Arctic fieldwork planning

The NERC Arctic Office will help you to plan your field season at Ny-Ålesund.

You can find all the information required for planning by visiting the ‘Planning your field season’ pages of the Arctic Office website.

Once initial project approval has been obtained from NERC, further personal details for the Project Team, and completed risk assessments and COSHH forms, must be submitted to the Station Leader. The Station Leader can provide generic risk assessments for most field activities. Since there is no doctor on site, all applicants should be medically fit and should possess a valid first-aid certificate. Risk assessments should also include potential health problems.

The Station Leader is the logistical point of contact for all approved projects and should receive updates from the Principal Investigators on a regular basis prior to arrival in Ny-Ålesund. Applicants are expected to have appropriate field clothing and footwear for the proposed field activity.

Please note that all researchers planning field activities in and around Ny-Ålesund should recognise that their institute or university has a duty of care to their employees.  Whilst these employees are in transit or undertaking field research on and around Svalbard appropriate insurance arrangements should have been made by the employer to cover their staff whilst abroad.