On 23 January 2025, as part of the Polar Night Week event, the official opening of the BERA Centre will take place on Svalbard, jointly with representatives of the authorities of partner units, friendly Norwegian units and local authorities.
The milestone for polar science begins!
The Centre for Polar Studies, together with its partners and associated partners, i.e. the University of Silesia in Katowice, the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin and the University of Wrocław, have formed the new infrastructure BERA Logistics and Research Centre on Svalbard.
The Centre’s partners manage the Polish Polar Station Hornsund, the university stations and the research vessel Oceania. From now on, all activities of Polish scientists will have logistic and research support in the shape of a newly developed infrastructure in Longyearbyen, the capital of Svalbard.
These activities align with the government’s strategy (Polish Polar Policy) and the research priorities of the European Union. The infrastructure consists of a main building, which allows for equipment storage, servicing and repairing research equipment, as well as office work and workshop and training meetings.
Additional storage, containers, and equipment complement the infrastructure needed to facilitate research in the Arctic.
The BERA Centre’s main priorities are to support ongoing research and environmental monitoring, to provide storage and logistical facilities, and to network internationally.
We will keep you posted on the progress of the celebration!