ARKHANGELSK, May 20. /TASS/. More than 450 Arctic experts from 28 countries will take part in the Arctic Science Summit Week in Arkhangelsk on May 22-30, the event organizers’ representative in the Arkhangelsk Region Denis Zheleznikov told reporters.
The Arctic Science Summit Week, established by the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), is an annual event, which takes place in different countries. Russia will host it for the second time.
"We have registered 450 participants, where 200 represent the Russian scientific community and 250 will come here from 28 countries," the organizer said. "Many delegates will come from Iceland, as that country will host the next summit, others will come from Portugal, as it will host the summit in 2021, and other big delegations will travel from the US, Poland and Canada."
"40 attendees will come from China, South Korea and Japan," he added. "We have also registered a delegate from Africa - from Kameron."
The Arctic agenda
The summit in Arkhangelsk will focus on climate changes and on social and human aspects, IASC’s Vice President Vladimir Pavlenko said.
"We would like to present the Russian science, and to attract attention of specialists, involved in the Arctic research in different spheres," he said. "Seven academicians will come to tell about research projects at their institutes."
Another topic on the agenda would be shipbuilding and navigation. "We shall also speak about the radiation security in the Arctic," he added.
The scientists will see a presentation of Europe’s only diamond deposit in the Arkhangelsk Region. "[We expect representatives] of AGD Diamonds; the delegates will be invited to a tour [of the deposit] to see diamond mining in the European part, as not many have seen how diamonds are produced," he said.
The Arctic Medal
The Arctic summit’s program includes a ceremony of IASC Medal awards. "This medal is given for active research in the Arctic, to a person, who would not stay in the office, but who goes to expeditions, writes many works; and the Arctic scientific community, first of all the International Arctic Scientific Committee, will announce winners," the organizer said.
Russian scientists have not won the medal. "[The main reason why Russian scientists have not won the medal is that] we do not have many published works in English, while such publications is the way to let the international scientific community learn about the research projects," he explained.
"Our decision is that we shall assist authors of the most interesting speeches with translation, we shall chose them and publish on the Web of Science magazines (an Internet-based platform uniting data on scientific publications and patents)," he continued.
Young scientists and students will be invited to listen to lectures, delivered by prominent scientists. "On the 24th and the 25th, we shall have lectures, which be delivered by scientists, including the academicians," he added. "On May 25, at a poster session, 100 young scientists and students will present their research in the form of posters, and the summit’s all participants will be able to see them. This form is better than just sitting by a table."
The Arctic Science Summit Week is the biggest annual international meeting of scientists, who support and promote the Arctic research projects.