The European Polar Board
24 May 2005 - Articles, Logistics
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Established in 1995, the European Polar Board (EPB) is the European Science Foundation's strategic advisory committee on science policy in the polar regions. It comprises 19 European Union and pre-accession countries, as well as external members such as the Russian Federation.
Concerned with major strategic priorities in the Arctic and Antarctic, the EPB is funded by its members to act as a strategic voice and facilitator of cooperation between national polar institutes, research organisations and funding agencies.
Major initiatives
Since its creation, the EPB has been very dynamic in developing or supporting a whole series of strategic initiatives such as the proposal for a state-of-the-art, pan-European icebreaker, Aurora Borealis, and the proposal for a strategic framework for coordination of European polar research, to be taken forward by a European Polar Consortium.
Endorsements and co-operation
Other initiatives by the EPB include its role in the European endorsement of the 2007-2008 International Polar Year, as well as efforts to coordinate EU projects and proposals in both the natural and the social sciences.
The EPB is also actively in dialogue with the US National Science Foundation (NSF) on a series of joint initiatives, and it is hoped that a position paper on the subject of US/European collaboration in polar regions will be developed during the next year.
Future directions
According to Paul Egerton, EPB Executive Secretary, the Board will, in 2005, give strong support to the European Polar Consortium's activities, including through coordinating the views of EPB members' national polar research bodies.
By: Jean de Pomereu
