Please get in touch with the training team (training@polarnetwork.org) if you have any queries.
Best wishes,
Ellie
From: HONAN, ELEANOR MAEDHBH
Sent: 27 August 2025 17:40
To: UK Polar Network Mailing List <ukpn@jiscmail.ac.uk>
Subject: DEADLINE APPROACHING: PolarSTEP Field Course
❄️ The UKPN is delighted to announce PolarSTEP, an intensive field-course for UK-based early career polar scientists and professionals. ❄️
Based on survey feedback from the UKPN membership, we have put together a course schedule designed to provide training which fills recognised gaps in courses available through UK academic institutions. This November, we're bringing together a group of early career researchers and professionals from across all realms of polar science for a multi-disciplinary field course designed to provide a solid baseline in a diverse mix of polar field skills, from pitching tents to successfully engaging with local communities.
Course content:
The focus of this field-course is to provide science planning, and scientific field skills at an introductory level. Coursework will take place both outdoors and in the classroom, with an experienced instructor team.
A non-exhaustive list of examples of content to be covered in the course is described below:
🏔️ Basic outdoor skills (never pitched a tent or packed a rucksack? We'll teach you!)
⛺ Field hygiene (the lack of facilities on remote field camps can be intimidating for those who haven't spent time outdoors, but we're here to give you all the tips and tricks!)
🔬 Carrying out science in the field (you'll have the opportunity to deploy field equipment and learn best scientific sampling practices)
📃 Planning remote scientific sampling (before going into the field, we'll run a session on planning and risk assessment tools that you can apply to your own science)
✅ Ethical and responsible science (we'll help you to understand and mitigate the impacts of carrying out scientific fieldwork)
🤝 Collaborative science and interpersonal skills (fieldwork can be intense, and we'll provide tools for navigating interpersonal relationships from the field)
🔊 Communicating science from the field (now more than ever, how we communicate polar science matters. Throughout the course, our experienced instructors will guide you on the best format and style for distributing your science, and you'll come away with usable media for your own portfolio).
Who this course is aimed at:
To apply for this course you must be an Early Career Researcher or Professional, either working in or towards a career or degree in polar science and above 18 years of age.
The UKPN has made a commitment to breaking down barriers to polar research. Part of this goal means ensuring all polar scientists are equipped with the basic field skills needed to feel comfortable on their first experiences of polar fieldwork. As such, some of the course content will be at an introductory level. However, having some fieldwork experience will not directly preclude your participation on the course. The course is not aimed at those who have, for example, completed multiple Antarctic field seasons, as much of the content will be structured towards those who have limited experience in the outdoors and/or on scientific fieldwork. However, if you can justify why this course would be of benefit to you we will consider applicants with prior experience of polar fieldwork.
How to apply:
Please apply through our website before 29th August. If you have issues accessing or filling out the application, please email training@polarnetwork.org.
Best wishes,
Ellie Honan, on behalf of the UKPN Training team
Eleanor Maedhbh (Ellie) Honan (she/her)
PhD Candidate at Durham University and the British Antarctic Survey
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