Ukraine's National Antarctic Scientific Center has announced a five-year scientific cooperation agreement with Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency, BRIN. The first joint field season is set for December, with Indonesian scientists working at Akademik Vernadsky station and on the icebreaker Noosphere. According to NASC, Indonesia stated in 2025 that it intends to join the Antarctic Treaty. The agreement is a concrete step toward Treaty system participation, not just a research exchange.
The science connects two ends of the climate system
The five-year framework covers joint field research, researcher exchanges and data sharing. The stated research agenda includes interactions between the Antarctic atmosphere, the Southern Ocean and tropical regions, plus geology, biodiversity, how organisms adapt to extreme conditions, compounds and genes that may have biotechnological applications, and space weather. The polar and tropical regions sit far apart, but the agreement treats them as connected through global climate and ocean systems.
The cooperation was already under development before this agreement. In May, the Tropical-Polar Interconnection Research Group at Indonesia's Universitas Gadjah Mada hosted representatives of BRIN and NASC. The talks covered climate science, Antarctic research, biodiversity, environmental monitoring, and opportunities for future joint research and expeditions.
The benefits run in both directions. Ukrainian researchers gain access to tropical environments through Indonesian expertise and research infrastructure. Indonesian researchers gain a place in an established Antarctic programme and a stronger role in international scientific networks focused on climate change and environmental sustainability. Indonesian sources describe the cooperation as part of a broader effort to expand the country's involvement in Antarctic science and governance. UGM and Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs have linked polar change to the archipelago's own risks: rising sea levels, more intense extreme weather, and effects on coastal ecosystems and marine resources.
Vernadsky is the same door Ukraine opened for Turkey and Mexico
The year-round base is Akademik Vernadsky, on Galindez Island off the Antarctic Peninsula. It was formerly Britain's Faraday Station and was transferred to Ukraine in 1996. Ukraine acquired the icebreaker Noosphere in 2021. The same vessel had carried Ukraine's first Antarctic expedition to the station in 1995 to 1996.
In NASC's view, the arrangement could help Indonesia build its own Antarctic programme and eventually establish a station. Turkey is the cited model. Turkish scientists first worked with Ukraine at Vernadsky and its surroundings in 2016. Turkey launched its first national Antarctic expedition the following year, established a temporary scientific camp on Horseshoe Island in 2019, and is now working toward a permanent station.
Ukraine has run a similar progression with Mexico. A cooperation agreement signed in 2025 paved the way for Mexico's first Antarctic expedition. Mexican researchers travelled south on Noosphere and worked at Vernadsky during the 2025 to 2026 season.
The December season is the one to watch
The Indonesia agreement does not change the Antarctic Treaty system by itself. It is a marker of how a country with Treaty ambitions enters the system through an established programme's infrastructure rather than through a new station. That pattern has consequences for station access: each new partnership adds researchers, ship time and scheduling pressure at Vernadsky.
Expedition buyers with a Peninsula itinerary that includes Vernadsky should ask their operator whether the Ukrainian-Indonesian research schedule affects station visits. The December season is the first one to watch.