ALBERT

Description: In June 2014, more than 75 Early Career Researchers (ECRs) attended the ECR Workshop 2014, a one-day event held prior to the 4th European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOP) in Évora, Portugal. One of the goals of this workshop was to elaborate future avenues of permafrost research from an ECR perspective during a forum with participants from various disciplines and countries. The outcome of this workshop is a “Permafrost Priority Sheet”, which will be presented to the International Permafrost Association (IPA) and will contribute to the establishment of research priorities leading up to into the 3rd International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP III) in 2015 in Toyama, Japan. This presentation will highlight some of the results that were obtained during the workshop, in a similar fashion as what will be presented at ICARP III. Additionally, it will focus on the organisation of the forum, the consultation process and the lessons learned from the overall experience. The results from this workshop took the form of research questions, from which five questions were elected by the participants as the most relevant at identifying gaps that need to be addressed in permafrost research. The broad range of topics include, engineering, remote sensing, traditional knowledge, massive ice, permafrost distribution, and more. Overall, these topics underscore the wide variety of specialties of the participants as well as the need for further research across a spectrum of permafrost-related topics. To date, this operation has been a success largely due to the extensive collaboration between the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN), and the ECR organisations of inter-disciplinary projects Changing Permafrost in the Arctic and its Global Effects in the 21st Century (PAGE-21) and Arctic Development and Adaptation to Permafrost in Transition (ADAPT). This workshop was an ECR initiative from the beginning to the end and is a great example of collaboration between National and International organizations. It also shows how ECR projects can be conveyed using existing networks and events in order to broadcast their opinions and increase their contribution to the future of Arctic science.

Description: The Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) is an international organization fostering innovative collaboration, seeking to recruit, retain and promote future generations of permafrost researchers. PYRN was founded in November 2005 at the International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP II) and is steadily growing, reaching around 1500 early career permafrost researchers and engineers, many of them from non-permafrost countries. It builds partnerships with large organizations such as the International Permafrost Association (IPA) and the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS). The IPY 2007/2008 has emphasized the importance of including the young generation of polar researchers in its activities. PYRN and APECS are a direct legacy of the IPY. Under a joint Memorandum of Understanding, PYRN together with the IPA and APECS work closely together on a bi-polar perspective bringing together natural and social scientist, engineers and humanities for a better understanding of cryospheric processes for society and the elaborate representation of these processes in climate models. PYRN is guided by an Executive Committee but run through its members that organize themselves in an international Council, national communities, thematic groups and several groups of interest. Over the past years, PYRN hosted workshops during the regional and international permafrost conferences. It is increasingly present with sessions and social network events on large conferences like the European and American Geophysical Union (EGU, AGU). During the EUCOP4, PYRN will host a workshop to maintain an active, dynamic and growing early career scientific network on permafrost. Organized together with APECS, PAGE21, and ADAPT, this workshop is kindly sponsored by the IPA, the Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) project and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). One major workshop focus is to elaborate the future avenues of permafrost research from a young researchers' perspective. One of the key outcomes will be a young researcher contribution to the IPA strategy for ICARP III issued as a “Permafrost Priority Sheet” summarizing the discussions from the forum. This document is envisioned to contribute to an assessment of research priorities from an early career researcher perspective. It will feed into the final ICARP III meeting in Japan 2015, together with contributions from other initiatives. The 11. International Conference on Permafrost in 2016 (Potsdam, Germany) will provide a forum for many young researchers getting involved in a plethora of activities. PYRN has been involved in the conference planning from the very beginning to effectively integrate PYRN members in the process of ICOP2016 organization as well as young researchers activities in the overall conference program (e.g. workshop, PYRN awards, social program). The conference logo has been found through an international competition organized by PYRN and will be presented in Evora.

Description: The Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) is an international network fostering innovative collaboration, seeking to recruit, retain, and promote future generations of permafrost researchers. Established in 2005, in the framework of the 2nd International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP II), PYRN is evolving and expanding its network, bringing together young and enthusiastic permafrost scientists from all around the world. We strongly benefit from our cooperation with the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) and our overarching organization, the International Permafrost Association (IPA), as well as from partnerships with Climate and Cryosphere Project (CliC) and Polar Educators International (PEI). Currently, more than 1,200 members are involved in PYRN, including from natural and social science, engineering and humanities.

Description: The Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) is an international organization that fosters collaboration amongst its members and seeks to recruit, retain, and promote future generations of permafrost researchers. PYRN began as an IPY initiative in close collaboration with APECS and with its overarching organization, the International Permafrost Association (IPA). PYRN seeks to increase global awareness, understanding, and action in relation to permafrost in a changing climate. Our main goal is to provide a common forum to communicate and exchange ideas related to permafrost science and engineering. This includes coordinating activities such as workshops, meetings, and awards to encourage PYRN members to share knowledge and expertise on permafrost-related topics. PYRN leadership consists of an Executive Committee (led by a President; currently Alexandre Nieuwendam) and a Council. One member from the Executive Committee jointly serves on the APECS Open Council.

Description: In June 2014, more than 75 Early Career Researchers (ECRs) attended the ECR Workshop 2014, a one-day event held prior to the 4th European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOP) in Évora, Portugal. One of the goals of this workshop was to elaborate future avenues of permafrost research from an ECR perspective during a forum with participants from various disciplines and countries. The outcome of this workshop is a ?Permafrost Priority Sheet?, which will be presented to the International Permafrost Association (IPA) and will contribute to the establishment of research priorities leading up to into the 3rd International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP III) in 2015 in Toyama, Japan. This presentation will highlight some of the results that were obtained during the workshop, in a similar fashion as what will be presented at ICARP III. Additionally, it will focus on the organisation of the forum, the consultation process and the lessons learned from the overall experience. The results from this workshop took the form of research questions, from which five questions were elected by the participants as the most relevant at identifying gaps that need to be addressed in permafrost research. The broad range of topics include, engineering, remote sensing, traditional knowledge, massive ice, permafrost distribution, and more. Overall, these topics underscore the wide variety of specialties of the participants as well as the need for further research across a spectrum of permafrost-related topics. To date, this operation has been a success largely due to the extensive collaboration between the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN), and the ECR organisations of inter-disciplinary projects Changing Permafrost in the Arctic and its Global Effects in the 21st Century (PAGE-21) and Arctic Development and Adaptation to Permafrost in Transition (ADAPT). This workshop was an ECR initiative from the beginning to the end and is a great example of collaboration between National and International organizations. It also shows how ECR projects can be conveyed using existing networks and events in order to broadcast their opinions and increase their contribution to the future of Arctic science.