Ukraine thus gains a unique opportunity to conduct research at the North Pole and compare the same processes in the Arctic and Antarctica – so-called bipolar research. Ukraine has been conducting research in Antarctica for years; now access to the opposite pole is opening up.
The agreement was signed on June 25 in Warsaw between the National Antarctic Scientific Center and the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. It provides for joint geophysical studies in 2026–2027 – at the Polish polar station “Hornsund” in the Arctic and at the Ukrainian station “Akademik Vernadsky” in Antarctica. Synchronized laboratories are planned in both polar regions.
“For Ukraine, this is a window into the Arctic,” the researchers said. Ukrainian scientists will gain access to the infrastructure and data of the Polish station, as well as the opportunity to exchange experience and technology. Plans include comparisons of magnetic field fluctuations, rock and soil samples, as well as seismological and ecological studies.
NASC Director Yevhen Dykyi, who visited the Polish station, joked: “Bipolar is not just a disorder.” He added: “The Arctic is in a way the Antarctic turned inside out. Similar, but not identical. I am glad that we are looking to the future with our Polish colleagues, not to the past.” As early as this summer, two Ukrainian geophysicists, Yuriy Sumaruk and Anton Kushnir, will head to the Arctic; in the Antarctic summer, Polish specialists are expected at the “Vernadsky” station.
Source: www.bbc.com
