The Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), which is located in Qingdao, Shandong Province, was founded in 1950. It is the first ocean research institute in China. During its 70-year history, the institute has trained around 1,000 senior scientists and technicians. At present, the institute has nearly 500 scientific and technical personnel, including 175 senior research technicians and 101 doctoral instructors.

The institute is home to five CAS key laboratories in the fields of experimental marine biology; marine ecology and environmental sciences; ocean circulation and wave studies; marine geology and environment; and marine corrosion and protection. It also has an institute-level key laboratory devoted to marine organism taxonomy and phylogeny studies.

The institute also has three R&D centers, which are devoted, respectively, to marine biotechnology; marine environmental engineering, and marine corrosion and protection.

n addition to the above facilities, IOCAS has the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Corrosion and Environment Sciences as well as the Jiaozhou Bay National Marine Ecosystem Research Station; the CAS Regional Center for Marine Science; and the Supercomputing Center. These facilities form a multidisciplinary research system that covers all major areas of marine science.

The CAS Marine Biological Specimen Museum is the largest of its kind in China and houses the most comprehensive collection in Asia, with more than 778,000 specimens. The museum has 1,475 type specimens discovered and named by institute scientists. Among its specimens, more than 50,000 have been digitized and nearly 30,000 have achieved digital sharing.