Discipline/School details [KRA]
Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies – Institute of
Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies
The Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies is a National Key Centre for
Teaching and Research established with the aid of federal government funding in 1988 to
promote and focus Australian academic activity concerned with Antarctica and its
surrounding ocean. IASOS is housed in the well-equipped Centenary Building in a central
position on the Hobart campus of the University of Tasmania.
The Director of IASOS is Assoc Prof A McMinn and there are key staff in major discipline
areas: physical sciences – Dr KJ Michael, Assoc Prof T Trull, Assoc Prof N Bindoff; life
sciences – Assoc Prof A McMinn, Dr G Jackson; and legal and policy studies – Dr MG
Haward. Other staff with primary roles in other Schools of the University and in major
research establishments with interests in the region are affiliated with IASOS, and
participate in its teaching and research program.
IASOS has a close working arrangement with the Australian Antarctic Division, CSIRO
Marine Research, the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology and the Commission for the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Hobart. These agencies
are involved in the coursework programs, in supervising postgraduate students, and
providing laboratory and support facilities for thesis projects.
The Australian Antarctic Division, CSIRO Marine Research, the Commonwealth Bureau of
Meteorology and the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) have
formed the Antarctic Climate Ecosystems (ACE) Cooperative Research Centre based on
the campus. With a staff of 65 and more than 15 honours year and 55 research higher
degree students, the Centre is one of the largest in the world conducting research in the
polar regions and is mainly concerned with the large-scale interactions of the south polar
region with the global climate, environment and ecosystem. Major scientific disciplines
include physical, chemical and biological oceanography; atmospheric physics and
chemistry; climatology; glaciology; marine ecology and fisheries biology. Legal and policy
work concerns environmental management , the operation of the Antarctic Treaty System
and climate change policy.
Students work closely with world-class scientists involved in national and international
research programs and have access to the extensive facilities not only of the Antarctic CRC
itself but also of the partner agencies in Hobart. Great use is made of very expensive,
publicly-funded, research facilities such as the ice-class research vessel Aurora Australis,
the Tasmanian Earth Resources Satellite Station (TERSS), and the CRAY high-performance
computing facility at the University.
A major objective of the overall ACE CRC scheme is to knit postgraduate teaching closely
to the developing research programs of the participating institutions. IASOS, in
association with the ACE CRC, offers the following options for graduate students:
•
Bachelor of Antarctic Studies with Honours
•
Graduate Diploma of Science (Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies)
•
Graduate Diploma of Science (Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies) with Honours
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University of Tasmania Discipline/School details for academic year
August 1, 2016, 19:08 PM, page –1
Discipline/School details [KRA]
•
Research Higher Degrees (MSc, MA and PhD)
Theme area
All units taught by the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies fall within the
Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies theme area. Specific courses taught by IASOS
under this theme are the Bachelor of Antarctic Studies with Honours, Graduate Diploma
of Science (Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies), Graduate Diploma of Science
(Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies) with Honours.
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University of Tasmania Discipline/School details for academic year
August 1, 2016, 19:08 PM, page –2