Registering and booking in Research in Svalbard (RiS)

Depending on your host institution in Ny-Ålesund, you will either have to register your project in the Research in Svalbard (RiS) data portal yourself, or your host institution will do this for you. If you are unsure about how you should do this, read more in the Researchers Guide Part II

RiS is a combined system where you can register new projects, update existing projects, book facilities in Ny-Ålesund, and apply for permits from the Governor of Svalbard (if relevant for your project). Before you start using the system, please read the Help and FAQ pages from RiS, and check out the new “How to” presentations (link in the right hand panel).

Go to the Research in Svalbard (RiS) data portal

Detailed steps in RiS

Define your RiS project

If your project has not been registered in the RiS system before, you will need to register it as a New project. The new project will have to include a fieldwork period and a host institution in Ny-Ålesund (see below). All new projects will be issued a RiS ID number through the portal by Svalbard Science Forum (SSF), who operates the RiS system. The allocation of ID numbers is done only during working hours. When the project has received the RiS ID number, a new click button will be available on your project page in the RIS portal, allowing you to do the booking to Ny-Ålesund.

If your project has already been registered in the RiS portal, please verify and update the project information. You will find your active projects under “MY PROJECTS” on the front page when you log in. You can search the SSF database for your RiS number, name or project title if you do not have a record of it.

New persons in RiS

New participants in a project must also be registered in RiS. It is easiest if a new person to RiS adds her-/himself to the database (a two step process with registration and confirmation). Then the new participant can be searched for and added to a project by the project leader.  

Fieldwork period

In order to submit a booking to Ny-Ålesund you need to define a fieldwork period. This is done by Editing the project. The fieldwork period starts on the date of arrival in Ny-Ålesund by the first member of the field team, and ends on the date of departure of the last member of the field team.

Please note that the field work period is not necessarily equal to the project period. Note also that all dates in the booking must be within your fieldwork period, except if you need to book freezer/ storage space. If you need to enter a second fieldwork period, you must never “reuse” an old fieldwork period by changing the dates, as this will mess up the statistics and search possibilities within RiS! Remember to add exact fieldwork location(s) in order to utilize the Awareness module in RiS (the turquoise cooperation-box on your project page that will allow you to find related research projects).

Your fieldwork period must be linked to/affiliated with a host institution in Ny-Ålesund for you to be able to submit a booking. After adding the location (picked from the map or by typing a location name) you can add your host institution to your fieldwork period. (All the institutions in Ny-Ålesund are listed under NyÅ RS.)

Flights and Accomondation

If team members arrive in and departing from Ny-Ålesund at different times, choose the Add new Flight key to add details for each person. Your ticket includes 20 kg luggage, including hand luggage. Extra luggage and cargo can be brought on the plane if there is room. There will be an additional cost for this. There is no guarantee that you will be able to bring more than 20 kg, even if you have requested excessive weight in RIS or through Kings Bay Reception. For Cargo shipping see below.

In the transport section of the RiS booking there is a link to the Lufttransport back-office where you can check the flight schedule and seat availability for each flight. Please check the flight and seat availability before submitting your booking. This will save both you and Kings Bay time. Please note that as there might be bookings waiting in the system for that same flight, you are not guaranteed a seat on your preferred/booked flight until you have received a confirmation from Kings Bay.

Read more about flights and the different types of accommodation

Field equipment

In the RiS booking you can specify the need for renting large equipment like snowmobiles, boats, etc. from Kings Bay or NPI. Acceptance of the project may depend on the equipment needs.

If you need to rent other types of equipment (clothes, safety gear, etc.) from NPI Sverdrup, this needs to be done on a separate form. The list of available equipment can be found in NPI Varekatalog. Please submit a request for equipment to materialforvalter@npolar.no at the same time as you submit your booking. Please note that other host institutions may have different procedures. Please check this directly with your host institution.

Lab facilities

Common research infrastructures like the Marine lab, the boat Teisten, and wet and dry lab facilities (including chemicals needed) should be booked through RiS.

More details regarding the shared infrastructure and lab facilities

Safety course and weapons

You can sign up for the Kings Bay safety course and request rental of a firearm when you submit your booking in RiS.

Please note that if NPI is your host institution (and you are working onan NPI project), you book a rifle directly through NPI (and an email to materialforvalter@npolar.no), not through RiS.

Invoice address

Please make sure to include a complete address and a correct reference number for electronic invoicing. Lack of proper invoice information will create a lot of extra work for Kings Bay. You can also pay your expenses with a credit card when checking out from Kings Bay.

RiS workflow

Once you submit your booking in RiS it first goes to the institution hosting your project for assessment and approval. After the project has been approved by your host institution it is sent to Kings Bay for additional infrastructure approval (flight, accommodation, labs, etc). This two step procedure might take a day or two. Once your project has been approved by both your host institution and Kings Bay, you will receive an email with confirmation of your flight from Longyearbyen to Ny-Ålesund, lodging, and other information from Kings Bay.

Requesting changes in RiS

If you need to make changes to your booking, this must be done using the existing RiS booking ID number that your project has been issued. Please, do not make a new entry in RiS if you need to change anything. Note that you will not be able to modify a booking while it is waiting for (the two-step) approval, so please be patient and wait until your booking has been approved before you attempt to modify it.

Please double check your booking details and make sure they are correct. Errors in a booking such as the number of participants, arrival and departure dates etc. that have not been corrected before arrival in Ny-Ålesund will be charged in full.

Problems

Please contact Svalbard Science Forum if you experience problems when making changes to an existing RiS booking ID.

Contact: ssf@rcn.no