Scott Polar Research Institute

The Scott Polar Research Institute 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.PurposeSPRI 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.ResourcesThe Scott Polar Research Institute houses the world's most comprehensive polar library and archives. The archives contain an unparalleled collection of manuscript material relating to the polar regions, research and exploration. For scientists and scholars, the library offers a collection developed since the 1920s covering all subjects relating to the Arctic, the Antarctic, and to ice and snow wherever found. For industry, it is a prime information source on such subjects as exploration and exploitation of natural resources and on the environmental implications of such activities in the polar regions; on the design of ice-strengthened shipping and selection of sea routes; and on problems of construction and transportation in cold environments. The library also offers an unrivalled resource for the needs of international relations and strategic defence.