On Wednesday 5 March 2025 in Bern, in collaboration with the Delegation of the European Union to Switzerland and Liechtenstein and the University of Bern, the Swiss Polar Institute had the pleasure to present the European-funded project Beyond EPICA: Oldest Ice, a long-term study of ice cores from the heart […]
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Our journey to the North Pole began in Tromsø, Norway, where we boarded the research vessel Polarstern on August 9, 2024. As I stood in line, I struck up a conversation with the person next to me, only to realize he would be my cabin mate for the next two […]
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Tomorrow is a day I have been looking forward to for a while: Raphi and I will going to the Gornergletscher to conduct a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey with our AIRETH system. AIRETH is a helicopter-borne GPR platform that we re-designed in the frame of an SPI Technogrant funded by […]
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The flight into Greenland leaves a strong impression. Everyone in the small red plane is leaning towards the windows to stare at the expanse of white below. For a moment you think it must be clouds stretching to the horizon, but then you see the small details, a mountain peak, […]
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The second call for proposals for SPI Flagship Initiatives is now open and starts with the call for pre-proposals to be submitted by 30 April 2025. Two info events will be held online on 6 and 11 February to provide an overview of the call’s process and eligibility criteria. The SPI Flagship Initiatives programme aims […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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The ALANA project, based at the University of Bern’s Humanities in Arctic Research platform focuses on uncovering prehistoric human-environment interactions in Alaska’s Brooks Range mountains. It is supported by the Swiss Polar Institute’s Polar Access Fund and its main local archaeological partners are the University of Alaska Fairbanks UAF and […]
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Wide open skies, colourful flowers, and stillness all represent the Arctic tundra to me, but the tundra can also be harsh and unforgiving. Difficult logistics, the cold, and mosquitoes are just a few factors that can make botanical fieldwork a real challenge in the North, not to mention the tiny […]
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