COLLABORATORS
National level
The CARI is well recognised at national level by numerous academic and research institutions focussed on similar issues. Most important interest (besides of internal users from the hosting institution) in the CARI comes from the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice and its Centre for Polar Ecology (CPE). The CPE is focused on Arctic research performed at Svalbard, while the MU operates the RI in Antarctica. In spite of different regions of interests, an effective co-operation exists between the MU and the CPE. The collaboration is mainly in the fields of methodology and collaborative research in field of meteorology, geomorphology, glaciology, or taxonomy of polar organisms. An exchange of polar science-related teachers and students interested in the polar issues between the MU and CPE exists as well. The exchange is mainly in the form of field Course of Polar Ecology, tuition and co-tuition of student thesis focused on polar issues.
(1) the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice and its RI, the following Czech universities, RIs and research institutions cooperate with (or use) the CARI (in alphabetic order):
(2) Brno University of Technology - geology, volcanology;
(3) Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science - geology, geomorphology, (palaeo)limnology, lake ecology, biodiversity of Antarctic algae and diatoms;
(4) Czech Academy of Science, Institute of Botany, Třeboň - eco-physiology of algae and cyanobacteria;
(5) Czech Academy of Science, Institute of Geology, Prague - geology, geochronology;
(6) Czech Academy of Science, Institute of Hydrobiology - Antarctic fresh water chemism;
(7) Czech Academy of Science, Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Brno - ichthyology and fish taxonomy;
(8) Czech Geological Survey, Prague – geology, volcanology, palaeontology, geochemistry;
(9) Faculty Hospital in Brno - physiology and microbiology of the station’s crew;
(10) Czech Technical University in Prague - communication techniques in high latitude regions;
(11) Mendel University, Brno - soil science, extreme environment waste disposal;
(12) Palacký University Olomouc - ornithology, stress physiology of autotrophs;
(13) RI CzechGlobe, Czech Academy of Science, Brno - extremophile algae;
(14) RI CEITEC, Brno University of Technology - advanced polymers UV resistance research;
(15) RI CESNET - data storage, the Open Access Data Unit (in preparation);
(16) Veterinary and
Pharmaceutical University in Brno – lichen’s
symbiosis and biochemical markers.
International level
There are tens of international institutions, typically national Antarctic research institutes/programmes, that address similar problems, i.e. to keep and run Antarctic research facilities (typically all-year-round or summer season-operated Antarctic stations as the J.G. Mendel Czech Antarctic Station is) for national and international research in Antarctica. However, there is no overlap in infrastructure and the services provided for science, because the Antarctic stations are typically quite distant from each other and thus provide site- or region-specific research facilities.
There is only few stations relatively close to the J.G. Mendel Czech Antarctic Station and thus addressing similar problems in Antarctic research. Those are the Marambio Station (Seymour/Marambio Island, operated by Argentine), Esperanza Station (Hope Bay, northern Antarctic Peninsula, operated by Argentine) and O’Higgins Station (north-western coast of Antarctic Peninsula, operated by Chile). The relation of the CARI to the above-listed stations is not competitive, as those locations are remotely situated and of completely different natural conditions. The CARI’s relationship to them is strictly collaborative (bilateral intergovernmental agreements has been signed and approved by respective Parliaments) and these stations share some logistic operations with the CARI. Moreover, respective national Antarctic programmes (Chile, Argentina) co-operate with the CARI on various scientific topics as well as in the field of transportation of people and cargo to field sites. Collaboration is also established with the British Antarctic Survey that operates in this area, using an ice-class ship and field camps approach. Thus, for field research and facilities, an effective co-operation exists between CARI and
(1) Instituto Antártico Chileno (INACH),
(2) Dirección Nacional del Antártico - Instituto Antártico Argentino (DNA - IAA),
(3) British Antarctic Survey (UK).
Besides mentioned, the following foreign universities, RIs and research institutions cooperate with (or use) the CARI (in alphabetic order, with the brief description of the scope of cooperation/ RI use reason):
(4) Aberystwyth University, UK - geomorphology and palaeo-glaciology;
(5) Bulgarian Academy of Science, Sofia, Bulgaria - soil biodiversity of Antarctica;
(6) Geophysical Institute & Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bergen, Norway - meteorological monitoring, geochemistry & geochronology;
(7) Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station (Poland) - information exchange for best technological, logistical and research practices, cooperation on the most efficient capacity sharing and RI use;
(8) Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Bologna, Italy - meteorological monitoring, UV radiation monitoring;
(9) Korean Polar Research Institute, Incheon, South Korea - meteorological monitoring;
(10) Marambio Antarctic Station (Argentine) - meteorological monitoring, UV radiation monitoring;
(11) National Antarctic Scientific Centre of Ukraine, Kiev (Ukraine) - measurement and modelling of stratospheric ozone above the Antarctica;
(12) National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Meise, Belgium - Antarctic fresh water biodiversity;
(13) Natural History Museum of Denmark, Křbenhavn, Denmark - polar plant stress physiology;
(14) O’Higgins Antarctic Station (Chile) - meteorological monitoring, UV radiation monitoring;
(15) University of Leeds, UK - geomorphology and palaeo-glaciology;
(16) University Magallanes (UMAG), Punta Arenas, Chile - meteorological monitoring;
(17) University of Sheffield, UK - sub-glacial microbiology;
(18) Weather Service of Argentine - measurement and modelling of UV radiation intensity.