ARCTIS 2020 is a multifaceted networking event and field course that aimed to strengthen expertise and establish links between the next generation of Arctic scientists from the UK and Russia. A range of scientists attended the course whose research covered atmosphere, cryosphere, terrestrial, marine and social science. Together we participated in a week packed full of lectures, plenary talks, presentations, round-table discussions with local stakeholders and field work at the Mukhrino Field Station. Our journey to the Mukhrino Field Station could only be made by snow mobile or off-roading vehicles across the taiga zone. Once there, we learnt that the field station hosts a number of researchers who study the local area year-round. For example, Dr Egor Dyukarev from the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences taught us about the atmospheric research being conducted out of the field station, where he and his team take year-round measurements to monitor carbon dioxide and methane levels. Dr Vitaly Khoroshavin from the University of Tyumen explained the methods he uses to calculate pollution levels trapped in snow layers and to predict the expected volume of water run-off from snow melt. Lectures from Dr Peter Convey (British Antarctic Survey) and Dr Martyn Tranter (University of Bristol) taught us about cold-weather adaptations of the local fauna and about snow and ice formation. During our time at the station, we not only got to speak with researchers working at the forefront of polar research, but also got hands on experience with what it’s like to work out of such a remote and seemingly desolate landscape.