Joining the Challenger Society Council
The Challenger Society Council, comprising approximately fifteen ordinary members of the Society (and a minimum of ten), is the body entrusted with managing financial affairs, setting policy and deciding how the Society can best support and engage with the marine science community.
The council is led by the serving President and council members, after election at a society AGM, generally serve for a period of three or four years taking responsibility for one of the management portfolios administered by the Society. Detail of the current Council membership is listed on the website at http://www.challenger-society.org.uk/The_Council.
The council meets four times a year (usually in London) and presents the progress of the Society to the membership at the Annual General Meeting, held either at the Challenger Conference or a suitable scientific meeting, in September each year.
There are often vacancies for council membership places which need to be filled. Please visit https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Current_vacancies .
For these positions we seek lively and engaging scientists, from academia or industry, enthusiastic about supporting career development for our colleagues and helping to shape and manage the future of one of oldest and foremost Marine Science Societies in the world.
If you are a full member of the Society and interested in joining the council, please email an expression of interest to the Honorary Secretary (m.green@bangor.ac.uk) with a short statement of your career to date and how you think that you might best contribute to the Council. Your application will be considered at the next scheduled council meeting and if successful, a proposal for your election at the AGM put forward.
Please mark the email subject as Challenger Society Council Application.
We really look forward to hearing from you.
Mattias Green
Honorary Secretary - Challenger Society for Marine Science
Latest News
Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset
The Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) and OceanWise are delighted to invite you to attend our popular free online training workshop: ‘Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset’ on the 19th – 23rd of May 2025.
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