The Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) and the University of Melbourne (Australia) have signed an agreement on establishing a center for the study of the Arctic and the Antarctic, the TASS news agency reports. The document stipulates experience exchange in ocean fluid dynamics between the researchers and the creation of a scale model of the Arctic Ocean that would include its ice cover.

"The agreement to establish a center for the study of the Arctic and the Antarctic was signed at the end of last week. The scientists in Australia study ocean fluid dynamics, but they lack a scale model of the Arctic Ocean as they don't know how to represent the ice. As different from other oceans, the surface ice cover in the Arctic Ocean affects boundary conditions, due to which our foreign colleagues are unable to develop a scale model on their own and have requested our help," Alexander Bekker, director of the FEFU School of Engineering, DSc in Engineering and professor said without specifying dates or any details.

According to the agency, a similar joint center for the study of the Arctic has already been founded by FEFU with the Harbin Institute of Technology (the People's Republic of China). The center is to develop platforms for the extraction of hydrocarbons on the shelf and study the effect of cold on different materials and the impact of ice on structures, including sea vessels. The center will include a joint research team who will be in charge of breakthrough fundamental and applied research in Arctic commercial exploration.

FEFU is carrying out several Arctic research projects. In 2015, the Center of Excellence in Arctic technology of the world's ocean resources was started in the university. The center studies the ice and its impact on different engineering structures, including rigs for oil and gas production on the shelf.