Giorgio Dall'Oglio from University of Rome performed the first scientific experience towards a site qualification at Dome C. In 1996, a French-Italian team established a summer camp at Dome C. The two main objectives of the camp were the provision of logistical support for the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) and the construction of a permanent research station.

Most of the cargo is moved to Dome C by traverse (called raid)[3] from Dumont d'Urville Station, covering 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) in 7 to 12 days depending on weather conditions.

Concordia Station shares many stressor characteristics similar to that of long-duration deep-space missions, in particular extreme isolation and confinement, and therefore serves as a useful analogue platform for research relevant to space medicine.

During the winter, the crew are isolated from the outside world, having no transportation and limited communication[4] for 9 months and live a prolonged period in complete darkness, at an altitude almost equivalent to 4000m at the equator.

Concordia station is particularly useful for the study of chronic hypobaric hypoxia, stress secondary to confinement and isolation, circadian rhythm and sleep disruption, individual and group psychology, telemedicine, and astrobiology.

[8] Note however that this was written before whole-atmospheric seeing measurements had been made at Dome C. Thanks to the Single Star Scidar SSS, Vernin, Chadid and Aristidi et al.[9] and Giordano, Vernin and Chadid et al.[10] finally demonstrated that most of the optical turbulence is concentrated within the first 30 m atmospheric level at Dome C. The rest of the atmosphere is very quiet with a seeing of about 0.3-0.4 arcseconds, and the overall seeing is somewhat around 1.0 arcseconds.

Indeed, Chadid, Vernin, Preston et al.[12] implement, for the first time from the ground, a new way to study the stellar oscillations, pulsations and their evolutionary properties with long uninterrupted and continuous precision observations over 150 days, and without the regular interruptions imposed by the Earth rotation.

PAIX achieves astrophysical UBVRI bands time-series measurements of stellar physics fields, challenging photometry from Space.

Dome C does not experience the katabatic winds typical for the coastal regions of Antarctica because of its elevated location and its relative distance from the edges of the Antarctic Plateau.

Those going outside travelled at least in pairs and were equipped with a radio, spare batteries and a full fleece suit, with only the eyes at times visible.

The slightest mistake would lead to certain injury, as astronomer Agabi Karim explained: "Burns on the cheeks and eyelashes glued to the lens of the telescope," after exposure to the freezing cold.

[22] The HF radio equipment consists in a Rohde & Schwarz XK2100L transceiver with a 150W RF output and a delta loop antenna located a few hundreds of meters away from the station.