Contents:

1. Introduction to Monthly Reports
2. Information and Resources on the IPY web site
3. SCAR/IASC Open Science Conference, July 2008
4. Youth Networks


FROM: IPY International Programme Office
TO: IPY Project Coordinators


1. Introduction

Several project coordinators have expressed a desire for more communication from the IPY Office. This IPY Report conveys (we hope) useful and timely information to the Coordinators of each of the IPY Projects. We welcome suggestions for content and improvement.

We will send this by direct email from IPO using a Google Group, approximately monthly. Project Coordinators should redistribute these reports among their Project partners. Or, Project Coordinators can direct their partners to the Projects Google Group by signing up at:
http://groups.google.com/group/ipy-project-coordinators?hl=en

We will also post all these reports to the IPY web site, as they are published, and under the Participants section.

Please note: We maintain one Project list (group) that includes all Projects, Arctic and Antarctic, Science and Education. We will not send reports to specific regions or specific groups. Some items in this message and in subsequent reports may have more relevance to some Projects than to others, but we hope to keep all Projects equally informed.


2. Project Information and other Resources on the IPY Web Site

The IPY web site, www.ipy.org, contains a sortable, searchable list of every endorsed IPY Project. We hope Projects will use the web site in several ways!

First, please check the information on your Project page (see Projects at the top of www.ipy.org). Ideally, we would like a short (media-friendly) summary, a picture, and a link to your Project web site. Please send any updates to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Second, please consider making regular contributions to the IPY news, announcements and blogs on the IPY home page. We hope to have many fresh entries, and a different highlight, each day. Those materials come from many sources, but primarily (we hope) directly from the projects themselves. You, as Project Coordinator, do NOT need to write the materials yourself ask a student, a partner, a post-doc, someone who likes to write short news-worthy reports (good training for students!). Your project does not have to contribute every day. With 200 Projects, we only need occasional contributions from each Project. We suggest weekly to monthly, or as events or discoveries occur during your field seasons.

If you already update your own website regularly, we can RSS feed this directly to ipy.org. If interested please send information to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Third, if your Project does NOT have its own web site, please contact us. The Arctic Portal team offers web site construction and hosting for IPY Projects, and we would welcome regular stories and blogs on http://www.ipy.org.

Finally, we try to include many useful resources on the IPY web site. If you visit the Participants section of www.ipy.org you will find direct links to presentations, the IPY logo, several versions of the IPY honeycomb chart, and more. We will happily post more material here please let us know what you would find useful.


3. SCAR/IASC Open Science Conference, July 2008

We anticipate that IPY-specific conferences will occur approximately every second year. The first of these, providing an opportunity for IPY mid-course assessment, will occur at the SCAR/IASC Open Science Conference in July 2008 in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.

The International Steering Committee for this combined Arctic and Antarctic conference propose to organize the conference around the six IPY themes. They request comments and participation from IPY Project Coordinators. Please see an Invitation and proposed Session Themes on the IPY web site, under Participants. They ask for suggestions regarding the science program by 15 May 2007.


4. Youth and Early Career Networks

National and international groups of high school and college students, graduate students and Post-Docs, and young faculty are all working hard to provide opportunities and establish networks for themselves and for IPY. We bring these groups to your attention in the hope that you will:

Make your students, Post-Docs and young researchers aware of these growing international networks; and
Look for opportunities within your Projects to engage youth, including in your planning and fund-raising activities.

The APECS website: www.kent.edu/polar, is developing a strong network of Early Career Polar Scientists. We encourage all early career researchers to join the network, strengthen collaborations, seek support, and discover job opportunities. We also encourage Project Coordinators to post jobs announcements here (or email them to the IPO for posting).

The IPY Youth website: www.ipyyouth.org is open to all students and young researchers interested in promoting polar awareness during IPY. There are several national and international activities which new members can get involved in.


End of May 2007 report.