Contents:

1. People Day: September 24th
2. Conferences: Global Cryosphere Watch, Arctic Change, and AGU
3. EU funding opportunity for polar research
4. Arctic Sea Ice
5. Join an IPY Photo Exhibit
6. APECS


Report no. 17, September 2008
From: IPY International Programme Office
To: IPY Project Coordinators
cc: IPY Community Google Groups


DATA REMINDER - HAVE YOU AND YOUR PROJECT PARTNERS DEVELOPED YOUR DATA MANAGEMENT PLANS AND CONVEYED THOSE TO THE IPYDIS?



1. People Day: September 24th

Many thanks to all who are participating in this month's polar day focussing on People. Please visit www.ipy.org to download flyers, learn about 30 related IPY projects, participate in a global on-line discussion, stream live radio from the Arctic on September 24th and 25th, and launch a virtual balloon. If you would like to get involved in this event, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it



2. Conferences: Global Cryosphere Watch, Arctic Change, and AGU

(a) Global Cryosphere Watch - The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), through its Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) project, are jointly sponsoring an “IPY Legacy Workshop on Sustaining Projects Contributions to WMO Global Cryosphere Watch and GEOSS. It will be held on 3-5 December 2008 at the WMO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Workshop will discuss topics such as:

Introduction and further development of the WMO GCW concept;
Discussion of IPY projects accomplishments and need for sustaining the activity;
Contribution of projects to determining the state and fate of the cryosphere;
Identification of specific IPY project components, such as sites and facilities that are key for polar cryosphere monitoring and research;
Identification of IPY cryospheric projects capable of contributing significantly to the GCW;
Recommendations for observational activities and facilitating, where necessary, a transition from research-based to operational status;
Recommendation of measures to ensure sustained flow of data from the projects and continuing activities; and
Search for users and sources of support for IPY projects and/or their components that should be sustained.

We encourage your participation and contribution to this Workshop. You can register and submit an abstract online at the Workshop website http://clic.npolar.no/gcw/gcw.php. The deadline for registration is 31 October 2008.


(b) Arctic Change 2008 - Building on the success of its annual scientific meeting, the ArcticNet Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada and its national and international partners are welcoming the international Arctic research community to Quebec City for the International Arctic Change 2008 Conference. Coinciding with the pinnacle of the IPY and the 400th anniversary of Quebec City, Arctic Change 2008 welcomes researchers, students, policy makers and stakeholders from all fields of Arctic research and all countries to address the global challenges and opportunities brought by climate change in the circum-Arctic. With over 600 participants expected to attend, Arctic Change 2008 will be the largest trans-sectoral international Arctic research conference ever held in Canada. The conference will be held at the Quebec City Convention Centre from 9-12 December 2008. Abstract and registration deadline - 26 September 2008.

(c) AGU Conference, San Francisco, December 15th - 19th, 2008

Abstract Submission Deadline: September 10th 2008. There are many polar sessions, too many to list here. Specific IPY sessions include:

ED03: IPY: Science and Outreach In Polar Partnership

C06: Polar regions: Local change, Global Impact and Future Challenges - Outcomes of the International Polar Year 2007 - 2008

C32: International Polar Year - This session will present the scientific details of the IPY program, and will be linked to IPY activities in science, data and outreach described throughout the Fall Meeting. Present your unique IPY activities here.


For further information, please go to http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm08



3. EU funding opportunity for polar research

The European Polar Consortium, in association with the European Polar Board of the European Science Foundation, is pleased to inform you of the pre-advertising of the PolarCLIMATE Call for Proposals on the site http://www.esf.org/polarclimate.

The Call for Pre-Proposals opens on 26th September 2008. Pre-Proposals are to be submitted by a deadline of Friday 24th October 2008.

This first Pilot Call for Pre-Proposals will lead to potential Joint Projects to be undertaken within the PolarCLIMATE Programme. Following agreement with 20 ministries and funding organisations from 18 European Countries in Austria, France, Belgium, Bulgaria*, Czech Republic, Denmark*, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom*, the PolarCLIMATE Programme is expected to run for 3-4 years supported by national research funding. The Programme aims to support high quality transnational research at the European level in the Arctic and Antarctic. The Total commitment to the Call by the agencies is estimated to be 10 Million Euros (total includes direct financial commitment and estimated in-kind logistical and infrastructure support*). (*denotes counties with only in-kind support subject to scientific assessment results)

The research as part of this European Programme takes place after the International Polar Year and therefore will be an important continuity of efforts to investigate the processes of climate change and its impacts and to maintain momentum of the integrated groups of scientists that have formed during the IPY process.



4. Arctic Sea Ice

Several web sites offer up-to-date information on Arctic sea ice. Follow the latest developments on the NSIDC, SEARCH, and ESA websites or through the Sea Ice page on www.ipy.org (http://ipy.arcticportal.org/index.php?option=com_k2&id=943&view=item ) where you can also find links to many sea ice information and activity resources.



5. Join an IPY Photo Exhibit

POLES APART // PULLING TOGETHER is an educational photo exhibition that will honour and celebrate the contributions of polar science research to the betterment of society globally. The exhibition highlights achievements in Arctic and Antarctic research of the International Polar Year (IPY). It will feature in international venues beginning in February 2009.

To submit images to this exhibition, please download this flyer: http://www.ipy.org/images/uploads/Poles_apart_-_call_for_submissionsfinal-1.pdf



6. Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS)

APECS has a number of exciting things going on. APECS just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with SCAR and IASC declaring them the preeminent organization for young researchers interested in the polar and cryospheric regions of the planet. Over 100 young researchers joined APECS for a Career Development workshop at the SCAR/IASC IPY Conference in St. Petersburg and ~250 young researchers and senior mentors joined together for the APECS Meeting and Reception held at the Otto-Schmitt Laboratory at AARI in St. Petersburg, sponsored by SCAR and IASC. APECS is also in the process of accepting nominations for the 2008-2009 Executive Committee and for the 2008-2009 Council. For more information on these and the other projects, please visit: http://www.apecs.is.