Scientific Committee for Oceanographic Research
The Challenger Society is the UK affiliated body responsible for the UK’s subscription to the international Scientific Committee for Oceanographic Research (SCOR).
SCOR (http://www.scor-int.org/) is the leading international non-governmental organization for the promotion and coordination of international oceanographic activities. SCOR does not fund research directly, but SCOR helps promote international cooperation in planning and conducting oceanographic research, and solving methodological and conceptual problems that hinder research. SCOR also promotes capacity building for marine scientists in developing countries and countries with economies in transition through special efforts to include such scientists in SCOR activities, travel grants, SCOR Visiting Scholars, and joint activities with other organizations.
SCOR presently sponsors five Large Scale Ocean Research Projects: GEOTRACES, IIOE-2, IMBeR, IQOE, and SOLAS (see https://scor-int.org/work/research/ for details)
SCOR also organises and funds a number of working groups to address discreet areas of ocean science requiring international co-ordination. Proposal for new working groups are considered once a year approves new working groups each year at its the annual SCOR meeting. The number of proposals funded each year depends on both the results of the proposal review process and the availability of funding, with 1-3 new proposals typical. SCOR is an organization that promotes science that comes from the “bottom up” from the ocean science community and working groups are an important vehicle to bring attention to the important ocean science issues identified by the global community of ocean scientists
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As a non-governmental organization, individuals representing national SCOR committees, not national governments, are the members of SCOR. The nominated SCOR representatives for the UK for are:
Alessandro Tagliabue (University of Liverpool, chair)
Kerry Howell (University of Plymouth, vice-chair)
Will Homoky (University of Leeds)
Alistair Lough (University of Leeds, ECR representative)
Alice Marzocchi (NOC, ECR representative)
Alex Poulton (Heriot Watt University)
Malcolm Woodward (PML)
The role of the SCOR UK Chair is to represent ensure strong links between SCOR and UK oceanography. This involves:
- Represent SCOR to the Challenger Council, on which they serve in an ex officio capacity, and act as a conduit between the society and SCOR as appropriate
- Annually co-ordinate Challenger Council input to provide a UK ranking and assessment of proposals for new Working Groups to the SCOR meeting
- Organising the rotation of UK SCOR working group members
- Attending the international SCOR meeting each year, or arranging a representative from one of the other nominated UK members to SCOR
- Sending on information from international SCOR to members of the Challenger Society through Challenger Wave
- participating in the meetings of the Royal Society Global Environmental Research Committee (GERC) and providing an annual report to GERC on the activities of the UK in the SCOR arena.
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