The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn of Naples (SZN) was established in 1872 by the German scientist Anton Dohrn. It is a public research organization controlled by the Ministero dell'Istruzione dell'Università e della Ricerca. SZN is among the top research institutions in the world in the fields of marine biology and ecology. The initial mission was to promote basic research by hosting scientists that needed marine organisms for their studies. It is now based on the research carried out by its own staff. The present mission is to conduct basic research in biology with a focus on marine organisms and their biodiversity, tightly linked with integrated and interdisciplinary studies on biological evolution and marine ecosystem dynamics. The Stazione Zoologica supports access to marine organisms and provides high level training in its mission areas.