Dear APECS friends and colleagues,
APECS Director position is being re-announced these days at http://www.jobbnorge.no/job.aspx?jobid=93928. Though, it is primarily done in connection with a renewal of the contract, it gave me a chance to think about continuation with the APECS Director position. After many considerations, I have decided not to apply for this position in order to get back to research and finalize scientific ideas and initiatives started earlier during my PhD studies.
Having said that, I would like to look back and to see what has been achieved in the past year. A prolongation of the APECS Directorate funding until the end of 2016 is definitely the greatest recent news (http://apecs.is/news-feeds/features/6130-apecs-international-directorate-funding-renewed-until-end-of-2016), which will allow APECS leadership dedicating more time to strategic initiatives and further developments. Other achievements would include a gradual transition from the post-IPY stage towards a beyond IPY thinking, increased recognition within the Polar community, a number of partnership agreements with our key partners, and numerous contributions of APECS members and representatives to polar events, and many more.
We had a challenging year and I was fortunate to work with our fantastic teams of APECS Executive Committee, APECS Council, working groups, national committees, mentors, advisors, the APECS Advisory Board, as well as the whole APECS community. All major achievements and developments would not be possible without your work and dedication! Thank you again for a wonderful year of joint efforts, and mutual learning experience!
My personal plan after leaving director position is to remain an APECS mentor and supporter, and to find a meaningful role in some of the upcoming APECS initiatives! From the 1st of July 2013 I will join the Norwegian Polar Institute for summer months, as well as will continue my affiliation with my home institution – the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the future, I look forward to working with many APECS colleagues with research in oceanography, air-sea interactions, marine optics, linkages between physics, biogeochemistry and biology in the Arctic ocean.
Being the APECS Director was a great experience and a very rewarding job. I encourage everyone to apply for this wonderful opportunity of a lifetime! We all hope for a great number of applications and a new outstanding APECS leader in the years to come!
A deadline for applications is June 6th, 2013, don’t miss it and find more at http://apecs.is/news-feeds/features/6123-apecs-director-position-application-in-tromso-norway.
Yours,
Alexey Pavlov
