The Challenger Medal
The Challenger Medal is the premier award of the Society. The award is for a distinguished UK marine scientist or other person who has made a single major contribution, or a sustained contribution, to the development of marine science, or whose innovation has opened up new perspectives. The medal is presented on the occasion of the Challenger Lecture by the recipient during the Challenger Society biennial meeting.
Nominations/eligibility
1.Should be by letter explaining the reasons for nomination, quoting, where appropriate, relevant reference to scientific publications or other contributions. Nominations should be submitted by 15th April 2024 (awarded at the 2024 Challenger Conference).
2. A short curriculum vitae of the nominee is required.
3. The nomination should be submitted by a single proposer with support from one or preferably two others.
4. Nominations should be submitted to the President of The Society, Mike Meredith (mmm@bas.ac.uk; from whom advice may also be sought) or to the Honorary Secretary, Kate Hendry (kathen@bas.ac.uk) by April 15th 2024.
5. Nominations and applications will be considered by the Council of the Challenger Society.
6. The recipient need not be a member of the Challenger Society.
7. Current Council members of the Society are ineligible for any award or prize.
8. The Challenger Society is working towards being a fully equitable and inclusive organisation (see EDI statement here). The Society encourages you to consider nominating individuals from underrepresented and/or diverse backgrounds.
Latest News
Potential Availability of NERC Ship Time During the 25/26 Programme Year
The NERC Marine Facilities Programme for 2025/2026 for the RRS Discovery and the RRS James Cook has been published on the Marine Facilities Planning website.
The RRS Discovery programme currently contains a 79 day alongside slot between the 2nd of November 2025 and the 19th of January 2026, which is available for science delivery if funded science projects can make use of this time. Due to the location of the vessel, the ship is most likely to be able to deliver fieldwork in the North and East Atlantic regions. Some support for science capability within the National Marine Equipment Pool is potentially available, although there is no capacity for use of autonomous vehicles or remotely operated vehicles. Any fieldwork within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) will need the appropriate diplomatic clearance submitted to coastal states at least 6 months in advance, and to NMF with sufficient lead time for processing via the FCDO.
If interested in making use of this ship time, please contact NERC Marine Planning (marineplanning@nerc.ukri.org) ASAP to start discussions.
THE MARINE FACILITIES ADVISORY BOARD – CAN YOU HELP?
The Marine Facilities Advisory Board advises the National Oceanography Centre on marine facilities and services, including the Natural Environment Research Council’s National Marine Equipment Pool (NMEP), the British Oceanographic Data Centre and the British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility.
NOC Association AGM 2025
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. Although discussion topics are being finalised, we 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