28 September 2016:
The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) and the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research are pleased to announce that the APECS International Directorate will be hosted by AWI at its research centre in Potsdam, Germany for five years from February 2017. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between both this week. The staff of the APECS International Directorate at AWI will include the APECS Executive Director, Dr. Gerlis Fugmann, and Heike Midleja as new half-time APECS Administrative Assistant (currently Administrative Assistant for the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC)).
The APECS is an international and interdisciplinary organization for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, early faculty members, educators and others with interests in the polar and alpine regions and the wider cryosphere. By providing networking and career development opportunities, APECS’ activities aim to: a) raise the profile of polar research; b) develop effective leaders in research, education and outreach; and c) stimulate interdisciplinary and international research collaborations. To achieve this, APECS works with many partners in the international polar research community and has, among others, close connections with IASC and SCAR, with whom it has had a Memorandum of Understanding since 2008.
SCAR would like to take this opportunity to thank UiT The Arctic University of Norway, the Norwegian Polar Institute and the Research Council of Norway for their years of support in hosting the APECS International Directorate.