The upcoming IPY provides a unique opportunity to bring together a
broad cross section of the polar research community to blaze a new
trail for polar research, one that will include pathways from across
the natural and social sciences.

The NGPR Symposium, to be held May 4-11, 2008, at the La Foret Conference Center in
Colorado Springs, CO, USA, will bring together thirty-six advanced
graduate students and recent Ph.D. graduates who are or will be
conducting independent research during the 2007–2009 IPY, current polar
experts, and veteran polar scientists who were actively engaged in the
1957–1958 IGY, to provide this new generation with a common sense of
history and purpose, increase awareness of work conducted by their
peers, share ideas for educational outreach, and forge
interdisciplinary collegial relationships with their peers.

The
week will consist of research presentations by participants and
perspectives on the history and future of polar research by IPY
veterans and other polar experts. The setting will provide an open
forum for discussions that will lead to cross-fertilization of research
ideas and techniques for educational outreach. The net result should be
expansion of participants’ historical, scientific and professional
outlook. Scholars from the full range of natural and social sciences
are eligible. While the focus is on the US system with preference given
for American citizens and U.S. residents, a few slots will be reserved
for non-US residents with interests in working with U.S. researchers.

Travel and on-site expenses are covered through a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

The NGPR symposium is also part of the larger IPY at University of the Arctic and collaborates closely with the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists.