Research Priority Teams
The ICARP IV International Steering Committee will convene Research Priority Teams (RPTs) on several topical areas between 2023 and 2025 with the aim to define the most urgent knowledge gaps and research priorities for the next decade and explore avenues to address and implement these research needs.
We are seeking nominations for Arctic researchers at all career stages, as well as individuals and community leaders with knowledge, skills, and experience relevant to Arctic research planning, particularly Indigenous Knowledge Holders to join the ICARP IV Research Priority Teams!
We are accepting nominations from:
- individuals wishing to nominate themselves or others; or
- ICARP IV partner organisations wishing to nominate a participant.
If you are interested to participate in the Research Priority Teams (RPTs), please fill out the form below by 29 September 2023!
All nominations will be reviewed in October 2023 by the ICARP IV International Steering Committee who will make the final decision on the composition of each RPT. Applicants will be informed after a decision has been made.
Topic Areas:
At the moment seven Research Priority Teams will be set up on the following topic areas:
- Topic Area 1: The Role of the Arctic in the Global System
- Topic Area 2: Observing, Reconstructing, and Predicting Future Climate Dynamics and Ecosystem Responses
- Topic Area 3: Understanding the Vulnerability and Resilience of Arctic Environments and Societies and Supporting Sustainable Development
- Topic Area 4: Scientific cooperation and diplomacy
- Topic Area 5: Co-Production and Indigenous-led methodologies
- Topic Area 6: Preparing present and future generations through Education, Outreach, Communication, Capacity Building, and Networking
- Topic Area 7: Technology, Infrastructure, Logistics, and Services
A more detailed description of each topic area can be found here.
Timeline:
The Research Priority Teams will work with the input provided through the ICARP IV Community Engagement process throughout 2024 and 2025 to:
- review and summarise the wider community input provided for their topic areas (or organise own engagement events if necessary)
- define knowledge gaps and research priorities for their topic areas
- develop science and educational, outreach and communication plans as well as recommendations for implementation of the research priorities.
The preliminary results of the Research Priority Teams work will be presented at the ICARP IV Summit / ASSW 2025 in Boulder, Colorado, USA (21 – 28 March 2025), followed by a community-wide public consultation phase, with the aim to finalise the outcomes of the Research Priority Teams work by the end of 2025. The results will then contribute to the final report of the ICARP IV process published in 2026.
Estimated Workload:
- Mode of Operation and Meetings:
- Each Research Prioirty Team will mainly work and meet online. They will communicate via email as often as necessary to work on their tasks.
- In-person / hybrid meetings are limited to:
- two-day open hybrid workshops of each Research Priority Team during the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2024 - Edinburgh, Scotland, UK (21 - 29 March 2024). The workshops will be open to all ASSW 2024 participants.
- The chairs of each Research Priority Team (or a designated alternate) will also be invited to an ICARP IV Planning Retreat in autumn 2024 in Akureyri, Iceland.
- RPT Sessions during the ICARP IV Summit / ASSW 2025 (Boulder, Colorado, USA from 21 – 28 March 2025)
- Other tasks:
- review materials relevant to the RPT submitted via the ICARP IV Engagement process
- identify additional materials needed for the RPT work
- if necessary: hold own community engagement events specific to their RPTs
- contribute to drafting the reports of the RPTs work (research priorities and their implementation plans)
The detailed Terms of Reference for the Research Priority Teams are available here.
Funding Support:
Members of the Research Priority Teams who do not have their own institutional support, can apply for travel support for attending the ASSW 2024 and the ASSW 2025 from the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC).
The following seven preliminary topic areas for the Research Priority Teams have been identified by the ICARP IV International Steering Committee Meeting. To ground the process in the outcomes of the last ICARP III, the topic areas include the ICARP III themes (from the final ICARP III report) plus additional relevant themes. Each RPT should also consider several cross-cutting themes in their work, including but not limited to co-production of knowledge.
- The team will address research priorities and their implementation regarding topics such as: the needs for further scientific understanding of the role of the Arctic in the global climate system (past, present, and future); extreme events; permafrost thaw and SLCF; temporal and spatial distribution of precipitation (spatio-temporal aggregation); teleconnection patterns; impacts of rapid changing Arctic on extreme events locally and remotely; and global consequences (including concerning human / social aspects).
- The team will address research priorities and their implementation regarding topics such as: Arctic observing needs (including prioritisation and planning tools for selecting observables and the engagement of indigenous peoples and stakeholders in these processes); climate system and transformations; predicting future climate dynamics; and the need for, and nature of, sustained observations and monitoring systems including spatio-temporal comparable monitoring of abiotic and biotic factors (e.g. atmosphere - vegetation - soil). In addition, the potential of paleobiology and paleoclimatology as a basis for conservation practices and evidence-based modelling will be assessed.
- The team will address research priorities and their implementation regarding topics such as: sustainable and equitable Arctic economy; adaptive management and nature-based solutions (actions/adaptations/measures); healthy Arctic and healthy peoples (multi-stressor effects, contaminants and climate interactions, One Health); energy systems; sustainable energy production; green transition and green energy; reliability; resilience; food systems; sustainable production; resilience; water systems and drinking water; sanitary health; infrastructure and migration.
- The team will address research priorities and their implementation regarding topics such as: effective international pan-Arctic cooperation in joint-funding and delivery of Arctic research outcomes; connecting and coordinating national and international funding agencies; utilising the role, contribution and value of Arctic science at times of high geopolitical tension; pathways to effective research cooperation; research exchange programs; and collaborative observing amid geopolitical constraints.
- The team will address research priorities and their implementation regarding topics such as: co-production of knowledge; empowerment; capacity sharing; creating space and opportunities for Indigenous institutions / scholars to lead research and develop collaborations; Indigenous leadership; bringing education, science, and Indigenous knowledge together; producers and users of knowledge; and Indigenising Arctic research.
- The team will address how Arctic research planning and traditional knowledge are preparing present and future generations living in the Arctic and beyond to build community resilience and sustainability. Topics include: connecting Arctic issues, research priorities and their implementation; effective outreach, science communication and capacity building between research teams, local communities, decision-makers and the wider public; engaging young people, local communities, decision-makers and others in research planning; training a new generation of Arctic researchers, equipped to lead and be engaged in Arctic research at all levels; the role of EOC working at the interface of academic science and Indigenous traditional and local knowledge helping to combine and harmoniously integrate these different knowledge systems; measuring impact - effective planning and evaluation; equality, diversity, access and inclusion in EOC.
- The team will address research priorities and their implementation regarding topics such as: Arctic infrastructure needs; engineering; new and emerging technologies (e.g. AI and machine learning), the potential for further automation and remote operation in research; the requirements and opportunities presented by new large-scale research equipment and monitoring systems; the potential for step-changes in the sharing of national infrastructure and the creation of new international platforms.