The Alfred Wegener Insti­tute and the MOSAiC research expedi­tion receive award in Reykjavik

The Alfred Wegener Insti­tute for Polar and Marine Research, of which Antje Boetius is the direc­tor since 2017, and the MOSAiC research expedi­tion were honored with the Arctic Circle Award in Reykjavik on October 15 for their extra­or­di­nary contri­bu­tion to secur­ing a sustain­able future for the Arctic.

The Arctic Circle promotes dialogue between policy­mak­ers and business and environ­men­tal organi­za­tions to address and mitigate the problems of climate change in the Arctic.

To date, the award has been presented only three times. Previ­ous winners were former United Nations Secre­tary General Ban Ki-moon and John Kerry, former U.S. Secre­tary of State and U.S. Chair­man of the Arctic Council. Now, for the first time, the prize goes to research.

The Arctic Circle chair­man calls the Alfred Wegener Institute's MOSAiC research expedi­tion an "unprece­dented project" that takes Arctic research to a new level.

Hector Fellow Antje Boetius accepted the award together with her colleague, polar researcher Markus Rex on behalf of the Alfred Wegener Institute.

Antje Boetius and Markus Rex spoke at the 2021 Hector Fellow Academy Sympo­sium "Expedi­tions into the Unknown — North Pole and Deep Sea as extreme regions of Earth" about their work, the challenges and and the largest Arctic expedi­tion to date MOSAiC.