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About Arctic Centre

Image: Mattias Pettersson

Since the establishment in 2012, more than 300 researchers at Umeå University have joined as associated researchers to the Arctic Centre at Umeå University.

The Arctic Centre at Umeå University offers a research environment where collaboration within project management, publications, supervision, international networks, seminars and strategic planning. With a substantial number of associated researchers at Umeå University, the Arctic Centre assembles a strong research environment with national proficiency in extensive research areas and has strategically developed a concept which provides a multi-disciplinary response to present and future demands of research-based knowledge for a sustainable development in the north.

The research conducted within the Arctic Centre has high relevance to the society and meets the increased demand for research-based knowledge. Cooperation is also of great importance. The centre offers excellent opportunities for subject disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations. The Arctic Centre at Umeå university has a primary strength in its access to successful researchers, while new disciplines and young researchers continuously connect to the Centre. The researchers bring new perspectives on the northern and indigenous related issues and sharpens the human dimension through cultural studies, health, environment, climate, legal and socio-economic research.

Arctic Centre's mission

The Arctic Centre was originally established in 2012 with the aim of being a cohesive organizational unit for Arctic issues at the university. On May 18, 2021, the Arctic Centre was established as a center, and at the end of June of the same year, a new instruction was decided as follows:

Arctic Centre's purpose is to develop, coordinate and make Arctic research and education visible, as well as support multidisciplinary Arctic research, and inspire interdisciplinary initiatives within the knowledge field, at Umeå University.

This means, among other things, that Arctic Centre

  • creates open meeting places for researchers, teachers and students at the university with the aim of developing research and education in the Arctic field,
  • develops and maintains national and international networks and collaborations in Arctic research and education;
  • arranges seminars and conferences on research and education relevant to Arctic communities,
  • hosts the faculty-wide Arctic Graduate School with a focus on sustainable development at Umeå University,
  • strives to develop and support scientific publishing in Arctic research areas at Umeå University and
  • collaborates with the surrounding society and participates in debates.

Organization

The Arctic Centre has a period of operation between July 1,2021, to June 30, 2027, and is organizationally located at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and administered by the Department of Language Studies that host the centre.

Day-to-day activities and operations at Arctic Centre are led by the director Keith Larson, who has overall responsibility. The director reports partly to the head of the department, and partly to the steering group.

Steering group

The Vice-Chancellor appoints the steering group, that leads the Arctic Centre, usually every four years. The steering group meets 1-4 times per semester, and consists of nine members; a chairman, four members from each faculty, and a doctoral student as a student representative. In addition, a representative from an Arctic Five university (UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Luleå University of Technology, The University of Lapland or The University of Oulu) and a representative outside of Umeå University.

The steering group is responsible for Arctic Centre's overall focus and development, and to otherwise promote activities and operations. They also decide on the operational plan and budget.

Latest update: 2023-02-23