Asian Forum for Polar Sciences
Terms of Reference



  1. Name
    • Asian Forum for Polar Sciences (AFOPS)

  2. Objectives
    • Recognizing the importance of international cooperation and aiming to serve the common interests in polar sciences, member countries work together :
    1. To provide a foundation for cooperative research activities
    2. To present Asian achievements toward international polar communities
    3. To encourage Asian countries' involvements in polar research

  3. Major Activities
    1. Provide a forum to seek a common view on polar affairs among member countries
    2. Develop and support cooperative programs on polar research
      • Joint science projects
      • Personnel exchange program between polar expeditions and institutes
    3. Convene joint symposia and workshops for polar sciences
      • AFOPS Joint Symposia
      • AFOPS Working Groups (WGs) Workshops
    4. Support Asian countries to develop their national polar programs
      • Invitation to field expeditions and institutes
      • Invitation to AFOPS Symposia and Workshops
      • Personnel training for national polar programs
    5. Produce joint publications on polar sciences
      • Journal name : Advances in Polar Science (APS)

  4. Organization of AFoPS Committee
    1. Chair country (rotating every two years) : Chairman and Secretary
    2. National Representatives (Directors of National Polar Institutes)
    3. National Coordinators
    4. Heads of AFOPS Working Groups (WGs)
    5. (Editor-in-Chief of the Advances in Polar Science)

  5. AFOPS Working Groups
    1. Group division
      • Earth Science (ES)
      • Life Science (LS)
      • Planetary Science (PS)
      • Engineering & Logistics (E&L)
      • Public Relations & Data Management (P&D)
    2. Roles
      • Planning and holding symposia and workshops
      • Development of joint research programs
      • Communication with AFOPS Committee (and APS Editorial Board)

  6. Future
    1. Journal issue
      • Paper submissions mainly from the AFOPS symposia and workshops
      • Support of English-native correction for the selected papers
      • Electronic publication with the own web-site
      • Rewards for the excellent papers
      • Editorial Board of the APS
        - Organization
        1. Editor-in-Chief
        2. Editors (including members of the AFOPS WGs)
        3. Editorial Secretary
        - Role
        1. Gathering and distributing manuscripts for reviews
        2. Publication of the journal and web hosting as PDF files
        3. Annual recommendation of excellent papers to the AFOPS for a prize
    2. Others
  1. End.
Asian Forum for Polar Sciences (AFOPS)
CHINA・INDIA・JAPAN・KOREA・MALAYSIA
Secretariat : National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR)
9-10, Kaga 1-chome,Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8515, Japan