Established | 1920 |
---|---|
Director | Professor Julian A. Dowdeswell |
Location |
Cambridge, United Kingdom (52°11′54.40″N 0°07′34.45″E / 52.1984444°N 0.1262361°E) |
Website | www |
The Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is a centre for research into the polar regions and glaciology worldwide. It is a sub-department of the Department of Geography in the University of Cambridge, located on Lensfield Road in the south of Cambridge (52°11′54.40″N 0°07′34.45″E / 52.1984444°N 0.1262361°E).
SPRI was founded in 1920 as the national memorial to Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his companions, who died on their return journey from the South Pole in 1912. It investigates issues relevant to the Arctic and Antarctic in the environmental sciences, social sciences and humanities. The institute has some 60 personnel, consisting of academic, library and support staff plus postgraduate students, associates and fellows attached to research programmes.
The institute also hosts the secretariats of the International Glaciological Society and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, and is part of the NERC Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling.