The State Institution National Antarctic Scientific Center became a member of the European Polar Board. This will give new opportunities to our scientists to study the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as improve the integration of Ukrainian science into the European research area.
The official letter of confirmation NASC received today, April 8, 2022, and the relevant decision was made during the meeting of the Board on April 5.
“The European Polar Board is essentially a kind of high-end club of polar research. Therefore, NASC joining to this club is a great victory. One can even say that this is the first swallow of Ukraine’s membership in the EU. Because no EU member state with its own polar research program can stay away from collaboration within the Board,” said Evgen Dykyi, NASC Director.
The main goal of the European Polar Board is to promote multilateral cooperation of its participants in the study of the Polar Regions. It acts as a single point of contact for European polar explorers to communicate with each other and with international partners.
Thus, from now on, Ukrainian scientists will have access to joint European programs for the study of the Arctic and Antarctica and will be able to participate in them without undue, often lengthy bureaucratic procedures. We will also have the opportunity to use all the scientific polar infrastructures of the European Polar Board members – both Antarctic and Arctic. This is especially important for Ukraine, since we do not have our own stations in the Arctic, but we have ambitions to expand our research to this region and we have our research ice-class vessel, which will help us to realize them.
In addition, the NASC is currently working on a new target polar research program. Membership in the European Polar Board will provide an opportunity to develop this program taking into account the best practices of European polar science. This, in turn, will ensure the competitiveness of our scientists in the EU.
Reference:
The European Polar Board (EPB) is an independent organisation focused on major strategic priorities in the Arctic and Antarctic. EPB Members include research institutes, logistics operators, funding agencies, scientific academies and government ministries from across Europe.
The EPB’s vision is of a strong and cohesive European Polar research community, wherein decisions affecting or affected by the Polar Regions are informed by independent, accurate, and timely advice from the EPB.