Ukraine’s National Antarctic Scientific Center (NASC) has announced a new five-year scientific cooperation agreement with Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), covering research in Antarctica and the tropics. Despite their geographical distance and contrasting environments, the polar and tropical regions are closely connected through global climate and ocean systems.
More connected than they seem
The collaboration will explore interactions between the Antarctic atmosphere, the Southern Ocean and tropical regions. The research will also cover geology and biodiversity, adaptation of organisms to extreme environments, the search for biologically active substances and genes with potential biotechnological applications, and space weather.
The agreement builds on scientific cooperation already under development between the two countries. In May, the Tropical–Polar Interconnection Research Group at Indonesia’s Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), which focuses specifically on links between tropical and polar environments, hosted representatives of BRIN and NASC. Discussions covered climate science, Antarctic research, biodiversity and environmental monitoring, as well as opportunities for future joint research and expeditions.
Research in both directions
The agreement provides a framework for joint field research, researcher exchanges and data sharing. For Ukraine, the partnership opens opportunities to conduct research in tropical environments using Indonesian expertise and research infrastructure.
For Indonesia, the cooperation is part of a broader effort to strengthen the country’s contribution to global polar research and expand its role in international scientific networks addressing climate change and environmental sustainability. NASC says Indonesia declared its intention to join the Antarctic Treaty in 2025, while Indonesian sources point more broadly to efforts to expand the country’s involvement in Antarctic science and governance. UGM and Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have also highlighted the implications of changes in the polar regions for the archipelagic country, including rising sea levels, more intense extreme weather and impacts on coastal ecosystems and marine resources.
The first joint Antarctic work is expected to begin this December, when Indonesian scientists are due to conduct research at Ukraine’s Akademik Vernadsky station and aboard the research icebreaker Noosphere.
Building an Antarctic presence
NASC sees the partnership as a potentially important step in the development of Indonesia’s own Antarctic programme and suggests that it could eventually contribute to the establishment of an Indonesian research station in Antarctica. NASC points to Turkey as a precedent for such a progression.
Turkey’s early organised Antarctic research included a 2016 expedition conducted in cooperation with Ukraine, when Turkish scientists worked at Vernadsky and in its surroundings. The following year, Turkey launched its first national Antarctic expedition, beginning a programme that has continued with regular expeditions. In 2019, it established a temporary scientific research camp on Horseshoe Island and is now working towards a permanent Antarctic research station.
More recently, Ukraine has played a similar role for Mexico. A cooperation agreement signed in 2025 paved the way for the first Mexican Antarctic expedition. Mexican researchers travelled south aboard Noosphere and worked at Vernadsky during the 2025–26 Antarctic season.
Indonesia may now be taking its own first steps along a similar path. Its planned work with Ukraine comes as the country seeks a greater role in international polar science, while offering Ukrainian researchers access to tropical environments and expertise.
Polar Journal AG Team