On the 20th of August, as part of the development of Russian-Chinese cooperation, representatives of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA) and the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) arrived in the Russian settlement of Barentsburg on the Svalbard Archipelago at the invitation of AANIA. They visited Russian scientific stations, including MMBI RAS Biogeostation in Barentsburg, on the basis of which complex research of the archipelago has been successfully carried out since 2012.
In September 2023, during the Eastern Economic Forum, a cooperation agreement was signed between MMBI and the Polar Research Institute of China. The agreement implies the promotion of cooperation in the field of studying the biology, ecology and oceanography of the Arctic seas through joint observations and research in marine expeditions and at Arctic stations, experience and data exchange, creation of joint laboratories, including in the Svalbard Archipelago.
Also from the 13th to 15th of June, within the framework of Russia's BRICS chairmanship in 2024, The 6th Meeting of BRICS Working Group on Ocean and Polar Science and Technology was held in Murmansk. As a result of the event, joint work was planned to organise research projects, prepare educational programmes and professional staff, attract young scientists, and draw up a calendar of BRICS research expeditions.
We express our gratitude to our colleague and comrade, the head of the Barentsburg Research Base of the Kola Scientific Center Vitaly Kuleshov, who kindly agreed to give a tour of our station.
Vitaly Kuleshov gives a tour of МMBI Biogeostation,
photo provided by Vitaly Kuleshov
