Swiss Polar Institute – Supporting Swiss polar science

The call for the Prix de Quervain is now open and this year’s prize will be awarded to outstanding research on topics relating to high altitude. The funding organisations are the Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research (SKPH), the Commission for the Research Station on Jungfraujoch (SKHFJ), and the Swiss […]

Renewal of SPI’s national status and support by SERI

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Renewal of SPI’s national status and support by SERI

On 19 December, the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI announced the renewal of SPI’s national status and an increased budget for the period 2025-2028. We are thankful for the renewed trust and the recognition of the important contributions of the Swiss polar and high-altitude science community.

Join the SPI Team: We are recruiting a Librarian (60%-80%)

News

Join the SPI Team: We are recruiting a Librarian (60%-80%)

The Swiss Polar Institute is the owner and custodian of printed heritage and cultural documents relating to the polar and high-altitude regions. To establish a catalog that can be used by both specialists and the general public, the SPI is looking for a Librarian-Documentation Specialist 60-80% Location: Energypolis Campus, Sion […]

From the Alps to Antarctica via the Southern Ocean with the Swiss Polar Class Festival

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From the Alps to Antarctica via the Southern Ocean with the Swiss Polar Class Festival

On 30 November, the Swiss Polar Class Festival embarked around 500 visitors on a journey of discovery of polar regions for the second year running. This year’s novelty was the inaugural day dedicated to primary schools. Nine classes from Valais contributed to the content of the festival with their creations […]

The kitchen tent with Walker Hill in the background. © Éliot Sicaud, all rights reserved

The Polar Access Fund 2025 call is open!

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The Polar Access Fund 2025 call is open!

The Polar Access Fund focuses on early-career researchers who plan to undertake an initial field trip to a polar region or a remote high-altitude area. The research conducted during the field trip must be inserted into an existing overarching project (e.g. to enlarge its scope or for comparisons) and be related to […]

The SPI Foundation Board appoints new Chair and Vice-Chair

News

The SPI Foundation Board appoints new Chair and Vice-Chair

The Swiss Polar Institute (SPI) is delighted to announce the appointment of Frédéric Herman (UNIL) as Chair and Christian Wolfrum (ETH Zurich) as Vice-Chair of the SPI Foundation Board. Their mandates will start on 1 January 2025. Earlier this year, the SPI also welcomed Virginia Richter who succeeded to her […]

Featured Images

Polar Access Fund: Artificial ice reservoir (ice stupa) built to enhance water management in Ladakh

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Polar Access Found: iceberg fill the Narsarsuaq fjord in Greenland.

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SPI Exploratory Grant: Fieldwork on vegetation patterns above Zackenberg Research Station in Greenland

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Calving iceberg on Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, summer 2023. The scale is hard to capture, but this iceberg is rising up more than twice the height of the calving front which is approximately 130-150 meters high.

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A Polar Access Fund grantee is recovering GPS data in order to monitor a landslide near the Portage glacier (Alaska).

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SPI Technogrant: Prototype for a low-cost and robust electrical resistivity tomography monitoring system for remote permafrost environments

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Polar Access Fund: Challenging access to fieldwork site on a debris-covered glacier in the Garhwal mountain range in northern India

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Field & Summer School: International Geochronology Summer School, Switzerland

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SUPPORTING SWISS POLAR SCIENCE

NEWS

Prix de Quervain 2025

Prix de Quervain 2025

Renewal of SPI’s national status and support by SERI

Renewal of SPI’s national status and support by SERI

Join the SPI Team: We are recruiting a Librarian (60%-80%)

Join the SPI Team: We are recruiting a Librarian (60%-80%)

From the Alps to Antarctica via the Southern Ocean with the Swiss Polar Class Festival

From the Alps to Antarctica via the Southern Ocean with the Swiss Polar Class Festival

The Polar Access Fund 2025 call is open!

The Polar Access Fund 2025 call is open!

The SPI Foundation Board appoints new Chair and Vice-Chair

The SPI Foundation Board appoints new Chair and Vice-Chair

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