PONANT Science Symposium
Scroll to explore
100% of the slots for 2022 have been allocated.
Likely the same will apply for 2023 as many international institutions have already booked the slots made available to them by PONANT during the upcoming months' cruises. This outcome is the result of the approach initiated since the ship's design phase, which was conceived and equipped to meet the technical and logistical needs of researchers with its two onboard laboratories and specialised equipment.
50 French and international scientists
For this occasion, around 50 researchers were gathered. Among them were staff from the German Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, the Italian National Research Council, Duke University (USA), the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EPHE-PSL). Several members of the board of the French National Committee for Arctic and Antarctic Research (CNFRAA, associated with the Academy of Sciences) were also present.
Olivier Poivre d’Arvor
French Ambassador for the Poles and Maritime Issues
Olivier Poivre d'Arvor highlighted the stakes of the French polar strategy on a European and international scale: long-term scientific research to improve the understanding of polar environments, promote innovation, and strengthen environmental protection. He emphasised one of the key drivers: the public-private collaboration, of which the PONANT Science program is an example, with scientific research projects conducted on each cruise since the launch of Le Commandant Charcot in autumn 2021.
Hervé Gastinel
"The studies and monitoring in polar regions carried out by researchers aboard Le Commandant Charcot are part of the continuity of actions undertaken by PONANT to contribute to a better dissemination of knowledge about polar regions and the protection of oceans. Acquiring a better understanding of the ecosystems we navigate towards while working towards their preservation is a major and timeless mission to which we are proud to be able to contribute."
Opportunities offered to the community
The opportunities offered to the scientific community reside particularly in the maritime routes taken by the ship, which are not usually covered by other oceanographic vessels or research ships. On board Le Commandant Charcot, biologists, geographers, oceanographers, climatologists and ethnologists can safely and regularly visit the polar regions for study purposes.
For example
For example, the Northwest Passage was mentioned during the conference by Jérôme Chappellaz, research director at CNRS and former director of the French Polar Institute Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV), as the most interesting Arctic maritime route for French researchers who have expressed their interest in scientific research programs aboard Le Commandant Charcot.
Several studies that have taken place on Le Commandant Charcot since November 2021:
Plastic pollution of the oceans – European Andromeda project – led by CNRS and IFREMER (French National Institute for Ocean Science);
Analysis of the behaviour of humpback whales by the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium;
A climatology and biodiversity study involving collecting samples in the water column of the Southern Ocean, carried out by EPHE-PSL;
Evaluation of the role of global warming and glacial meltwater on the rising level of oxygen in the oceans by the Kiel oceanography research centre (Geomar) in Germany.
The workshop was also an opportunity for everyone to present and share the results of their projects and the data collected, which are also available to the community on open source.
Arctic project calls
It is the European association ARICE (Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium), funded by the European Commission, which leads the first calls for projects initiated by PONANT and contributes to evaluating the responses.
It is composed of experts from the international scientific community. The files covering different research areas (climate, wildlife, pollution, etc.) are evaluated according to various usual criteria for European consortia: quality of the project and associated scientific research program and impact on society.