To inspire, educate and give hands-on polar research experience to high school students, we propose to establish a five week field camp on drifting sea ice about 300 km north of Svalbard. The four week science and education program - early April to early May 2007 will involve up to 50 students (4 groups) selected in a process which involves all high schools in Norway. Following a one day polar introduction at the Fram Museum in Oslo, a group of 10-12 students will during one week on the ice be allocated specific research projects in geophysics, geology and oceanography and daily receive two hours of lectures on how mathematics and physics apply to exploring the polar environment. A short report of scientific results is due at the end of their stay. Max. 20 people will be present in the ice camp at any one time. Field transportation will be by chartered ski-equipped Twin Otter stationed in Longyearbyen for the duration of the project. This education and outreach program is part of IPY project no 77 PLATE S AND GATES. All scientific data will be collected as part of university research programs and incorporated in future publications.
We find it problematic to adjust relevant parts of the proposal to match the Nok. 1.5 mill. allocated in 2006. A scaled dow n alternative project with a 1 week ice camp for 10 students has an estimated cost of minimum Nok. 2.2 mill. out of which air transport comprises Nok. 1.3 mill. In view of the magnitude of the effort required for student selection and camp logistics, such an alternative will not be considered and would imply withdrawal of the project from IPY. We ask that the allocated Nok. 1.5 mill. is considered in a context of a successful outcome of proposal resubmission 30 Nov. 2006.