A Guide to SCAR
The UKNCAR serves as the UK National Committee to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). SCAR is a Committee of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and was established following the success of the International Geophysical Year in 1957-58. It is an international, independent and non-governmental body. There are now thirty one Full Member countries to SCAR.
SCAR is charged to initiate, promote, and co-ordinate international scientific activity in the Antarctic with a view to framing and reviewing scientific programmes of circumpolar scope and significance. SCAR is responsible for reviewing scientific matters pertaining to the integrity of the Antarctic environment, including the conservation of its terrestrial and marine ecosystems. It also provides scientific and technological advice to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings and other organizations, both governmental and non-governmental.
SCAR meets every two years. As part of the re-organisation of SCAR in 2003, a new structure of SCAR meetings has been introduced. A SCAR Delegates Meeting will take place after a SCAR Science Meeting that will be held in conjunction/parallel with the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) meeting. The objectives of this new structure are:
- To create an open forum to which SCAR scientists will be attracted in order to participate in cooperative scientific activity such as workshops and symposia in the fields of interest of the Standing Scientific Groups and Scientific Programme Groups
- To focus of one aspect of Antarctic science by organizing a one-day multidisciplinary Symposium on a topic of special interest. This Symposium will be a flagship activity of the SCAR meeting and is expected to be a vehicle through which scientists can present papers which define the current state of knowledge in a chosen field of multidisciplinary activity, and through which the activities of SCAR can be publicized and brought to the attention of politicians, the media and the public
- To provide a set of keynote addresses in which scientific matters of strong current interest will be described and reviews by invited speakers, so that the community can be informed about progress in a wide variety of SCAR scientific activities
- To provide an opportunity for Standing Scientific Groups and Scientific Programme Groups to hold business sessions and plan future activities.
- To provide a three month period in which the proposals of Standing Scientific Groups can be properly prepared for presentation to the Meeting of Delegates.
The XXXI SCAR Open Science Conference took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2010, from 3rd-6th August, 2010.
The next SCAR Open Science Conference and Delegates Meeting is due to be held from 13-25th July, 2012, in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Important dates for this meeting include:
- 13th-14th July: SCAR business and subsidiary groups
- 15th-20th July: SCAR Standing Scientific Groups
- 16th-19th July: Open Science Conference
- 23rd-25th July: SCAR Delegates Meeting
The UKNCAR is responsible for disseminating information about SCAR in the United Kingdom, including the distribution of SCAR reports and bulletins. The UKNCAR is responsible for the election and appointment of UK Delegates, Alternate Delegates and Standing Scientific Group representatives. The UKNCAR must ensure that these UK participants represent national interests and communicate information and decisions from SCAR activities to the UK community.
You can find more information about SCAR on this website under SCAR Bulletins and News, on the official SCAR website, and by contacting:
SCAR Executive Director
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
Scott Polar Research Institute
Lensfield Road
Cambridge
CB2 1ER
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)1223 336556
Facsimile: +44 (0)1223 336549
E-mail: mds68@cam.ac.uk
