About the Norwegian Polar Institute
The Norwegian Polar Institute is active within the fields of scientific research, mapping and environmental monitoring in the Arctic and Antarctica. The Institute advises Norwegian authorities in strategic and thematic matters relating to the polar regions, represents Norway internationally on various occasions and is Norway’s competent environmental authority in Antarctica.
Monitoring of climate, environmental pollutants and biodiversity, and geological and topographic mapping are key activities at the Institute. Another important task is environmental monitoring in the polar regions in cooperation with Russia, and circumpolar cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctica. Fieldwork and data collection have always been central to the Polar Institute, for example examination of polar bears around Svalbard, ice core drilling in the Arctic and Antarctica, and measurements of sea ice in the Arctic Sea. The Institute equips and organises major expeditions and owns the research vessel Lance.
The organisation has grown rapidly in recent years as part of the Government’s strategic initiatives in the High North. Within the research sector, the Centre for Ice, Climate and Ecosystems (ICE) has been created as part of the Institute, to intensify research on climate and ecosystems in polar regions, especially in the north.
We represent Norway in several international forums and collaborates with research institutes all over the world. The results obtained through research and environmental monitoring projects are passed on to the civil administration, research partners, expert groups, schools and the general public. The Institute produces and distributes exhibits, books, reports and a scientific journal, Polar Research, often in collaboration with domestic and foreign partners.
The roots of the Norwegian Polar Institute stretch back to scientific expeditions to Svalbard in 1906–1907: these were the direct predecessors of the institute established in 1928.
Our head office is located in Tromsø’s Fram Centre – a network of twenty institutes with special competence related to the High North.
Learn more about us:
Contact us More contact points
Norwegian Polar Institute
Fram Centre
Hjalmar Johansens gt. 14
NO-9296 Tromsø
Phone: +47 77 75 05 00
Fax: +47 77 75 05 01
E-mail: post@npolar.no
Organisation More about the organisation
The Ministry of the Environment defines the Institute’s responsibilities and sets its tasks. We also have commissions financed by other Ministries, environmental agencies, research institutes, the Research Council of Norway, and the EU.
Latest news More news
Annual report 2012
The Norwegian Polar Institute's annual report provides an overview of the Institute's activities and publications from the past year.
Awarded Russian Academy of Science gold medal
Dr. Svetlana Murzina, who did parts of her PhD work at UNIS, was awarded the gold medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences earlier this month.
Research at a floating laboratory at the North Pole
The Russian ice camp Barneo, which operates on the sea ice not far from the North Pole, is a hub for climate scientists from around the world every spring.
The Polar Institute in the media
Articles mentioning the Norwegian Polar Institute, fetched from digital media.