AWIPEV Base, DE+FR
AWIPEV Base, DE+FR
The Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Germany and the French Polar Institute (IPEV) in France jointly operate the AWIPEV Base, located in Ny-Ă…lesund, Svalbard.
With the stations Koldewey, Rabot and Corbel, it covers a large field of modern polar research. Both long-term and short-term projects of atmospheric research, marine and terrestrial biology, and cryosphere research are carried out at the AWIPEV Research Base.
Contribution to POLARIN key research challenges:Â 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Information about Ny-Ă…lesund research station
Important information about the currently ongoing research activities, including the four Ny-Ă…lesund flagship programs, and the collaboration between the five partners offering access to Ny-Ă…lesund research station (AWI, IPEV, CNR, NERC and NPI is available here: https://eu-polarin.eu/ny-alesund/ Â
Contact:management[at]awipev.eu
WebsiteÂ
Location
AWIPEV is located in Ny-Ă…lesund, Svalbard.
Facilities
AWIPEV research base consists of several buildings: the ‘Blue House’ of the former German ‘Koldewey Station’, and the former French ‘Rabot Station’ and ‘Corbel station’ buildings, which offer accommodation, offices and laboratories for guest scientists.
The AWIPEV atmosphere observatory building is dedicated to atmospheric research with remote sensing instruments. Other buildings at the base contain laboratories for physical, biological and chemical analysis. Researchers also have access to shared research infrastructure and laboratory services by Kings Bay AS.
AWIPEV provides a number of vehicles, snow scooters and motor boats, as well as associated equipment for daily to weekly expeditions to the surrounding area.
Observatories: AWIPEV includes a long-term atmospheric and a long-term permafrost observatory. Since 2005, the marine laboratory in Kongsfjorden is available for marine biological research.
Services offeredÂ
The base’s primary focus is on environmental sciences, and it includes laboratories for physical, biological, and chemical experiments. Safety and shooting training, lab space and possibilities to move around the station with vehicles. Possibility to cooperate with long-term observation activities. Â
What is included in the Access
Unit of access: User/day
Modalities of access offered: In-person accessÂ
The access includes the usage of all facilities and any needs during the field campaign, food, and accommodation. The typical duration of work is 14 days. The users will be integrated into the scheduling of the infrastructure according to the requests received by the station.
Availability for access in the 2024 call
1st May 2025 –30 April 2026
Time frame for access preparations
Once a project has been granted access, every project (both AWI and IPEV) has to provide project documentation (logistic needs, risk assessment, medical approval, personal questionnaire for participants) latest 6 weeks before the start of the fieldwork.
Permits, licenses and training
Permits and licenses depend on the specific fieldwork and are regulated by the rules and regulations for fieldwork on Svalbard, defined by the Norwegian Government.
All participants need to be trained for their specific type of fieldwork. The station staff is only responsible for a general introduction. Anybody working outside the town-limits of Ny-Ă…lesund is required to carry a rifle and flare gun for polar bear protection. See details at https://www.awipev.eu/practical-info/safety-hse/Â
Specific fieldwork (drones, diving etc.) may require addition permits and certification.
Medical guidelines
For AWI:Â All expedition participants have to send a medical questionnaire which will be assessed by AWI medical staff. In case of issues, medical tests can be required. For field stays longer than 4 weeks a medical examination is necessary.
For IPEV: All expedition participants must carry out medical examinations in agreement with the TAAF medical service (Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises).
