NEWS Under an agreement with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Arctic Centre at Umeå University will produce and deliver an updated analysis of global Arctic research ahead of Sweden's Chairship of the Arctic Council.
Covering 2022-2026, the new Arctic Research Trends report will show how research activity, topics and international collaboration have developed. The work will support Sweden's preparations for the 2027-2029 chairship and strengthen Umeå University's capacity for long-term analysis of Arctic research.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is funding Arctic Centre at Umeå University to produce an updated Arctic Research Trends report covering 2022-2026. When Sweden assumes the Chairship of the Arctic Council in 2027, the findings will provide evidence covering developments through 2026. The report is co-funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
Using publication data, the project will map which countries and institutions conduct Arctic research, the topics they study and how research activity and international collaboration have developed. It will identify established and emerging fields, changes in research activity and central actors in collaboration networks, while comparing Arctic Council Member States, Observer States and other countries.
The findings will give the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and other Arctic Council actors a current basis for identifying relevant expertise and patterns of cooperation. They can support preparations for meetings, dialogue and cooperation during Sweden's chairship.
The work builds on Arctic Research Trends: Bibliometrics 2016-2022, published in 2023. This joint effort is led by Arctic Centre, which will update and quality-assure its structured database of Arctic publications, researchers, institutions and countries, and document the methodology. The Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education, NIFU, will provide analysis and data visualisation services.
The work brings Arctic Centre's expertise in bibliometric analysis and research data into a national context. It also strengthens the Centre's data and methods, giving Umeå University a better basis for future analysis of research strengths, thematic developments and international partnerships.
The project will also examine how contributions from Indigenous communities, Indigenous scholarship and other knowledge contributors can be identified and acknowledged more effectively in bibliometric analysis. This will make the evidence base more transparent and support further development of Arctic Centre's database and methods.
A first draft will be presented to Sweden's Senior Arctic Official, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency in November 2026. The final report will be presented by 31 March 2027.
Together, the findings will place Swedish research capacity and collaboration in a wider Arctic context. The updated data and documented methodology will also provide the Arctic Centre with a basis for future analysis and collaboration at Umeå University.