The mission of the ISP is to contribute to increasing the quality of Italian scientific and technological research in the polar regions, and to provide knowledge on global changes in support of Italian and European environmental policies by the development of new technologies and survey methodologies.

The Institute aims to be a reference point for:

• CNR polar research; as ISP has extensive links to universities as well as national and international public and private bodies. ISP offers multidisciplinary skills and technologies that are essential to studying and protecting the environment;
• scientific personnel, able to make qualified contributions to the National Antarctic Research Programme (PNRA), the Arctic Research Programme (PRA) and European Commission projects through the development of research and monitoring activities;
• interdisciplinary polar cooperation and research, including the development of meetings, publications, research opportunities and complementary activities, and interacting with society;
• the standardisation of measurements and preparation methods to improve the quality of results, and the development of coordinated measures aimed at common research plans and/or general common objectives;
• the training of the next generation of polar scientists.

Fulfilling our mission will allow us to improve our understanding of the climatic changes taking place in the Arctic and Antarctic environments and possible future developments at both polar and global levels. Our studies address research issues related to both the chemical/geochemical and physical aspects of the poles using a multidisciplinary approach to protect these vulnerable extreme environments. The repercussions of climate change on these dynamics are still largely unknown and will require integrated research using long term multidisciplinary methods to understand them fully.