Following the first call for applications conducted between September and November 2022, two AUD 10,000 Fellowships have been awarded thanks to the financial support of the Swiss Polar Institute and the Antarctic Science Foundation who will jointly fund a Fellow.

The Mertz Fellowship programme is designed to encourage the active involvement of early-career researchers in polar and high-altitude science, and to promote synergies between Swiss and Australian higher education and research institutions through scientific networking and joint projects. Implemented in collaboration with the Swiss Polar Institute and managed by the Embassy of Switzerland in Australia, the Mertz Fellowship programme receives funding from the Swissnex network, part of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

Following the first call for applications conducted between September and November 2022, two AUD 10,000 Fellowships have been awarded thanks to the financial support of the Swiss Polar Institute and the Antarctic Science Foundation who will jointly fund a Fellow.

The details for the two inaugural Fellows are listed below:

Melissa Gerwin from the University of Tasmania, Australia will pursue her project titled ‘A global tool for assessing high-altitude ecosystem vulnerability to warming’ at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos, Switzerland.

Amy Macfarlane from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos, Switzerland, will pursue her project titled ‘Radiative transfer modelling applied to melting Arctic and Antarctic sea ice’ with the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP).

The next call for applications will run between May and July 2023. More details to be announced shortly.

More information:

Mertz Fellowship 2022-2023: Inaugural recipients announced (admin.ch)

Mertz Fellowship – Switzerland and Australia create opportunities for PhD students and ECRs – Swiss Polar Institute

Mertz Fellowship for polar and high altitude research collaboration between Switzerland Australia (admin.ch)

Header image: Mertz on the ice cliff by Frank Hurley (1912) / Wikimedia – Public Domain, State Library of South Wales