About

AN AMBITIOUS VISION

AN AMBITIOUS VISION

 

Charles Darwin is known as one of the world’s greatest scientists, but when he signed on to HMS Beagle, he was in many ways an amateur. His five-year voyage fed his curiosity and sense of adventure, and his hands-on discoveries led to sophisticated theories that have shaped our understanding of the world.

 

In promoting Darwin’s combination of exploration and scientific methods, the HMS Beagle Project aspires to a world where everyone understands and appreciates the nature, value and creative adventure of science, and can participate in evidence-based decision-making to ensure an environmentally secure future.

SCIENCE AND LEARNING

SCIENCE AND LEARNING

 

The HMS Beagle Project aims to use a modern HMS Beagle-like ship as a flagship that will sail in company with modern research vessels. The modern Beagle will be used to inspire and motivate global audiences through unique public engagement and learning programmes and original scientific research.

 

We will conduct ship- and land-based research projects within the core themes of biodiversity and climate change. Projects will further our scientific understanding in these important areas and serve as vehicles for hands-on learning based on the core themes of science and exploration.

SCIENCE FOR ALL

SCIENCE FOR ALL

The core values of the HMS Beagle Project are:

  • Discovery and learning: the inspirational power of scientific endeavour to engage global audiences in worldwide cooperation.
  • Heritage and history: the importance of learning from and celebrating our maritime and scientific past to understand the present and protect our future.
  • Science as culture: importance of science as a cultural phenomenon, able to enrich our lives and provide new perspectives on our world.
  • Collaboration and inclusivity: cooperation between a broad and inclusive range of international sponsors, partners, supporters and participants.
  • Environmental sustainability: managing our activities in an environmentally responsible fashion.
  • Developing and inspiring people: supporting excellence and encouraging creativity, innovation and debate.
  • Acting with integrity: planning, executing and reporting our activities with integrity and transparency, abiding by appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks.

 

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SHARING SCIENCE
World-class research

Our ship- and land-based research programmes link students and scientists with peers around the world – and even astronauts in space — enriching our lives and providing new perspectives on our world.

Find out more about our science and learningprogrammes.

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INSPIRING ADVENTURE
Tall ships and global exploration

Our hands-on learning and public engagement programmes engage global audiences with the excitement of science and exploration, encouraging worldwide cooperation for the benefit of all.

See Dr Karen James’s eloquent case for seagoing science here, and find out more about the modern version of HMS Beagle.

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RESPECTING OUR WORLD
Sustainability, inclusivity and integrity

We collaborate with global partners to encourage and secure a sustainable future for all. We welcome a broad range of international sponsors, partners, supporters and participants, irrespective of age, gender, race or religion.

Find out more about working with us as a sponsor or how to support our work.

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OUR TEAM
A uniquely experienced team

Our patrons, trustees, staff and associates, and institutional partners bring highly valuable cross-disciplinary experience to the HMS Beagle Project, and guarantee the quality of the work we do.

Find out more about our team members and supporters.

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KEY MILESTONES
Working towards our goals

Our team and partners are working together around the globe to develop research and learning programmes across a number of scientific disciplines, and to realise the modern version of HMS Beagle.

Explore our past, present and future milestones.

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AROUND THE WORLD
A truly global initiative

We work with global partners who share our vision. We are building international connections in all regions of the world, enabling scientists, learners and the general public to engage with our programmes.

Find out more about our global work.

"HMS Beagle deserves to be remembered alongside HMS Victory, and the Cutty Sark, as a symbol of a great age of exploration and discovery."

Professor Simon Keynes, Trinity College, University of Cambridge

"I am lending my full support to this venture as it rises above many others that I come to hear about or be approached over. It is simply a wonderful idea that has massive potential to inspire and educate a world and reconnect them to our seas, nature and the sense of discovery and adventure."

Professor Dan Laffoley Marine Vice-chair, IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas

"A beacon project for understanding the natural world and for encouraging people to contribute in many different ways to sustainable development."

Lord Hunt of Chesterton, CB, MA, PhD, FIMA, FRS Professor of Climate Modelling, University College London