Oban is a beautiful coastal location, but as a tourist destination accommodation gets booked up very quickly. If you are interested in attending, it is advised that you book accommodation as soon as you can. Accommodation options can be found on the conference website: https://challenger2024.co.uk
The hashtag for the conference is #challenger2024.
We are pleased to announce that abstract submission is now open for the Challenger 2024 conference which will be held in Oban from 2nd -6th September 2024. The abstract submission deadline is the 30th April. Please find all the information about abstract submission and details of the conference on the Challenger 2024 website.
To help with your planning, here is the outline of events for the week:
Monday 2nd Sept - Registration and ice-breaker
3-5th Sept - Talks and posters
Evening of Thursday 5th Sept - Dinner, prizes and Ceilidh
Friday 6th Sept - Special interest group meetings
Keep your diaries free and please find further information at https://www.sams.ac.uk/challenger2024/
A guidance document with advice on how to create effective and clear posters and presentations can be found here.
2024 Challenger Society Conference
Presidents’ Art and Photography Prize
For the 2024 competition, in a new departure, members are invited to submit all kinds of images (paintings, drawings, collages ...) as well as photographs. We are looking for images relating to marine science or the ocean that are beautiful, impressive, evocative, amusing, quirky or entertaining. The winning image will earn its creator a prize of £100. The winner will be decided by the outgoing President and the President Elect.
You may submit up to three images (each image has a 100MB size limit). For more information and to submit your images(s) see: https://forms.gle/pTjwLMzYXjWoSpKr9
For each image, please provide a title, and a brief explanation of the context. Entries must arrive by 30 August. Images should not have been created for commercial purposes, or have received any previous award.
Photographic images should not have been significantly altered digitally (e.g. using Photoshop) or created with AI. They need to be at sufficiently high resolution to look good when printed, not just on screen. This means that the file size should be of the order of 1 Mb or more, not tens of kb. Images may be used in future publications of the Society, with the owner’s permission.
NB. The competition is only open to members of the Society.
Winners of the President's Photograph Competition can be viewed here.
Latest News
Workshop on the contribution of UK Arctic Ocean science to the International Polar Year 32/33
12:00 11th June – 16:00 12th June 2025: NOC Southampton (In-person with online option): Registration deadline 16th May
REGISTER HERE
Pre-meeting questionnaire (open to all)
The purpose of this workshop is for the UK Ocean Science community to discuss and then draft a prospectus document outlining the priority Arctic research questions the community would like to address during the run up to, throughout and beyond the International Polar Year 32/33. Additionally, to identify what unique strengths and technologies the UK has to help fill these knowledge gaps.
The second day of the workshop will be dedicated to writing groups, one for each of the priority research questions identified - from both the pre-meeting questionnaire (HERE) and day one discussion. By the end of the meeting, each group will have produced draft text and sourced supporting figures for the prospectus.
Post meeting, the draft will be opened for comments and suggestions from everyone, regardless of whether they were able to attend the workshop or not. It will then be shared with UK funders (UKRI, FCDO, DSIT, ARIA) and potential international programmes with whom we would like to collaborate (e.g. Arctic 2050, Norway). It will form a basis from which wider integration with terrestrial, atmospheric and cryosphere communities can be built, e.g. at the UK Arctic Science Meeting in September in Northumbria.
To ensure balanced community and ECR representation, and to ensure that the size of the writing groups is efficient and effective, if the number of registrations from individual institutes becomes overwhelming, we may contact individuals or teams and ask that each institute selects a smaller number of individuals to attend in-person. Please wait for confirmation of in-person attendance before finalising travel arrangements.
The workshop will be open to hybrid attendance and contributions on both days.
Challenger Society Council Position Vacancy
The Challenger Society for Marine Science (CSMS) are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity to support the next generation of ocean scientists and innovators. CSMS are looking for a new Council member to fill the Student Travel Awards and Stepping Stones Portfolio. The successful applicant will administer the travel and research grants available for Early Career Researchers.
The role involves:
- Receiving applications for the two schemes and responding to applicant inquiries
- Soliciting and compiling input from the rest of the Council for assessing the applications
- Communicating with successful and unsuccessful applicants for the two schemes
- Working with the Honorary Treasurer on allocating funds to successful applicants
- Following up with award winners on their reporting requirements
- Attending Council meetings four times a year (in person or online) and contributing to discussions and decision making for CSMS
The usual term for Council members is three years.
For more information about the CSMS Council, please follow this link: https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/The_Council
For more information about our Early Career Researcher grants and awards, please follow this link:
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Stepping_Stones
and
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Travel_awards
If you are interested in applying or have any questions regarding the role, please contact kathen@bas.ac.uk
NOC Association (NOCA) AGM 2025
The 14th AGM of the NOC Association will be held on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May 2025. This free, on-line event will take place on Zoom, across two consecutive mornings, each starting at 10:00 and ending at 12:30. The agenda will focus on national capability (NC) science, ships, and autonomous vehicles, and how the community can engage. There will be an update on AtlantiS and on the new marine science scoping group. All are warmly welcome to join.
To participate, please complete your registration here.
For enquiries: Jackie Pearson, Secretary to NOCA: jfpea@noc.ac.uk