Operators Network (SON): A ship operators’ network (SON) was formed in 2021 with representatives from SLU, SGU, UmU, SU, SMHI, GU, and SPRS. The network aimed to enhance collaborative efforts and shared learning between vessel operators. SON was recently formalised with a “Letter of Intent to collaborate” (Attached to Support Letters), signalling the collaborative spirit between operators, and providing the foundation for the development of 15/58 SWERVE Description of the Infrastructure 3 SWERVE. The SON will play an advisory role, providing logistics and infrastructure information to the SG, supporting the secretariat in communication efforts, and maintaining a close relationship with the Director to ensure module implementation is well integrated with existing vessel operations and requirements. The SON will also be involved in the process of prioritising ship time, by running logistical feasibility checks (details provided in Module 4).