To the POLARSTERN user community – call for proposals
The present schedule for Polarstern cruises will end after the Antarctic season 2010/2011 ANT-XXVII. In order to establish a new schedule until the Antarctic season 2013/2014 we ask to submit proposals.
Proposals can consist of projects from individuals but we encourage groups of common scientific interest, logistic needs or regional correspondence to join to group proposals. For group proposals a responsible head has to be designated. Proposals from foreign countries can be taken into account within the capacitiy limits. They should be submitted in the framework of cooperation agreements or related to German proposals.
The process of evaluation and compilation of the future plan will be performed in the following steps:
1. Until 1 September 2009 a preproposal has to be submitted. This proposal must not exceed one page. It will not be subject to peer review. It will help to identify serious conflicts of interest in an early stage and to structure the further planning process. The prepoposal has to follow a prescribed form given as cover page (Deckblatt) on the web site.
The evaluation of the preproposals will occur during September. In case of obvious incompatibilities the proponents will be informed and asked to adjust the full proposals in order to reduce the apparent incompatibilities.
2. Until 1 December 2009 the full proposals have to be submitted. They will have to be set up according to the format applicable to the German research fleet, see guidelines (Leitfaden) on the web site.
The full proposals will be submitted for peer reviewing by the Polarstern advisory board and additional external reviewers. According to the results of the review a draft plan will be compiled which will be submitted to the advisory board. After its acceptance the AWI director will put it into action. It is expected that the new plan will be available in early 2010.
The preproposals have to be submitted in electronic form only according to the cover page (Deckblatt) to
Polarstern-Coordination(at)awi.de
The full proposals have to be submitted in electronic form to
Polarstern-Coordination(at)awi.de
and in paper to
Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung
in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Attn: Petra Steffens
P.O. Box 120161
D-27515 Bremerhaven
either in German or English according to the guidelines (Leitfaden).
Please note that it is not the extent of your proposal which counts, but the fact that the information described in the guidelines are given accurately enough that an outside referee can judge the scientific quality of the proposed work and that we can identify the logistic needs which have to be taken into account in order to combine the most suitable proposals to a cruise leg.
The deadline for preproposal submission is:
1 September 2009.
The deadline for full proposal submission is:
1 December 2009.
Both of the proposal have to be accompanied by a short version (4 lines, see example) containing information on the following keywords:
ANT or ARK/Time/area/station time/specific logistics/personal/project title/principle scientist/institution
Example:
ANT / Jan-Feb 2003 / Greenwich-Meridian and section 20 ˚E
station time 25 sts=3 days / CTD, sea water pump, rubber boat, helicopter / 2 (4)
Variability of CO2 sequestration in Antarctic Intermediate Water and in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current
M. Mustermann / Univ. Bremen
Please inform colleagues who might be interested about the call because we might not reach all potential applicants with this call.
Eberhard Fahrbach
Scientific coordinator of POLARSTERN