Most of the scientific activity of the researchers of the Institute of Polar Sciences makes use of three permanent scientific bases located in the polar areas: the Dirigible Italia Station (SDI) located at the Svalbard Archipelago, in the Arctic and the Mario Zucchelli (MZS) and Concordia stations in Antarctica, respectively in the Terranova Bay and at Dome C, on the Antarctic Plateau.
The Dirigible Italia Station is managed by the CNR through ISP. The Mario Zucchelli Station is managed by ENEA for PNRA, while the Concordia base, opened on the basis of a bilateral Italian-French agreement between PNRA (Italy) and IPEV (France), is managed jointly between ENEA and IPEV.