Russian Polar Initiative - Russian National Committee of APECS
APECS Russia was formed in 2009 and is led by young and enthusiastic group of polar researchers from different parts of Russia: from Saint-Petersburg and Moscow to Murmansk and Vladivostok in strong cooperation with active members who study and work abroad, and who help and significantly contribute to the activities of the National Committee providing the direct link to the international community of young polar researchers.
In March 2015 APECS Russia was renewed and reorganized in form of NGO and named as Russian NGO "Polar Initiative" (Russian Polar Initiative). Russian Polar Initiative aims in bringing together undergraduate and graduate students, early career professionals, mentors, and senior researchers interested and working in polar regions. Russian Polar Initiative stimulates the dialogue among early career polar professionals to identify the most relevant and urgent information, skills and knowledge.
Currently there are more than 200 members within the Russian Polar Initiative - Russian National Committee of APECS. Members of the Russian Polar Initiative actively contribute to the international office of the APECS where they served and currently serve as Council and Executive Committee members, have participated in the running of the international directorate of APECS. Members and representatives of Russian Polar Initiative are attending large polar-oriented conferences, participate in international organizations and boards.
In March 2015 as part of the workshop for early career polar scientists, the Russian Polar Initiative discussed and prepared the Letter of Agreement with the APECS International, which will be signed during the first APECS World Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Members of Russian Polar Initiative actively work on partnerships with other national committees, with national and international polar-oriented organizations and boards (e.g. INTERACT, IASC, PYRN, EGEA etc.). Members of Russian Polar Initiative regularly represent APECS on international and national conferences, workshops, roundtables and summits.
Our Priorities and Aims:
- to unite early career polar researchers from Russia
- to foster integration of Russian polar community into the international society of polar researchers
- to provide information on career opportunities and perspectives for early career scientists
- to establish a dialogue between the young and senior researchers
Our past, ongoing and planned Russian Polar Initiative programs include:
Online Presence and Outreach Projects:
- We actively maintain our social media presence with the account name @RussianPolar: in VK (213 followers), Facebook (142 followers), Twitter (213 followers) and have recently launched an instagram account.
- Currently the web-site (polarinitiative.ru) is under development, which will serve as a platform for interaction and as an information source for Russian early career polar researchers
- "Popular Science: Arctic, Antarctica, Climate" (@pop_nauka), the outreach resource which aiming at communication and popularization of polar research to the general public has been maintained as one of the outreach projects of Russian Polar Initiative.
Networking projects and opportunities:
- Self-organized workshops and seminars.
- Presence on national and international polar-related conferences
- National Committee representatives in national and international organizations and boards
- Teleconferences and webinars for young polar scientists
Planned activities for 2015:
- The series of webinars on polar-related topics
- Development of the complete web-based platform for polar researchers (polarinitiative.ru)
- The "Polar Researcher" monthly series of interviews with established senior scientists and polar-related public figures
- Career development seminars during national conferences
Written by: Ivan Dubinenkov, Alexey Pavlov, YuliaZaika, NikitaKuprikov