Concordia station is a permanent international research facility at high altitude on the Antarctic ice cap. The station was built by IPEV and PNRA S.C.r.l. The station has been permanently crewed since November 2004. The objective of Concordia station is to operate as an international research facility to conduct scientific programmes. The main fields of research at Concordia are glaciology, atmospheric sciences, astronomy and astrophysics, Earth sciences, technology, human biology and medicine. The area in which Concordia station is located is considered to be one of the most hostile places on Earth. Some characteristics of the extreme environment include:

• An altitude of 3200m, equal to an altitude of almost 4000m at the equator. As such, air pressure is 645hPa and results in chronic hypobaric hypoxic stress.
• The time from mid-February to mid-November is considered the winter period with the summer-period lasting the rest of the year. Access to the station is only possible during the Antarctic summer season.
• Overall mean temperature is -51°C, with a mean value of -30 °C during summer and -60 °C during winter (the lowest recorded temperature in Antarctica was recently found to be -97.7°C).

Figure 2. Yukimaro phenomenon and Concordia station

The challenges for a winterover crew at Concordia are manifold. They include but are not limited to:

• Prolonged isolation and confinement (typical duration of a stay in the station is 12- 13 months).
• A fascinating, but hostile natural environment (extreme low outside-temperatures, chronic hypobaric hypoxia).
• Autonomy: the crew needs to be autonomous and self-dependent especially from February to November, where no access to and from the station is possible, even in emergencies.
• Life in a small multicultural setting (typically 12-14 crew members, with French and Italian as the main spoken languages and a variety of behavioural customs).
• Limited mobility outside of the station buildings, especially during winter.
• Night/Daylight variations (constant light in summer, constant darkness in winter).
• Managing life with limited resources and in consideration of the environment.

In order to implement selected biomedical research at Concordia, ESA and IPEV and PNRA release a call for candidates for a medical doctor as part of the next Concordia winterover crew of 2027. Tasks will include (non-exhaustive list):

• Training for the implementation of the selected experiments before departure at the respective home laboratories of selected experimenters (travel across Europe is needed, usually training is conducted over the summer period).
• Participation in the pre-departure meeting (see below)
• Participation and supporting in data collection at the pre- and post-departure baseline data collection meetings
• Implementation of selected experiments (mainly in the areas of psychology, physiology and microbiology) at Concordia.
• Routine reporting on the status of the implementation.
• Sampling and analysis of recycled water.
• Participation in the normal shared tasks of the station (housekeeping).
• After the stay, providing a debriefing report (“lessons learned”).

We would assume the selected candidate to also participate as a test subject in the ESA biomedical experiments. However, this participation is voluntary and can be stopped at any time without consequences. Informed consent will be collected from participating crew members prior to departure. The selected candidate will not be responsible for the operational medical provision for the crew but can support the Crew Medical Doctor if the need arises.

CANDIDATE PROFILE