​The Nautical Institute as a Research Partner

With its global reach, sophisticated branch network, professional membership, access to international organisations and solid reputation for thought leadership, The Nautical Institute is your ideal research partner for the maritime sector. Through its acclaimed events – online, in-person and hybrid – magazines, best practice publications and an enthusiastic, collaborative online community, the NI offers unrivalled access to the fast-changing maritime world.

​Why choose The Nautical Institute?

The NI is an experienced and innovative research partner for specialist projects focusing on ship operations and navigation. It can call on its unrivalled international network to collect data and engage users on ships and ashore. Findings are disseminated in print, online or in person to many international organisations, including the International Maritime Organization.
The NI’s ethos fits perfectly into researching user needs, as its vision and mission demonstrate.

Vision
To provide inspiration, knowledge and leadership to maritime professionals around the world.

Mission

• To inspire maritime professionals
• To work together
• To share ideas and best practice
• To enable better decision-making through the process of professional development
• To provide a safer, environmentally sound
• and sustainable maritime industry.

The NI can offer exceptional support for any research project through:

• Its access to extensive networks of maritime professionals and users
• Ability to source global opinions from a variety of industry sectors
• Validation of ideas and designs
• Ability to capture and analyse a wide range of material for differing user needs
• Organisation of events, both in-person and online (virtual)
• Global dissemination of material in the full range of print and electronic formats
• Being registered as an EU Legal Entity Appointed Representative (LEAR).

The NI can provide unique user networks:

• Membership of 8,000+ maritime professionals in 120 countries and 55+ branches
• NI Community comprises more than 30,000 contacts
• Knowledge of, and relationship with, experts in many fields worldwide
• Over 28,000 vetted members of the NI’s LinkedIn Technical Forum
• Over 33,000 followers on Facebook
• Average of 1,000 participants in webinars
• Estimated 20,000 readers of NI’s professional journal, Seaways
• 100,000 printed copies of each issue of The Navigator magazine distributed globally
• Excellent working relationships with many NGOs and flag states
• NGO at the IMO.

Global opinions
The NI constantly communicates with its members and followers to better understand their needs and ideas. This is achieved by:

• Extensive Survey Monkey polls
• Interactive webinars across all time zones
• Feedback via printed and digital media and face-to-face
• Workshops, conferences and branch meetings.

"The NI is a perfect research partner to engage international professionals in ship operations and navigation issues"​

​Professor Margareta Lützhöft FNI, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

Validation
Through use of its unique networks, the NI can enable professionals to share ideas and make better decisions, better designs, better rules and regulations and better operational practices.

Analysis
In addition to its practice of deep listening, the NI team has many tools for capturing data and conducting analysis. A typical single webinar can generate tens of thousands of pieces of data for analysis.

Events
As part of its mission to disseminate information and ideas the NI has hosted many international events throughout its 50-year history. Thanks to the Institute’s solid reputation and not-for-profit status, leading experts from around the world generously offer their time and knowledge through participation in NI projects and programmes. To increase their reach, these meetings have been successfully transitioned to digital platforms and will be further developed as hybrid events in the future.
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Dissemination
Sharing information is at the heart of what the NI does and the organisation constantly explores ways to improve its offerings. Some examples include:

• Specialist practical publications – more than 100 titles written in seafarer English by experts and practitioners for practitioners that are internationally renowned and formally recognised by organisations such as the IMO.
• The Navigator – award-winning free printed magazine distributed worldwide by volunteer ship visitors including surveyors, pilots, missions and agents.
• Seaways – the NI’s monthly flagship magazine contains professional, noncommercial articles aimed at sharing good practice and supporting better decision-making.
• Webinars – in 2021 the NI initiated a series of webinars aimed at encouraging professional development for members and non-members alike. Participation frequently exceeds 1,000 participants at individual events, with more than 20,000 registering during the year.
• Branch events – with more than 55 international branches the NI can target local areas to seek specific feedback, obtain regional feedback or disseminate information to a targeted audience.

CONTACT US
For more information on how to access this unique route into practical user feedback and engage the NI as a research partner, please get in touch with our experienced team.

Contact: research@nautinst.org for global research partnerships, or secretary@nisea.org for Australian research partnerships.