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Research access

Infrastructure is meant to be shared.

BIUTOPIC pools a shared aquatic research infrastructure. Whenever scientific protocols are compatible, a single navigation can carry several research programmes, BIUTOPIC baseline measurements, technology testing and citizen science. The objective is scientific efficiency — accessibility is the consequence.

€150 excl. VAT

per researcher · per research day · 2026–27 early-stage ESUS rate

This is access to a shared research infrastructure — not a vessel charter. It covers boarding a pooled navigation, access to the platform's equipment and the support of the qualified crew.

Opens with L'Hydronaute's commissioning — subject to the mooring framework (AOT). Expression of interest, no payment.

Express interest · research mission

Dedicated missions & environmental services

Dedicated or confidential missions — protocols incompatible with pooling — remain available by quotation. Environmental services are built per project: environmental monitoring, sampling, water quality, eDNA sampling support, microplastic sampling support, biodiversity monitoring, hydroacoustics, technology validation, cyanobacteria monitoring, pollution investigations.

Monitoring programme HYDRO‑01 mission Environmental mission Dedicated mission · by quotation

Against the alternatives

We compete on the whole mission.

Research vessel Ageing European fleet, reinvestment needed [1] Shared access for smaller local missions
Off the shelf USV Most carry under 300 kg of payload [2] A mission built around the platform
Sensor supplier Scope is the instrument, not the mission The vessel, the crew and the field time
Local workboat Scope is transport, not science operations Power, stability and ASV handling

Platform, instruments, integration, crew and data, from one operator.

[1] European Marine Board, Position Paper 25, Next Generation European Research Vessels, 2019. [2] de Andrade, Sales and Fernandes, Automation 2025, 6, 17. Rows 3 and 4 state category scope, not measured performance.

Pricing — simple, public, ESUS

  • Academic research access€150 excl. VAT / researcher / day
  • Citizen scienceRecommended contribution €35 · ~2 h · goûter included
  • Environmental monitoringProject-based
  • HYDRO‑01Project-based
  • Dedicated missionsContact us
  • Environmental missionsReduced ESUS rates available

Citizen science is booked from the L'Hydronaute page. No payment or deposit before the mooring framework is confirmed.

A low rate with no explanation is suspicious. Here are the closest published references, and why we can sit there.

  • €2,000 12.3 m coastal vessel, 12 passengers, per day. Published grid
  • €600 Half a day on the Loire, unequipped fishing boat. Reported, unpublished
  • €150 Per researcher, per day, aboard L'Hydronaute. Our rate

The units are not identical: €2,000 charters a whole vessel for twelve people, €150 buys one researcher a seat. We leave both visible rather than advertise a multiple.

  1. Solar and electric. No fuel bill for a day on the water.
  2. Assisted navigation. The skipper is a scientist on the mission, not extra headcount.
  3. Open source and AI-assisted. We start from work thousands of people have already done instead of paying to redo it.
  4. One sailing carries several compatible programmes: the day is shared.

Marine Institute Ireland, 2026 day rates — one of the few European operators that publishes a grid. Most quote on request, which is part of the access problem.

Our maturity labels

Every capability on this site is classified — proof before promise.

  • Operational
  • Field tested
  • Integration
  • Experimental
  • R&D
  • Planned

← The research programme