As part of the annual Polar Forum, APECS Sweden organized and hosted the seminar ‘International Science and Policy in the High Arctic’ on 6 November together with the Stockholm Association of International Affairs. The seminar took place on a snowy morning at the offices of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, and included highly interesting presentations from a dynamic combination of early career and senior researchers, as well as keynote addresses by the ambassadors of France and the Republic of Korea. With almost 50 people in attendance, opening remarks were delivered by Björn Dahlbäck, General Director of the SPRS, and Anna-Karin Eneström, Sweden’s new Arctic Ambassador. Through these multiple perspectives on the interface of science and politics, the audience and participants alike gained greater understanding of the complexities and multiple motivations for conducting research in the polar regions.