The Nordic countries and NordForsk are investing a total of NOK 112 million in four new, interdisciplinary Nordic Centres of Excellence.
Denmark, Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, together with NordForsk, have chosen to strengthen Nordic research on Arctic issues by establishing four new Nordic Centres of Excellence under the programme Responsible Development of the Arctic: Opportunities and Challenges - Pathways to Action. In all, 34 applications were received, and based on the assessments of an external international panel of experts and the recommendations of the programme committee of the Arctic programme, the NordForsk Board has decided to fund the following four new centres:
- Resource Extraction and Sustainable Arctic Communities (REXAC). Project leader: Professor Sverker Sörlin, KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Participants: Stockholm University, Stockholm Environment Institute, Stefansson Arctic Institute, University of Copenhagen, National Museum of Denmark, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), University of Oslo, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, University of Oulu, Dalarna University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada). Funding: NOK 28 million. - Reindeer Husbandry in a Globalizing North – Resilience, Adaptations and Pathways for Actions (ReiGN). Project leader: Professor Øystein Holand, Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
Participants: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), Umeå University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Dalarna University, University of Helsinki, University of Oulu, University of Lapland, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen), Ájtte - Swedish Mountain and Sámi Museum, University of Reading (UK), Concordia University (Canada), Heriot-Watt University (UK) and University of Waikato (NZ). Funding: NOK 28 million. - Arctic Climate Predictions: Pathways to Resilient, Sustainable Societies (ARCPATH). Project leader: Yongqi Gao, Research Director, Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (Norway).
Participants: Danish Meteorological Institute, University of Bergen, University of Iceland, University of Colorado Boulder (USA), P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IO RAS), Nansen-Zhu International Research Center (Norway/China), Royal Roads University (Canada), Stefansson Arctic Institute, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) and UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Funding: NOK 28 million. - Climate-change Effects on the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases and the Impacts on Northern Societies (CLINF). Project leader: Professor Birgitta Evengård, Umeå University.
Participants: University of Sheffield (UK), Institution of Russian Academy of Sciences Saint Petersburg, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Dartmouth College (USA), Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NArFU) (Russia), National Veterinary Institute (SVA) (Sweden), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Statens Serum Institut (SSI) (Denmark), Stockholm University, University of Nordland (Norway), Norut Northern Research Institute (Norway) and Nordland Research Institute. Funding: NOK 28 million.
The new Nordic Centres of Excellence in Arctic research can launch their activities in spring 2016 and will run for five years.
Marianne Røgeberg, Head of Arctic Affairs at NordForsk, says, “I am extremely pleased that we can establish these four new Nordic Centres of Excellence, all of which take a multidisciplinary approach to the issues they address. NordForsk will do everything it can to provide the best, most flexible conditions possible. The centres have been selected on the basis of the quality of their research, and it is very gratifying to see that all the Nordic countries, including Greenland, are participating in the projects – particularly since all of the countries have contributed funding to the programme’s common pot.”
All 34 applicants have been notified directly by email regarding the outcome of the funding process.
Source: NORDFORSK