The Blanes Centre for Advanced Studies (CEAB) is a research institute belonging to the Higher Council of Scientific Investigations (CSIC), an institution depending upon the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. The CEAB started its activity in October 1985 and it currently focuses its research on the fields of ecology and organism biology, both in sea and continental waters ecosystems.

The research being carried out at the CEAB has as general aims those of identifying the diversity of organisms and understanding their functions and interactions in nature, as well as the application of this knowledge to the rational use and management of the resources of our planet and the prediction of responses to environmental changes. We work with a wide range of studies and approaches, from biochemical and genetic composition of organisms to the structure and dynamics of populations and ecosystems.

The CEAB aims at being a worldwide reputed centre and a national reference concerning marine biology, limnology and ecology. Its purpose is the development of a creative and technically up-to-date research with solid conceptual foundations, thus contributing to the growth of knowledge and its applications in order to face the challenges posed by the development of a sustainable society.
The CEAB research staff is divided among two departments: The Continental Ecology Department and the Marine Ecology Department. The scientific task of these departments is developed by seven research groups.