Karelian Research Centre RAS in collaboration with the North Center Association and with support from the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund is implementing the international project «Under the Pressure of Global Climate Change: A Youth Network for Water Ecosystem Research». In its first stage, the call for applications was announced for young scientists from the CIS (master’s and doctoral students, early-career researchers) to participate in the hands-on youth school in Petrozavodsk on March 24-27. The project’s key theme is the study of the state of aquatic ecosystems under global climate change.

The organizers received 170 applications. Specialists at the KarRC RAS Department for International Cooperation sieved the applications for requirement compliance. Quality evaluation was done at the Northern Water Problems Institute KarRC RAS. Ultimately, 16 winners were selected, which is less than one out of ten applications submitted for the youth school.

– A vast majority of the motivational letters were really impressive, making it hard to choose. A thing to note apart from the great interest exhibited by the applicants is the variety of the fields in which the participants plan to work or already have some professional experience: from research in limnology, hydrochemistry and hydrology to environmental management. The geography of the applications is also very satisfying, – commented Aleksey Tolstikov, Head of Hydrology and Geography Laboratory at the Northern Water Problems Institute KarRC RAS.

The school will bring together young scientists from Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, as well as from several Russian regions: Kamchatka, Tomsk Region, and St. Petersburg. They will be joined by five Karelian participants – early-career researchers from the Karelian Research Centre RAS and Petrozavodsk State University. The audience will be a total of 21 learners.

The youth school’s lecturing staff is also international: experts in hydrology, hydrophysics, hydrochemistry, paleolimnology, and other disciplines from Karelia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Armenia will deliver in-person, while lecturers from China and India will contribute online.

– The participants will be offered a series of theoretical lectures and hands-on sessions in laboratories and directly on an ice-covered ice. Karelian scientists have extensive experience in studying the ice cover and doing winter observations of water bodies, so the participants will gain valuable first-hand knowledge. The program will also include a roundtable, where young researchers will present their own studies and get feedback from experts, – shared Head of the KarRC RAS Department for International Cooperation, Project Leader Alexandra Smirnova.

The young scientists’ school is meant to serve as a platform for exchanging experience, ideas, and developments among early-career researchers from CIS countries. In addition to its scientific and educational objectives, the event seeks to foster peer networking among young researchers of CIS countries and strengthen ties among the scientific communities of the participating nations.