Ukraine and South Africa considering joint research in Antarctica

South Africa is interested in conducting joint research by scientists from Ukraine and South Africa in Antarctica.

The press service of the Ministry of Education and Science announced this, Rubryka reports.

"Today, bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of South Africa in scientific and technical cooperation is based on the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of South Africa on cooperation in science and technology.

To expand the opportunities for scientific potential of both countries, Ukraine is ready to exchange and conduct joint research in the areas necessary for both parties," said First Deputy Minister of Education Andrii Vitrenko. On October 5, he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of South Africa, Andre Johannes Groenewald.

Among the possible areas of cooperation, Mr. Ambassador expressed interest in conducting joint research by scientists of Ukraine and South Africa in Antarctica, in particular using the opportunities of the new Ukrainian research icebreaker.

Andrii Vitrenko noted that this issue was also relevant for Ukraine, as the purchase of a specialized oceanographic vessel opened up many prospects. One of them is the creation of international scientific and logistical consortia for the study of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

During the meeting, the parties also discussed other important issues of scientific and technical cooperation between the countries and identified priorities for further effective dialogue.

Note

South Africa is one of the first signatories to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and is currently the only African country to have a well-developed national research program in Antarctica.

The South African SANAE IV science station, located in East Antarctica on Queen Maud's Earth, is designed to work up to 80 scientists simultaneously during the summer season and is an important laboratory for observing natural phenomena in space, the atmosphere, and the Earth's electromagnetic field, and its earth's crust.