PolARTS – Arts meet polar science. Call for Proposals. A pilot project from Pro Helvetia and the Swiss Polar Institute

Background
The interface between art and science opens new frontiers and potentials for both fields, which can contribute to the genesis of inspiring art forms as well as offer innovative perspectives on knowledge production and dissemination. Scientists and artists alike work with ideas and hypotheses reflecting their understanding and various models of the world around them. Even if their methodologies are very different, both disciplines can question existing orders and realities. Yet, art and science cooperation are limited and barriers between these two worlds remain. Transdisciplinary approaches between art and science on a mutual level can help to bridge boundaries, overcome distrust, nurture progress in individual work, and create new insights into shared research interests. In order to offer a platform for the interplay between art and science, Pro Helvetia (Swiss Arts Council) and the Swiss Polar Institute (SPI) have launched a joint initiative aiming at mediating partnerships between polar scientists and artists and supporting the exchange between the two communities. The goal of the programme is to enable dialogue and the exchange of ideas between polar science and art practice.The proposed format aims to support the cooperative process between disciplines and to create space for new collaborative and explorative practices.

Proposed formats of exchange: Polar scientist-artist tandems
The PolARTS programme will fund up to three transdisciplinary tandems composed of an artist and a polar scientist over a period of about eight months in order to enable mutual exchanges and facilitate interactions between art and science. The tandems will meet on a regular basis on different sites (laboratories, ateliers, scientific and artistic events and gatherings, etc.) and exchange on their research interest, professional activities, career perspectives, work background, etc. Each tandem is requested to propose a collaborative process over a period of approximately eight months, defining the format, the aims and the motivation of the participants. The tandem’s proposal has to engage with issues and topics linked to polar regions, the Arctic or Antarctic, or in remote high-altitude regions, the so-called “Third pole”, such as the Andes or the Himalaya. The overarching aim of the collaboration is to inspire each other across disciplinary boundaries and to promote mutual understanding by perceiving one’s own activity through the eyes of the tandem partner. A further aspect of the collaboration is to explore how new creative linkages can be created between the fields/worlds of science and art. This could either be explored by developing a common approachor by working side by side on existing projects, inspiring, challenging and supporting each other.

Deadline for applications: 30 January 2020, 14:00 (Swiss time)

Swiss Polar Institute

GreenLAnd Circumnavigation Expedition - GLACE (Call for Proposals)

The GreenLAnd Circumnavigation Expedition (GLACE) will offer an unprecedented complete circumnavigation of Greenland in a single expedition over a 2-month period in August and September 2019. The expedition will provide access to the remote and as yet critically understudied Northern Greenland area and provide a unique opportunity to investigate the marine, terrestrial, atmospheric, and cryospheric environments of the Arctic.

The R/V Akademic Tryoshnikov (AARI, St Petersburg) will be available for the expedition after a partial refit, offering a range of equipment and infrastructures. During the Northern Greenland section of the expedition the AT will be escorted by the nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy.

As the ship will be steaming for around 20 hours each day, scientific sampling should be focused on continuous oceanographic and atmospheric (underway) sampling approaches, combined with terrestrial and cryospheric studies at several super-sites, with emphasis on Northern Greenland.

Proposals should be directed specifically to one of the subjects highlighted in the science plan. A combination of different subject areas into multi-disciplinary projects is also possible. Projects should include multiple sites and are encouraged to address broad and relevant scientific questions taking advantage of the entire journey.

Access to the vessel and its facilities (incl. helicopter time) will be free of charge for all teams selected by the scientific review panel, from the embarkation port onwards. International teams are invited to apply, provided they can cover their own logistics and science-related costs. Swiss-led projects will be eligible for additional funding of up to CHF 150’000 per project.

The scientific review panel will select up to 10 research projects from the submitted proposals. Deadline for submission is 10 September 2018 (12:00, Swiss time) (SPI)

Swiss Polar Institute SPI 

GLACE

GLACE: Proposed travel plan and timing

Demnächst: Schweizer Polarforschung (Sonderausstellung "Swiss Camp", 1. September bis 19. November 2017, focusTerra, ETH Zürich)

2017 wurde die Schweiz als einer der wenigen nicht angrenzenden Staaten als Beobachter in das Arctic Council aufgenommen. Das kommt nicht von ungefähr, denn Schweizer WissenschaftlerInnen sind sehr aktiv in der Polarforschung. Das Verständnis der Prozesse von Schnee und Eis − wie an den Polen – prägen sowohl Landschaft als auch Leben hierzulande. Aus der langen Tradition von hochalpiner Forschung hat sich seit dem 19. Jahrhundert eine breite Palette von Fachgebieten entwickelt. Die resultierenden Kenntnisse auf den Gebieten der Glaziologie, der Geo-, Bio-, Atmosphären- und Bodenwissenschaften bringen grosse Gewinne für die Erforschung der Polarregionen − und umgekehrt. (Website)

Öffnungszeiten: Mo-Fr: 9:00–17:00; So: 10:00–16:00; Sa: geschlossen Adresse und Lageplan

Öffentliche Vortragsreihe Schweizer Polarforschung sowie Filme zur Ausstellung

Schweizer Forschungsstation Swiss Camp in Grönland, Konrad Steffen, WSL

Blog ETH Bibliothek/ETHeritage und zur Biographie Alfred de Quervains

Symposium "Prix de Quervain" 2016 (Freitag, 25. November 2016, ab 18 Uhr, Alpines Museum, Helvetiaplatz 4, 3005 Bern)

Begrüssung: Beat Hächler, Direktor Alpines Museum der Schweiz „alps“

Einführung: Prof. Hubertus Fischer, Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research

Gastvorträge
 - Prof. Dr. Thomas Stocker, Universität Bern: Polarforschung: Der Schlüssel zum Verständnis des Systems Erde

- PD Dr. Helge Niemann, Universität Basel: Gas Hydrate im Ozean: potentielle Energiequelle, Risiko und dynamischer Methanspeicher

Präsentation der prämierten Arbeiten
- Dr. Lea Steinle, Universität Basel: Environmental controls on marine methane oxidation: From deep-sea brines to shallow coastal systems

- Adrien Michel, Universität Bern: Transient Modeling of Borehole Temperature and Basal Melting in an Ice Sheet

Verleihung des Prix de Quervain für Polar- und Höhenforschung durch Prof. Hubertus Fischer, Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research

Apéro

Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research (A Committee of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences) Anmeldung (bis 13. November)

Link zur Dissertation von Lea Steinle

Link zur Masterarbeit von Adrien Michel

POLAR2018. Where the Poles Meet. A SCAR & IASC Conference, Davos (Switzerland), 15-27 June 2018

Davos als Hotspot der Polarforschung, von Béla Zier, Südostschweiz, 19.3.18

Die Erforschung der Arktis aus der Luft – Tagung anlässlich des 85. Jahrestages der Arktisfahrt des “Graf Zeppelin” (Donnerstag, 6. bis Freitag, 7. Oktober 2016, Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen)

Lüdecke, C. (2016) Die Erforschung der Arktis aus der Luft 85. Jahrestag der Arktisfahrt des LZ 127 „Graf Zeppelin“. Polarforschung, 86, 2, 131-133. Link

Donnerstag 6.10.2016

13:30-14:00 Registrierung

14:00-14:45 Mit dem Ballon zum Nordpol, Dieter Etling, Hannover

14:45-15:30 Der erste Aufstieg eines Luftschiffes in der Arktis: Die Wellman Chicago Record-Herald Expedition und die Lernersche Photogrammetrie-Expedition nach Spitzbergen 1907, Siegfried Niklas, Frankfurt am Main

15:30-16:15 Der Anfang der Erschliessung der Arktis aus der Luft: Jan Nagórski und die Bedeutung seiner Flüge im Jahr 1914, Erki Tammiksaar, Tartu, Estland

16:15-16:45 Kaffeepause

16:45-17:30 Meteorologische Messungen mittels Luftfahrzeugen im Wirken von Alexander Friedmann, Karl-Heinz Bernhardt, Berlin

17:30-18:15 Lincoln Ellsworth (1880-1951), Rolf Reimann, Gipf-Oberfrick, Schweiz

19:00-20:00 Öffentlicher Abendvortrag Norge, Italia und Graf Zeppelin 1926-1931: Fünf Jahre Luftschiffe in der Arktis, Cornelia Lüdecke, München

Gemeinsames Abendessen im Restaurant des Zeppelin Museums

Freitag 7.10.2016

9:00- 9:45 Walther Bruns und die Internationale Studiengesellschaft zur Erforschung der Arktis mit dem Luftschiff e.V. (Aeroarctic), Diedrich Fritzsche, Potsdam

9:45-10:30 Hugo Eckener und Sven Hedin mit Luftschiff über den Himalaya?, Batkhishig Tserennyam, Hamburg

10:30-11:15 (K)ein ausgezeichnetes Mittel der Forschung? Das tragische Unglück der Italia und die Auswirkungen auf den Einsatz von Luftschiffen in der kosmischen Höhenstrahlungsforschung, Vanessa Cirkel-Bartelt, Wuppertal

11:15-11:45 Kaffeepause

11:45-12:30 Die Aeroarctic und die Arktisfahrt des Luftschiffes LZ 127 „Graf Zeppelin“, Barbara Schennerlein, Dresden

12:30-13:15 Forschungsflugzeug "Falcon" in Spitzbergen im Jahr 1984: Erste gezielte Nadelstiche in die arktische Atmosphäre, Hans Volkert, Oberpfaffenhofen

13:15-13:30 Schlussworte

14:30 Führung durch das Zeppelin Museum

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Polarforschung e.V. (DGP), Deutsche Meteorologische Gesellschaft (DMG)

Tagungsausschreibung

Bildnachweis: Mittelholzer, Walter (Hg.): Im Flugzeug dem Nordpol entgegen. Junker’sche Hilfsexpedition für Amundsen nach Spitzbergen 1923. Mit Beiträgen von Kurt Wegener, A. Miethe und H. Boykow. Zürich 1924, Abbildung 7: „Expeditionsmitglieder vor der Junkersmaschine bei der Funkenstation. Von links nach rechts: A. Neumann, H.H. Hammer, F. Duns, W. Mittelholzer. Oben: W. Löwe, Holbein, Wedekind“.

Newly created Swiss Polar Institute to launch an Antarctic expedition

The future of the Earth’s poles is critical. In the coming decades, major international negotiations will focus on the polar regions, which are bearing the brunt of global warming. Switzerland, intent on having its voice heard and making a contribution in a field in which it already has solid expertise, today announced the creation of the Swiss Polar Institute (SPI). This new interdisciplinary center will be devoted to researching the Earth's poles and other extreme environments. The SPI, based at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), is a consortium of Swiss universities – EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, ETH Zurich and the University of Bern – and was cofounded with Editions Paulsen. Officially supported by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), the SPI is a Swiss initiative with a decidedly international mission.

Polar explorer Frederik Paulsen is proud to be involved in this initiative: “The Swiss Polar Institute will help drive research in extreme environments, contribute to progress in the field of polar science and promote cooperation among public and academic institutions, industry and private-sector partners.”

To mark its launch, the SPI is organizing a major project: the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) will be the first scientific expedition to fully sail around the southernmost continent. The purpose of this expedition, with key logistical support from Ferring Pharmaceuticals, will be to measure and quantify the impact of climate change and pollution in the Southern Ocean.  

More than 50 researchers
At the end of December 2016, some 50 researchers from around the world will set off for three months onboard the Akademik Treshnikov, a Russian ship dedicated to scientific research. Twentytwo research projects – submitted by teams from Switzerland, the UK, France, Australia, etc. – were selected for the expedition. The projects range from glaciology to climatology, biology and oceanography.

This expedition neatly illustrates the SPI’s mission: the Swiss Polar Institute is designed to be a platform for global experts in polar research to bring their combined knowledge to bear – such as by drawing parallels between polar environments and alpine regions. This is similar to what is being done in the field of space research. “Swiss universities owe their competitiveness to a shrewd approach of competing and cooperating with each other at the same time,” said Mauro Dell'Ambrogio, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation. “The Swiss Polar Institute is a great example of intelligent cooperation.”

The Institute’s role will also be to assess the state of the Earth's poles and climate in general, to outline the many challenges we face going forward and to keep the public informed. Its work is bound to have an impact on the development of new technologies for extreme environments. The SPI will be an important asset for Switzerland, which aims to play a key role in international agreements on the future of the polar regions. This includes discussions on the Antarctic Treaty.

The Earth’s climate balance is at stake 
The Earth’s poles are fundamental to the planet's climate balance, and learning more about how they work through research is crucial. The climate, which is regulated by the interaction of atmospheric and oceanic currents, acts like a massive heat engine. This engine is powered by the transfer of heat between polar and tropical regions: currents of icy water deep in the ocean travel from the poles toward the equator, while warm water and air move across the ocean’s surface towards the frigid zones. This complex and fragile mechanism also plays a key role in the carbon cycle, in which the ocean absorbs a significant amount of the CO2 in the atmosphere.

Human settlement and activities may be concentrated far from the Earth’s poles, but they directly affect polar environments. “The poles are essential for climate balance, but they are also the regions where changes are most apparent: that’s where the largest temperature differences have been recorded,” said Philippe Gillet, vice president of EPFL and a specialist in Earth and planetary science. The 2015-2016 winter was the mildest on record at the North Pole. December and January temperatures there, normally close to -20°C, were above freezing.

Potential discoveries 
The 22 projects selected for the expedition cover a spectrum of topics, including the composition of plankton, threatened animal species, the presence of microplastics in the surrounding water, the carbon cycle, microorganisms that flourish in the ocean depths or in ice, and the impact of waves on the coasts.

“The ACE initiative is a unique and precious opportunity”, says ACE Panel member Prof. Jean Jouzel, glaciologist and climatologist. “Bringing together multi-disciplinary projects to circumnavigate Antarctica and gathering scientific evidence in a region so remote and yet deeply affected by human activity and climate change will hugely contribute to our understanding of past and future evolution of the Southern Ocean. It is a key region for the carbon cycle and the Antarctic continent which may significantly contribute to the sea-level rise in the coming centuries“.

The projects will make use of the most advanced data collection and analysis technologies available. In addition, because they will be run in extreme environments, the projects will provide insight into biochemical compounds and microorganisms that up to now have been studied little if at all. The results could lead to discoveries and new and interesting applications in the fields of biotechnology, medicine and environmental science. (Sarah Perrin / EPFL) Press kit
NZZ Berner Zeitung

1st Central European Polar Meeting (Vienna, Austria, 10th – 13th November 2015)

The 1st Central European Polar Meeting will bring together polar researchers including distinguished scientists and the next generation of polar researchers, from Central European countries and around the globe. This meeting is one of the first international activities of the newly established Central European Polar Partnership, which aims at increasing the visibility and coordinating polar research in and among the participating countries.

http://www.polarresearch.at/conference/

Zum 100. Todesjahr Julius Payers ist im Tyrolia Verlag eine Biographie erschienen - fast 60 Jahre nachdem die letzte umfangreiche Arbeit über das Leben und Werk dieses begnadeten Zeichners und Malers, Bergsteigers und Schriftstellers publiziert wurde.

"Der im nordböhmischen Kurort Teplitz-Schönau geborene Payer war ein Mann mit vier Karrieren. Als Alpinist führte er innerhalb von fünf Jahren 21 Erstbesteigungen im Adamello-Presanella-Gebiet und 38 Erstbesteigungen im Ortler-Gebiet durch. Als Polarfahrer entdeckte er im Zuge einer spektakulären Expedition, die mehr als einmal auf des Messers Schneide stand, neue Gebiete in Nordostgrönland (1869/1870) und auf Franz-Josef-Land (1873/1874). Als Schriftsteller verfasste er die geografischen Grundlagenwerke zu fünf Gebieten der Ostalpen und landete mit seinem polaren Reisebericht, einen österreichischen Bestseller des 19. Jahrhunderts. Als Historienmaler war er ausserdem mit seinen Monumentalgemälden für kurze Zeit weltberühmt.

Frank Berger, geb. 1957, ist promovierter Historiker und Kurator am Historischen Museum Frankfurt. Zu seinen Forschungsschwerpunkten zählen: Numismatik, Wissenschaft und Forschung, Technik und Industrie. Frank Berger beschäftigt sich seit Jahren mit der Geschichte der Polarforschung und hat bereits zahlreiche Bücher zum Thema publiziert." (Tyrolia Verlag)

Schweizer Polarforschung: Pioniergeist, Leidenschaft und Spitzenleistungen (neue Publikation des EDA)

Ab sofort ist die neue Publikation «Schweizer Polarforschung: Pioniergeist, Leidenschaft und Spitzenleistungen» des Eidgenössischen Departements für auswärtige Angelegenheiten erhältlich in den Sprachen Deutsch, Französisch, Italienisch und Englisch. An 12 Beispielen zeigt die Broschüre, wie Forschende aus der Schweiz Arktis und Antarktis erkunden und damit zum besseren Verständnis der globalen Klimaveränderung und unseres Erdsystems allgemein beitragen. .

PDF-Version

Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) - Swiss national committee

What is APECS? 
The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists is an organization that aims to simulate interdisciplinary and international research collaboration on polar and cryospheric sciences. For this, APECS tries to:

- Facilitate international and interdisciplinary networking
- Provide opportunities for professional career development
- Promote education

For who?
For all young researchers, from undergraduate students to early faculty members, and all other people that are interested to follow what is happening in the Polar regions and the wider cryosphere.

If you are looking for new collaboration, useful advices for your project/career, the creation of a new working group, help in your educational program, expending your network at social events or conferences, etc. APECS is for you!

Our aims 
Our goal is to regroup the scientific community working on polar region and cryosphere related topics in Switzerland and encourage international collaboration and networking. For this, we:

- Set up a list of mentors and professors to whom you can address questions,
- Set up a list of events where young scientists can gather, share experiences and ideas
- Publish news of projects/findings happening in our country Link: http://apecsswitzerland.wix.com/home

Text und Bild von der Homepage