The Czech Arctic Research Station is named after the Czech-Canadian polar ecologist Josef Svoboda and is operated by the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice with the support of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague.

The station is located in the central part of the Svalbard archipelago and consist of three parts:

The station is used by Czech and foreign scientists and offers all the comfort and logistics facilities for research in Svalbard.

Station may be used only for scientific purposes under a contractual agreement with the operator.  All research projects must be registered in Research in Svalbard database.   

Contact address       

Czech Arctic Research Station
University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice
Branišovská 1760
370 05 České Budějovice
Czechia

Station address

Czech Arctic Research Station
Vei 401-42, 9170 Longyearbyen
Svalbard, Norway
Organisasjonsnummer (NO): 911 879 689

Billing address

University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice
Branišovská 1645/31a
370 05 České Budějovice
Czechia
VAT: CZ60076658

Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Palaeoecology (LAPE) is specialized research body of the university founded in September 2002 at the Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia as part of the Department of Botany. Since 2014 LAPE is a separate department of Faculty of Science.

Research activity of laboratory members is targeted at the area of bioarchaeology and palaeoecology, namely archaeobotany, archaeozoology, but also other specializations dealing with interaction between humans and environment in history. Bachelor, magister and doctor theses namely in botany, zoology and environmental archaeology are developed within the laboratory. In the case of environmental archaeology, laboratory closely collaborates with the Institute of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy. LAPE comprises research in the Czech Republic as well as abroad. LAPE also offers services for other research bodies. Besides consultancy concerning natural sciences in archaeology LAPE provides analytical work in several areas of bioarchaeology. LAPE co-edits the international journal Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica, Natural Sciences in Archaeology(IANSA).

Centre for Polar Ecology

The Centre for Polar Ecology aims to promote and facilitate research and education in polar ecological sciences at the  Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice. 
CPE offers several courses related to polar ecology. Above all "Polar ecology course" consisting of two components, Life and Earth science. The course itself consists of 1 week intensive theoretical preparation in respective fields of interest and then about 2 weeks of field work on the Josef Svoboda research station in Svalbard.