APECS, APECS Norway and SIOS teamed up to offer two ECR workshops at the Svalbard Science Conference (SSC) 2023, which was held at Scandic Fornebu in Oslo 31 October to 1 November.
The fourth iteration of the “Research in Svalbard: An APECS Workshop” occurred on 30 October, the day before this year’s SSC, and was a successful collaboration between the APECS National Committees of Norway and Denmark! Approximately 35 students and speakers gathered at the historic Tøyen Hovedgård. The day covered three themes: Logistics & Funding, Arctic Environments, and Data Sharing & Outreach. A big thanks to all of the experienced speakers who made the workshop such a success! In addition to the formal program, there was a competitive polar pub quiz and an ice-breaking bingo so participants could get to know each other. Many of the participants were PhD/MSc students, post-doctoral fellows, or technicians coming from Norway, Svalbard, Poland, Austria, the UK, Sweden, and more!
The second workshop was hosted on 2 November by APECS in collaboration with the Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System (SIOS) entitled “Shaping the future of polar research data”. It began with informal networking activities, followed by a theoretical component focusing on data management with an emphasis on the FAIR data principles. Before concluding with a group dinner, participants were given time to work on their own data in a practical exercise where groups explored the details of publishing and working with FAIR data in their respective fields.
We are grateful to the Svalbard Science Forum and the Research Council of Norway for funding these workshops and investing in the development of polar early career scientists!
In addition to the workshops, APECS contributed to the conference program in a number of other ways. APECS Norway organized the ECR poster contest and presented the winners at the conference dinner. Sarah Strand, the Executive Director of APECS, gave the final speech of the conference dinner, called the “Takk for maten tale” in Norwegian. Danielle Grant, Social Media Officer of APECS Norway, gave a presentation on the second day of the conference entitled: APECS Norwegian National Committee: Building a toolbox of resources for success in Polar Science.
