The Arctic System Science Conference 2026 was held under the motto - Harnessing MOSAiC and other field programs to advance knowledge
The conference was the fourth conference in a meeting series (2022, 2023, 2024) originally started as MOSAiC conference and now completely open to contributions for all Arctic system research fields, still initiated by the international community of Arctic researchers. This year it was organised by AWI (Potsdam) again.
Based on contributions from the research community, 10 fully interdisciplinary sessions were proposed. A total of 70 participants took part with 36 talks, 32 posters and 10 keynote talks, providing a multidisciplinary, cross-project and cross-regional deep-dive into Arctic system science. 4 keynotes talks were overview talks giving insights in the most recent research progress in oceanography, ecology, sea ice physics and atmospheric research. 4 talks gave insights in the modern field of optical fiber-based distributed sensing (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-52171-4_20), the DFG transregio project (AC)3 (https://www.ac3-tr.de/) and the recent Polarstern campaign CONTRASTS (https://www.awi.de/en/science/climate-sciences/sea-ice-physics/projects/translate-to-english-contrasts.html). A highlight was the talk on Indigenous Knowledge and Rights in Arctic System by the leader of the German Arctic Office (https://www.arctic-office.de/en/). 2 keynotes presented the plans for the huge Antarctica InSync initiative (https://www.antarctica-insync.org/) and the first TARA polar station drift called Tara Polaris 1 (https://fondationtaraocean.org/en/schooner/tara-polar-station/).
3 out of the 10 keynotes were given remotely, one live from Polarstern in the southern seas, one from a flight campaign on Svalbard and one from the University of Bayreuth, utilizing the modern communication infrastructures for scientific exchange. Proven concepts such as the extended poster uptime (full week) after the poster session on Monday, FLEX time for open ad-hoc discussions and side meetings like the well-prepared CONTRASTS workshop ensured a lively and personal exchange between scientists from 8 countries. This side meeting was heavily focused on strategic exploration of the datasets collected during CONTRASTS polar expedition (PS149) and publication strategies had been organized - Insights into past, current and future projects led to a successful synthesis of knowledge. One striking connection, probably the most obvious, is the one to the CONTRASTS polar expedition (summer 2025), where MOSAiC-like measurements were implemented in 3 different sea ice regimes and so the one drift of MOSAiC got an additional spatial component and a second year (2025 vs. 2020).
It was an exceptionally young conference - 50% of the participants described themselves as Early Career Scientists (< 5 years since PhD). More than a dozen ECRs were supported with travel funds, partly provided by IASC. The ECRs organised an impromptu plenary discussion on funding opportunities and career paths with scientists of all career stages during the FLEX time on Friday - demonstrating the extraordinary engagement of the young scientists and the benefit of flexible conference concepts. Former MOSAiC PhD students are now integrated into the community and take on essential roles in their projects and the development of further projects. The involvement of new doctoral students who work with data from expeditions in which they themselves did not participate also plays an important role.
As the conference was primarily planned as an in-person event, participants with travel restrictions or unexpected developments were able to attend the main sessions online (not the poster session, breaks or FLEX time).
From a technical standpoint, however, the favourable ratio of session time to number of talks was definitely worth noting. As a result, no parallel sessions were held, and all presentations from various fields were always delivered to the entire audience, eliminating any thematic isolation. This led to a whole new range of interdisciplinary discussions following the presentations.
The conference particularly showed how much the original MOSAiC community is now involved in various activities to study the Arctic and Polar regions. It has become virtually impossible to write down individual MOSAiC teams or tasks, but the idea of MOSAiC is being realized and even more interdisciplinary studies are published.
This conference series will be continued: Joint (AC)³ − MOSAiC Conference (JAMC27) – March 8-12, 2027 Leipzig University Campus, Germany
Highlights
- Intensive week of interaction between participants from various international projects – first time also knowledge from & about indigenous communities included in this conference series
- Many participants not directly involved in MOSAiC, but in CONTRASTS, TARA and other more recent Arctic research projects
- 50% ECRs – extraordinary and high appreciated engagement shaping the future of polar research and spontaneously the conference schedule
Date and Location
23 - 27 March 2026, Potsdam (Germany)
IASC Working Group funding the Project:
AWG
Project Leaders:
Markus Rex, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Potsdam, Germany
Dörthe Handorf, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Potsdam, Germany
Alexander Schulz, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Potsdam, Germany
Year funded by IASC:
2025