CoSMi’s mission is to isolate, cultivate, and identify marine microalgae from various environments to preserve their biological diversity and advance scientific knowledge. Through rigorous maintenance and characterisation protocols, the collection ensures the long-term conservation of marine microalgae strains, making them available to the scientific community and industry for research, biotechnology, aquaculture, and sustainable development. The aim is to enhance marine microbial resources by supporting studies on the biodiversity, ecology, and biotechnological potential of marine ecosystems. In addition to providing basic services such as strain supply and deposit, the collection offers specialist expertise and services, including setting up experiments for stakeholders, supplying starter cultures for aquaculture, as well as knowledge transfer, training, and scientific dissemination activities, thereby strengthening collaboration between research, innovation, and the sustainable use of marine resources.

To achieve these objectives, the Collection follows strict quality procedures and has adopted the quality management system proposed by the SUS-MIRRI.IT (opens in new tab) project, with the drafting of a series of procedures and operating instructions that guarantee the chain of custody of biological material during all stages of its life cycle (acquisition, quality control, storage, traceability, and distribution), operating under the ISO 9001:2015 quality system (certification ISO 9001:2015 acquired in July 2025).