Svalbard’s logistics and science centre, BERA, received a positive decision from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education regarding a grant within the call for funding for the maintenance of scientific and research apparatus or a research station (SPUB), receiving funds in the amount of PLN 416,000 for its activities in 2026.
With the financial support, the BERA Centre and the Centre for Polar Studies (CSP) have the opportunity to further develop and increase the efficiency and quality of their tasks by supporting Polish and foreign scientists conducting research on Svalbard.
Last year, the BERA Centre was modernised jointly by CSP and ING Hubs Poland. In the podcast ‘Przystanek Nauka’ [Science Stop], Katarzyna Stachniak, MA, Manager of the BERA Centre from the University of Silesia and engineer Daniel Migdalski from ING Hubs Poland spoke about the initiative. The discussion is available on Spotify.
BERA’s main tasks in 2026 will include providing logistical support to university stations on Svalbard, the Polish Hornsund Polar Station of IGF PAN and cooperation with partners of the international SIOS (Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System) consortium, as well as the implementation of research projects, including the LIQUIDICE project (https://eu-liquidice.eu/) funded by Horizon Europe. Our activities aim to strengthen the presence and visibility of Polish scientists in the Arctic.
More information about the Centre can be found at https://bera.us.edu.pl/.
Town of Longyearbyen, the centre of BERA activities on Svalbard | Archive of the Centre for Polar Studies