Arctic Interactions

The Arctic Interactions (ArcI), is one of the interdisciplinary research profiling initiatives at the University of Oulu. It concluded at the end of 2023.

The project encompassed the recruitment of four tenured professors and provided support for the launch of their research groups by creating postdoctoral and doctoral researcher positions. ArcI also instituted a multi-year postdoctoral programme aimed at guiding early-career researchers in their professional development. The researcher mobility programme resulted in the creation of impactful joint positions with leading Arctic universities, fostering global networking opportunities for the next generation of researchers. ArcI played a key role in updating and expanding research infrastructures, such as the EcoClimate at Oulanka Research Station. Through the High Risk - High Reward programme, substantial support was provided to researchers at the University of Oulu to engage in major international Arctic research initiatives, such as MOSAiC and ArtOfMelt.

During its five-year term, ArcI supported the employment of over ninety researchers across diverse projects. The University of Oulu currently engages 150 researchers dedicated to Arctic topics. ArcI has significantly enhanced the University of Oulu's prominence in international Arctic research, elevating the significance of Arctic research at the university to unprecedented levels. The research focus of Arctic interactions spanned topics such as Global change & northern environments, Human-environmental relationships, and Sustainable systems, resource use and development in the Arctic.