International Polar Year 2007 - 2008

IPY international

International IPY themes 
The IPY 2007/2008 main objective was to provide an impuls to international coordinated research in the polar regions. Six main themes* for the IPY 2007-2008 scientific research have been identified internationally:

  1. Status: to determine the present environmental status of the polar regions;
  2. Change: to quantify, and understand, past and present natural environmental and social change in the polar regions; and to improve projections of future change;
  3. Global Linkages: to advance understanding on all scales of the links and interactions between polar regions and the rest of the globe, and of the processes controlling these;
  4. New Frontiers: to investigate the frontiers of science in the polar regions;
  5. Vantage Point: to use the unique vantage point of the polar regions to develop and enhance observatories from the interior of the Earth to the Sun and the cosmos beyond;
  6. Human Dimension: to investigate the cultural, historical, and social processes that shape the sustainability of circumpolar human societies, and to identify their unique contributions to global cultural diversity and citizenship.

* directly from "A Framework for the International Polar Year 2007-2008" (pdf) published by the ICSU/WMO Joint Committee for IPY 2007-2008

International IPY projects
Worldwide 227 projects have been endorsed by the IPY International Programme Office 227. These 227 IPY projects are collaborative efforts between scientists from several countries and in most cases consist of several individual research projects (for example PhD or post-doc projects in The Netherlands). An overview of all IPY projects is provided in the  IPY Planning Chart (jpg). The projects have been grouped by geographical area (Arctic, Antarctic or Both) and topic (Earth, Land, People, Ocean, Ice, Atmosphere, Space and Education&Outreach), totalling at 170 research projects and 57 Education&Outreach projects.

Dutch scientists have contributed to 36 (as far as known by NWO) of the 227 IPY projects. In the IPY Planning Chart the projects with Dutch involvement have been marked in green. Six international IPY projects were coordinated by Dutch scientists, supported by IPY-NL starting and coordinating grants:

  • GLACIODYN - Prof. J. Oerlemans, Utrecht University
  • IPY-GEOTRACES - Prof. H.J.W. de Baar, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)
  • TARANTELLA - Dr. A.H.L Huiskes, Netherlands Institute of Ecology
  • BIRDHEALTH - Dr. M.J.J.E. Loonen, University of Groningen
  • LASHIPA - Prof. L. Hacquebord, University of Groningen
  • NORCLIM - Dr. S. Troelstra, Free University Amsterdam