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  • Science conducted in and around polar and high-altitude regions is critical to understanding the evolution of the Earth’s climate.
  • Due to the complex logistics, challenging access and difficult safety conditions in these extreme environments, the Swiss polar community requires specific competencies and dedicated support.
  • The Swiss Polar Institute (SPI) offers tailored support to scientists based in Switzerland who work in polar regions and remote high-altitude environments.

NEWS

UPCOMING EVENTS

Meet us at the 23rd Swiss Geoscience Meeting in Bern on 5 and 6 December 2025.
SPI will present its activities with a booth and convenes the session n°18 on polar and high-altitude environments with the Swiss Commission for Polar and High Altitude Research (SCPH) and the Association of Polar Early-Career Scientists (APECS) Switzerland.

OPEN CALLS

The Polar Access Fund call is open until 20 January 2026, 12:00 (noon) CET.

Co-funded by the Swiss Polar Institute and BNP Paribas Swiss Foundation, the Polar Access Fund supports early-career researchers based in Switzerland for an initial field trip to the polar and remote high-altitude regions.

Photo © Éliot Sicaud, all rights reserved

The PolARTS call is open until 31 January 2026, 17:00 CET.

PolARTS is a joint initiative by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and the Swiss Polar Institute.

Illustration credit © Jean-Vincent Simonet, all rights reserved

Explore all SPI funded projects

Every year the Swiss Polar Institute awards competitive grants to scientific projects in the Arctic, Antarctic and remote high-altitude regions. This section offers an overview of the scientific projects supported by the Swiss Polar Institute in polar and high-altitude regions.

SHOW PROJECTS

WHAT WE DO

Funding

Funding for field access, logistics and technology

Collaboration

International Collaboration and Agreements

Events

Information events, scientific workshops and conferences

Outreach

swiss polar class & collaboration with museums

Expeditions

Expeditions organised by the SPI

Services

Courses and support measures for fieldwork

Training

ACCESS TO FIELD AND SUMMER SCHOOLS

Featured Images

The Swiss Polar Class Festival is getting bigger! Under its new name, Swiss Polar Festival, the third edition from 26 to 29 November 2025 offers a wide range of activities and events for all ages, in collaboration with cultural venues in Sion.
More information and free registration on the Swiss Polar Class website →
© Steven Schlosser, all rights reserved
Image Gallery
The Swiss Polar Class Festival is getting bigger! Under its new name, Swiss Polar Festival, the third edition from 26 to 29 November 2025 offers a wide range of activities and events for all ages, in collaboration with cultural venues in Sion.
More information and free registration on the Swiss Polar Class website →
© Steven Schlosser, all rights reserved
Image Gallery
The Swiss Polar Class Festival is getting bigger! Under its new name, Swiss Polar Festival, the third edition from 26 to 29 November 2025 offers a wide range of activities and events for all ages, in collaboration with cultural venues in Sion.
More information and free registration on the Swiss Polar Class website →
© Steven Schlosser, all rights reserved
Image Gallery
SPI Technogrant: Prototype for a low-cost and robust electrical resistivity tomography monitoring system for remote permafrost environments
© Christian Hauck, all rights reserved
Image Gallery
© Evan Miles, all rights reserved
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Polar Access Fund: Artificial ice reservoir (ice stupa) built to enhance water management in Ladakh
© Suryanarayanan Balasubramanian, all rights reserved
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Polar Access Fund: Challenging access to fieldwork site on a debris-covered glacier in the Garhwal mountain range in northern India
© Marin Kneib, all rights reserved
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SPI Exploratory Grant: Fieldwork on vegetation patterns above Zackenberg Research Station in Greenland
© Christophe Randin, all rights reserved
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Polar Access Fund: iceberg fill the Narsarsuaq fjord in Greenland.
© Hanna Rosinger, all rights reserved
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A Polar Access Fund grantee is recovering GPS data in order to monitor a landslide near the Portage glacier (Alaska).
© Raphael Moser, all rights reserved
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Field & Summer School: International Geochronology Summer School, Switzerland
© Giovanna Ceppi, all rights reserved
Image Gallery