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Abstract

The Antarctic Geospace and ATmosphere reseArch (AGATA) Programme Planning Group is a coordinated, worldwide effort to monitor, investigate and better understand the physics of the polar atmosphere and the impact of the Sun-Earth interactions on the polar regions. It is endorsed by SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research). If successful, AGATA will establish a new Research Programme representing the geospace and the polar atmosphere sciences within SCAR after more than 10 years of lack of similar topics (https://www.scar.org/science/agata/home/). AGATA ambition is to contribute to answering the outstanding scientific questions within atmospheric and space physics: · How are different atmospheric layers coupled in the polar regions? · How does the upper polar atmosphere respond to increased geomagnetic activity, including energy transfer from space into the ionosphere? · How can we improve the understanding of the Antarctic atmosphere by radio signals from the GNSS or other satellites, and from ground-based radars? AGATA was proposed by experts coming from 40 international institutions, taking advantage of existing and planned instrumentation in Antarctica and in the Arctic and satellite-based observations, and it aims to coordinate research efforts and data exchange. This bi-polar perspective allows the study of significant interhemispheric asymmetries in the atmospheric response observed in the polar regions. AGATA started in January 2023 and will be officially kicked off as a side event during the IUGG GA. This paper will give an overview of the endeavour trying to attract new scientists (especially early career researchers and students) to support the application of the new Research Programme.