The Department focus on deep-sea ecosystems, such as hadal trench, hydrothermal vent, cold seep, seamount, whale fall, etc., and research interests mainly include:

(1) Deep-sea biodiversity: the origin of deep-sea life; diversity pattern and formation mechanisms of deep-sea animals and microorganisms; how to protect deep-sea biodiversity. 

(2) Adaptive evolution of deep-sea life: their adaptation mechanisms to deep-sea extreme environments, such as high hydrostatic pressure, darkness, cold (or hot in vent habitat), limited food availability, etc.

(3) Development and utilization of dee-sea biological resources: Discovering novel bioactive compounds with applications in medicine and biotechnology.