APECS News

The 2025 Arctic Science to Art (AS2A) contest has been launched and is bigger and better than ever with support from ArcticNet, the Centre for Northern Studies (CEN) and the Arctic Research Foundation. We are currently seeking applications from early career researchers based in Canada, working in the Arctic and affiliated with a Canadian institution for a chance to be paired with an northern artist and turn your work into a comic strip!

The UKPN and US APECS hosted their joint-event with an online workshop tailored around the peer review process. The workshop was hosted online on May 7th.

This interactive workshop was aimed at Early Career Researchers (ECR) where speakers provided their own personal insights and perspectives whilst ECRs were given the opportunity to ask questions.

APPLY for the APECS Executive Committee to help shape our organization and influence the future of polar research!

The elections for the 2025-2026 APECS Executive Committee will be held during May, June, July and August 2025 for the term from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026.

Application deadline: 28 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT (deadline extended from 1 June)

From 22–24 March 2025, 120 polar early career researchers (ECRs) gathered for the Polar Early Career World Summit (PECWS) and developed 12 vision statements, 75 priorities, and 186 reasonings and actions. This material will guide international priority setting and coordination processes in polar research, like the 4th International Conference on Arctic Research Planning and the International Polar Year 2032-2033.

APECS and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) are seeking up to three Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to join the International Scientific Organising Committee (ISOC) for the SCAR Open Science Conference (OSC) 2026 in Oslo, Norway, from 10 - 14 August 2026.

APECS seeks to recognize and honor the efforts of its mentors within the international polar scientific community. The APECS Mentorship Award is designed to recognize the time and energy that mentors devote to Early Career Researchers (ECRs) each year, and their efforts to build a community of support. APECS will award a mentor who works with the ECR polar scientific community (including Arctic, Antarctic, and alpine areas).

APECS encourages ECRs around the world to nominate mentors who deserve this recognition. We ask APECS members, APECS National Committees and Project Groups to nominate a person who has been an outstanding mentor to them or their (project) group or committee throughout their career. In 2025 a single award will be handed out.

The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) and the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS, http://www.soos.aq) are looking for an Early Career Researcher (ECR) to join the SOOS Southern Ocean Indian Sector Regional Working Group (SOIS RWG, http://www.soos.aq/activities/rwg/sois; see map for regional details).

Building on the success of an earlier Collection, PLOS Climate is collaborating with APECS to invite contributions of Research Articles, Reviews, Essays and Opinions from the polar early career community, which will be specially highlighted to the journal’s broad and interdisciplinary readership.

APECS is excited to join a new global coalition bringing together youth and Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs) working across marine science, policy, and advocacy. This new coalition will be officially launched during the 2025 UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which will take place in Nice, France, from 9 to 13 June 2025. The coalition builds on years of youth-led engagement in ocean governance and unites a diverse group of networks to strengthen collaboration and representation in global ocean processes.

The coalition, among others, will include APECS, the UN Ocean Decade ECOP Programme, the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN), Youth4Ocean Forum, Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), EarthEcho International, and many others. Its primary goal is to support youth and ECOP participation across regions and sectors.

In preparation for UNOC3, the coalition has been working to further increase youth and ECOP representation at the conference. The coalition also plans to launch a Youth Manifesto for the Ocean in collaboration with the French government.

APECS is currently looking for one APECS member to co-represent APECS in the coalition, together with an APECS Executive Committee member. This one-year volunteer position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the strategic direction of the coalition, ensure polar early career voices are represented in global ocean forums, and work collaboratively with peers from other networks.