UNESCO/NS/IOC /1-4 (Continued) 



Nonetheless, there are some advantages of the lOV as a 

 research tool: 



1. The lOV would presumably be well equipped and well 

 staffed and would be able to do competent work on 

 problems or regions otherwise inadequately treated, 

 thus supplementing the work of national laboratories. 



2. It could play an important role in the standardization 

 and inter-comparison of methods. 



There are also some disadvantages to the lOV as a 

 research tool: 



1. If the training function predominates (see below), an 

 intensive programme of investigations is more 

 difficult to carry out, 



2. The international character of the vessel may 

 influence, or make less flexible, the selection of 

 problems or areas where the ship might work. It may 

 also tend to make the research approach conservative 

 because of the difficulty in obtaining agreement on 

 techniques. 



II. Training 



An important element of oceanographic training is work at 

 sea with experienced scientists. This field training should be 

 preceded by study of the principles involved and of the 

 problems under investigation. Ideally the trainee should 

 participate in the formulation of the experiment or method of 

 attack on the problem, in the making of the measurements or 

 collections, and in their processing and analysis. A simple 

 demonstration of field techniques is inadequate. Mastery of 

 the techniques requires constant repetition, and the measure- 

 ments should constitute part of a meaningful research 

 programme rather than an artificial exercise. 



Such field training is an integral part of the curriculum 

 in the oceanographically advanced countries, and students at 

 institutions there, including those from other countries, 

 obtain the necessary field experience as a matter of course. 

 Trainees from less advanced countries have difficulty in 

 obtaining field experience under proper supervision except 

 where they have the opportunity to work on foreign vessels 

 (as in the case of various national expeditions or the UhESCO 

 shipboard fellowships on ships of the International Indian 

 Ocean Expedition). 



5 



WS/0861.126 



