The day opened with a plenary keynote by Professor Terry V. Callaghan on the importance of Arctic observations and monitoring, followed by parallel sessions aligned with the IASC Working Groups. These sessions covered a wide range of topics, including the Arctic terrestrial and marine environments, atmosphere, cryosphere, and Arctic societies and human health, as well as Indigenous-led research and knowledge co-production. From CIFAR, Søren Rysgaard presented a keynote on the Arctic marine environment.

A defining feature of the 2026 Science Day was its strong emphasis on early career researchers (ECRs), with all oral presentations—apart from the keynote—delivered by ECRs. This approach highlighted the perspectives and contributions of the next generation of Arctic researchers.

From CIFAR, Andreas Kjær Dideriksen presented research on glacier calving, showing how Arctic warming accelerates Greenland Ice Sheet melt and influences fjord dynamics. His study demonstrated that calving drives strong mixing near glaciers, while subglacial plumes bring cold water to the surface and redistribute fjord waters.

In addition, several CIFAR researchers presented posters: Eugenio Ruiz-Castillo on seasonal salinity increases shaping annual freshening in a Northeast Greenland sill fjord; Jakob Breinholt Kjær on how seasonality and precipitation events affect DOC dynamics using high-resolution SCAN data; and Fleur Rooijakkers on quantifying Greenland Ice Sheet meltwater contributions to ocean stratification and their implications for large-scale circulation.