The Arctic winter expedition of Indian researchers will begin next month.
The contingent, expected to leave on March 20, will spend one month at the International Arctic Research Base at Ny-Alesund, Norway.
The team comprises one researcher each from the Viswa Bharati University (Kolkata), the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (Kolkata), Cochin University of Science and Technology (Kerala) and two from the National Physical Laboratory (New Delhi).
The expedition’s research areas include phytoplankton productivity and modelling, the ice-binding proteins of algae, the diversity of heterotrophic bacteria and their role in phosphorus cycling in the Arctic water and sediment and atmospheric and weather-related aspects of the region.
The National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research is coordinating the expedition.
