NCU News
Natural sciences
Arctic Agreement
Scientific cooperation in conducting scientific research in ocean and earth sciences is the objective of an agreement signed by the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and two Taiwanese institutions: National Central University and the National Academy of Marine Research.
The cooperation involves the annual participation of Polish and Taiwanese researchers in scientific expeditions to the NCU Polar Station on Spitsbergen and the setting up by the Taiwanese party of a joint (with NCU) logistics and transhipment base in Longyearbyen on Svalbard, Norway. Another aim is also the exchange of researchers and the implementation of joint research on Spitsbergen by students and doctoral students from both countries and the preparation of scientific publications.
The official act of cooperation was signed on 25 June 2022 in Longyearbyen. The event also included the formal opening of the Taiwan Arctic Outpost 'TaiArctic', which will be open to the NCU researchers. The ceremony was held simultaneously at three locations: on Spitsbergen, at the National Central University in Zhongli and at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The agreement was signed by Professor Wojciech Wysota, Deputy Rector for Science on behalf of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, by Chiu Yung-Fang, President of the National Academy of Marine Research, and the by Jou Jing-Yang, Rector of the National Central University. The event was also attended by dr habil. Marek Kejna, NCU Prof., Dean of the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management.
The coordinator of the co-operation on the part of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń is the director of the NCU Centre for Polar Research, dr habil. Ireneusz Sobota, NCU Prof., who took part in the ceremony on Spitsbergen. - The cooperation is perfectly in line with the NCU's Strategy for 2021-2026, notes Prof Sobota. - It will strengthen the University's position through strong partnerships in the international academic space, as well as the international attractiveness of education through student and doctoral student mobility.
The plans outlined in the agreement are an extension of the contacts developed earlier. In 2021, a polar expedition to the NCU Polar Station headed by Prof. Sobota took place. Taiwanese researchers participated in this undertaking. Polish-Taiwanese research on Spitsbergen will be carried out in two projects starting this year: Icequakes monitoring from a dense seismic array in Kaffiøyra, Svalbard and Advance of structural geological surveys and improvement of tectonic understating of the pre-Ordovician/Tertiary geological boundary in vicinity of Nicolaus Copernicus Polar Station, Kaffiøyra, Svalbard.
