New polar science training programme launched for PhDs and postdocs

iC3’s partners have joined a new European training programme aimed at supporting PhD candidates and postdocs to make full use of research infrastructure in the polar regions. 

The programme will help iC3’s early career researchers to get the most out of the centre’s access to world-class infrastructure and facilities, which include Antarctic and Arctic research stations, ice class research vessels, in-house laboratories and strong modelling capacity. 

The training package includes education in planning research expeditions, field safety, and scientific instrumentation and data collection.

The Department of Geosciences at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, where iC3 is based, was chosen to contribute to the training of early career polar researchers within the programme.

Sarah Marie Strand, a university staff member who also works as the director of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), pointed out that the new training program will be particularly useful at research stations like Norway’s Troll station in Antarctica:

"Polar research is expensive, so it's important that researchers can get the most out of fieldwork. The training we offer will help young researchers to best utilize this type of research station to conduct groundbreaking research.”

The new training opportunities will complement iC3’s own dedicated mentorship and graduate training programme that helps early career researchers to gain new skills, secure grant funding, get their research published, and build their professional networks. This includes an annual field school run next to a glacier in the Lyngen Alps, two hours’ drive from the iC3 centre in Tromsø.

Early career researchers interested in taking advantage of these opportunities can now apply for an MSCA postdoctoral fellowship with iC3. A few weeks from now, iC3 will additionally advertise several fully funded postdoc positions.

Fully funded PhD positions will open for application in spring 2025.

The iC3 centre produces ground-breaking insights into how the links between ice sheets, carbon cycles and ocean ecosystems are impacting life on earth. iC3 team members are currently engaged in fieldwork in Antarctica, Greenland, Svalbard and mainland Norway. 

The European Union funded programme is called POLARIN (Polar Research Infrastructure Network) and started in March 2024. It enables 50 partner institutions from European countries, the USA, Canada, and Chile, to collaborate on sharing resources and expertise related to 64 infrastructure facilities in the Arctic and Antarctica. Infrastructure made available to an international research network through POLARIN includes research stations, archives of ice and sediment samples, research vessels, and icebreakers located at both poles. The programme will enhance online services, data access, and interoperability between systems. The European Union is providing 14.6 million Euros to POLARIN over a five-year period.