The 1^st Central European Polar Meeting will be held from 10^th to 13^th November 2015, at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. This meeting is a memorial to the Austrian polar explorer and scientist Julius Payer (1841-1915), to commemorate his achievements for the international polar sciences. It is jointly organized by the Committee on Polar Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Centre for Polar Ecology, Czech Republic, and the Austrian Polar Research Institute, in cooperation with the National Committee for Global Change of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

The 1^st Central European Polar Meeting will bring together polar researchers including distinguished scientists and the next generation of polar researchers, from Central European countries and around the globe. This meeting is one of the first international activities of the newly established Central European Polar Partnership, which aims at increasing the visibility and coordinating polar research in and among the participating countries.

Scientific sessions and keynote speakers:

• Climate Change and Impact on the Polar Cryosphere, Konrad Steffen (WSL, Switzerland)
• Polar Ecology, Skip Walker (Alaska Geobotany Center, USA), Jakub Zarsky (University of Prague, Czech Republic)
• Permafrost under Climate Change, Hugues Lantuit (Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany)
• History of Polar Research, Susan Barr (Directorate for Cultural Heritage and International Arctic Science Committee)
• Arctic Social and Human Sciences, Gertrude Saxinger (Austrian Polar Research Institute, Austria), Michal Luszczuk (Maria Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin, Poland)

Submission of abstracts is open until 3 August 2015; while the deadline for early bird registration is September 2015.