International Polar Years took place in 1882/83 and in 1932/33 and in 1957/58 the International Geophysical Year was held. The first International Polar Year involved 12 nations while 67 nations participated in the second, which engaged about 60 000 researchers and technicians. The International Geophysical Year led to the formalizing of international research collaboration in the Antarctic through the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and resulted in the Antarctic Treaty.  Norway participated in both International Polar Years and the International Geophyscial Year and established new Arctic and Antarctic research stations. These investments have resulted in important data sets that have contributed to research several decades after their collection.

The current International Polar Year will last from 1 March 2007 to 1 March 2009 and represents a unique opportunity for research that coincides with a rapidly increasing interest for the Arctic in other areas of society. About 60 different nations will participate in over 100 different projects involving thousands of researchers.

The International Polar Year will involve an intense interdisciplinary research effort to provide, amongst other things, data sets to improve climate models and predictions, including ocean currents and climate connections between low and high latitudes. The space agencies of the world will participate with new measurements from polar orbiting satellites which will be compared with ground-based data. Perhaps the most important goal is to leave a permanent legacy in the shape of improved cooperation in the Arctic.

Norwegian research institutions and their researchers will play a central role in the International Polar Year. The Norwegian Research Council has so far distributed 228 million NOK to polar research for the period 2007-2010. The Norwegian Polar Institute is involved in 13 of the 26 Norwegian Research Council-funded International Polar Year projects. Five of these projects are headed by the Norwegian Polar Institute. The projects involve research on topics such as polar climate, biodiversity, northern indigenous peoples and contaminants. An overview of all the Norwegian-funded projects with Norwegian Polar Institute involvement can be found in the menu to the right.

The Comittee for the International Polar Year has so far provided funding for 139 projects in a wide range of topics. You can download the project overview from the menu on the right.