The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) is a Scottish charity (est. 1884) committed to promoting, delivering and supporting high-quality independent research and education in marine science. SAMS is a Collaborative Centre of the Natural Environment Research Council, and hosts the National Facility for Scientific Diving and the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa. It is further an academic partner in UHI Millennium Institute under whose auspices SAMS delivers the BSc (Hons) Marine Science, and trains ca 25 PhD students.