The Institute of Oceanography conducts multidisciplinary research in the coastal zone of shelf seas and the neritic zone. The investigations focus on the southern part of the Baltic Sea (including the Gulf of Gdansk), but also deal with, among others, polar regions of Antarctica and the Arctic. By conducting extensive research, the Institute acquires and broadens the basic and applied knowledge that allows for (i) the environmental impact assessment of on-going investments and economic activities, (ii) rational management of coastal zone, (iii) sustainable use of living and non-living marine resources, and (iv) effective protection of marine nature.

The realized research themes focus on topics such as:

• Interdisciplinary investigations of coastal waters and their ecosystems, particularly in relation to the NATURA 2000 sites located along the Polish coastline.
• The pollution assessment of marine environment and the degradation level of coastal ecosystems due to economic activities.
• Development of new research methods and elaboration of eco-hydrodynamic models for assessing the present status of and predicting changes in selected Baltic Sea areas. 
• Interdisciplinary research targeting novel forms of exploitation of the living marine resources.
• Delivering reliable data for assessing the social and economic significance of marine ecosystems, and elaborating the decision support tools related to the marine environment management.
• Investigations on the range and dynamics of climate change in the seas and oceans (including the polar regions) in relation to the functioning of ecosystems.