ARKHANGELSK, March 14. /TASS/. The Arctic Floating University (AFU) has announced a competition among applications to participate in the expedition in the summer of 2024, Alexander Saburov, the expedition's leader, Director of the Institute for Strategic Development of the Arctic at the Northern Arctic Federal University (NAFU), told TASS. Applications may be submitted before April 1.

"We are pleased to announce we are receiving applications for participation in the Arctic Floating University 2024 expedition. We have two lines. The first one is an option for students of the floating university school. This is a federal project that is taking place this year in several Russian cities. The school's one of the sessions was held in February in Arkhangelsk in the field of microbiology. The second line is a competition among students of the Arkhangelsk Region's universities. The key element of any application is a student's own project, which the applicant presents to the commission," he said.

Each student, undergraduate or postgraduate must submit a plan of scientific research that he or she will conduct during the expedition and which will contribute to the study and monitoring of ecosystems in remote areas of the Russian Arctic. AFU on board the Professor Molchanov research vessel will kick off from Arkhangelsk to the Kolguev Island - Franz Josef Land archipelago - the Severny Island (Novaya Zemlya) to return to Arkhangelsk. The plan is subject to changes.

The expedition will study the Arctic Ocean seas' hydrology and meteorology regimes, the flow of pollutants, the environment in economic activity areas, biodiversity, historic and cultural monuments, the use of materials for Arc-class vessels and marine Arctic equipment, as well as the human adaptation to conditions of the high-latitude Arctic.

The Arctic Floating University is a joint project of the Northern Arctic Federal University and the national hydrometeorology service's Northern branch (Sevhydromet). The expeditions continue since 2012.