NERC Arctic Office                            ARC0014

Written evidence submitted by the NERC Arctic Office

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute written evidence to the Polar Research Sub-Committee’s Inquiry into the UK and the Arctic Environment which was launched on 21 February 2023.

This evidence is submitted on behalf of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Arctic Office, in consultation with NERC colleagues and others. It focuses on Question 3 of the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference: The UK’s contribution to the Arctic through scientific research where we believe there is most to contribute, although there may be read across to the other questions.

The NERC Arctic Office

The NERC Arctic Office is a two-person team hosted by the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge. Our role is to support UK-based researchers in the Arctic and High North; provide advice to policy and decision makers; build new national and international opportunities for research projects; represent the UK’s Arctic research interests in appropriate international fora; and to promote and manage the NERC Arctic Research Station in Svalbard, in close cooperation with the British Antarctic Survey’s Operations Team.

The NERC Arctic Office does not choose, coordinate or make assessments on all Arctic research funded by UK Research and Innovation or the Natural Environment Research Council. Responsibility for funding research rests with those bodies, other than in specific cases where the Office has initiated new schemes in partnership with others, some of which are detailed below.

The main focus of our effort is concentrated on the natural Arctic environment, although the Office increasingly includes social and human sciences within its remit, reflecting the inter-connected nature of the natural and human environment in the Arctic.

Natural Environment Research Council

NERC is the leading funder of natural environment research in the United Kingdom and by definition of Arctic research too. Other Research Councils such as the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) also fund UK-based researchers in the Arctic, but at a much smaller scale.

As a funding body NERC does not have an ‘Arctic research strategy’ document or similar approach which sets out the parameters of research or which allocates funding on a hierarchy of importance. Most science – with some exceptions – is funded ‘bottom-up’ by researchers identifying what they think is a critical research question and then testing that through a highly competitive and peer-reviewed application process. This approach is not unique to Arctic research but is shared across the whole NERC portfolio. NERC funded research as a whole – not just Arctic science - is delivered through a range of routes:

• Pushing the Frontiers of Environmental Science – successful applications are in the region of £1m per award, with a total annual award budget of £25m through this route. 80 per cent of the full economic costs of the application are usually funded, with some exceptions for capital costs.
• Exploring the Frontiers of Environmental Science Research – awards in the region of £100,000 with an annual award budget of £4m. The same 80 per cent rule applies.
• Researchers are also able to submit ideas for Highlight Topics, an annual process in which researchers make the case for a particular research question and topic which – if prioritised - is then released as a general call for any eligible researcher to apply to. In the most recent Highlight Topic round, with six topic areas the overall budget was £24m, with individual awards in the region of £2m-£4m, funded at 80 per cent full economic cost. In some cases a specific geographic region is chosen – Greenland featured in the sixth round of Highlight Topics (closing in March 2020) – and in others the process or research question is identified and it is up to the researcher to make the case for where the research can happen.
• It has also been the practice of NERC to identify strategic programmes which are built up centrally, rather than solely through the ‘bottom-up’ process. Examples include the Arctic Research Programme 2011-16 and the Changing Arctic Ocean Programme 2017-22. These Programmes had their own application processes and were major multi-year initiatives involving international cooperation, multiple project teams, use of infrastructure such as ice-strengthened vessels and research aircraft. Taken together both these Programmes invested around £35m in Arctic research, including partnership with funders in Germany.
• The most recent strategic investment in Arctic science has been through the CINUK Programme (below) with £8m provided by UK Research and Innovation through the Fund for International Collaboration led by NERC, with EPSRC, ESRC and AHRC.
• National Capability (NC) – this is NERC-funded activity that is directly procured by NERC due to a combination of its scale and complexity and delivered via our NERC Research Centres. Two current Arctic-focused investments are in NC Multi-Centre Science (which enables more ambitious science than any single NC provider could deliver alone). These are:
• Biogeochemical processes and ecosystem function in changing polar systems and their global impacts (BIOPOLE) £9m over five years - the principal objective is to quantify threats from climate change to polar ecosystem functioning, particularly their capacity to sequester carbon and to support ocean productivity and fish stocks; and
• Climate change in the Arctic-North Atlantic Region and Impacts on the UK (CANARI) £12m over five years - the aim is to advance understanding of the impacts on the UK arising from climate variability and change in the Arctic-North Atlantic region, with a focus on extreme weather and the potential for rapid, disruptive change.

Arctic Research Infrastructure

NERC National Capability includes polar scientific and operations infrastructure and facilities, which are operated on NERC’s behalf by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to support and enable polar science and research activity. This includes, but is not limited to, the UK’s only ice-strengthened research vessel the RRS Sir David Attenborough; four Twin Otter and a Dash 7 aircraft for science and logistics; and polar research stations including the NERC Arctic Research Station in Svalbard.

Additionally, NERC National Capability includes Large Research Infrastructure operated on NERC’s behalf by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), which can enable Arctic science. Through the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) Airborne Laboratory, NCAS operates a specially adapted BAE-146 research aircraft to provide a stable and manoeuvrable platform for airborne measurements. The BAE-146 is available all year round and has a long-range capability with an ability to support Arctic atmospheric research. The NOC operates two ‘blue water’ research vessels on behalf of NERC, the RRS Discovery and RRS James Cook. Both vessels are capable of work in the Arctic outside ice-covered waters. NERC also funds a National Marine Equipment Pool, including autonomous and remotely operated vehicles which are available for use by researchers in the Arctic and beyond.

There are important differences in the way that researchers access some NERC-funded research assets in the Arctic compared to the Antarctic. For example, researchers wanting to use the NERC Twin Otter aircraft in the Arctic will need to include the operating costs of the aircraft within their grant application. For research in the Antarctic these operating costs are covered centrally and do not need to be included within individual grant applications. This is a function of the distinction made in the way that NERC funds the British Antarctic Survey, between what is now the Antarctic Logistics and Infrastructure (ALI) funding stream and the non-ALI funding stream.

The RRS Sir David Attenborough is likely to conduct its first Arctic scientific research cruise in Summer 2024. Taking into account the SDA’s research and logistical support roles in the Antarctic, and the annual maintenance programme, it is expected that there will be up to 50 days each northern hemisphere summer when the vessel could be available to deliver scientific research cruises, where such funding is available.

NERC Arctic Research Station 

The UK’s only permanent research facility in the Arctic is the NERC Arctic Research Station in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. The Station celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. The facility is funded by NERC through National Capability Large Research Infrastructure funding and is operated by the British Antarctic Survey. It was a great pleasure to host seven Members of the Sub-Committee and two Clerks at the Station during their fact-finding visit to the Arctic at the end of March 2023.

Svalbard is seeing some of the most dramatic environmental changes in the Arctic, with rates of warming and changes in species distribution many times greater than elsewhere. This makes it an extremely important location for research, with long-term monitoring studies, ready access to a range of marine and terrestrial environments, collective research facilities and the opportunity to reduce the footprint of research on otherwise pristine landscapes. NERC has invested around £400k in new capital assets for the Station over recent years, including a new boat, marine sampling equipment, laboratory kit, outreach facilities and an internal refurbishment.

The Station is available for any UK-based researcher to use; as well as international researchers who are working in partnership with UK-led research teams; and through the EU’s Horizon-funded INTERACT programme it is also available to international researchers without UK partners. Researchers can use the Station bedrooms, science and field safety equipment, the Station boat, all with the support of a dedicated Station Manager, without charge. Flight costs and subsistence costs (food) must be met by individual researchers through their grants or other funding routes. Researchers in receipt of UKRI funding are eligible, as are those in receipt of other competitively-won and appropriate grants, such as Leverhulme funding. In 2022 NERC funded a modest Arctic Station Access Scheme aimed at increasing use of the Station by new and early career researchers.

Whilst the Station did not open in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID restrictions, since 2018 it has supported 24 project teams (approximately 1500 person days) and two remotely-supported long-term monitoring projects. The Station has also supported the AXA Arctic Live Education and Outreach initiative over the last nine years, reaching thousands of school children across the world. In 2022 alone, the AXA Arctic Live Team delivered 19 ‘live’ lessons from the Station to over 52,000 school children from 865 schools in over 30 countries.

The Station is in the middle of its 10-year NERC funding agreement (2018-2028) and a mid-term review of the facility will be undertaken by NERC in 2024. As with other countries’ research facilities in Ny-Ålesund the Station is leased from the Kings Bay Company, the Norwegian-owned organisation that owns and operates all the buildings.

Rises in energy and other facilities costs provided centrally by the Norwegian hosts are likely to produce significant pressure on BAS’ operation of the facility in the near future. We are currently in the middle of negotiations for a renewed building lease and this financial pressure – which has existed for several years – will becoming increasingly clear.

The Station offers exceptional value for money, excellent facilities and a strong safety record. We are keen to ensure that innovative and ambitious projects are able the use the facility in the future, exploring new elements of research including, potentially, research during the long polar night (October to February). Further details on the Station, its capabilities, equipment and how researchers can apply for access can be found here: https://www.arctic.ac.uk/uk-arctic-research-station/

International Co-operation

Independent research from 2016 indicates that UK-based researchers are fourth in the volume of Arctic research papers published in peer-reviewed journals, behind the US, Canada and Russia. Around two-thirds of these UK Arctic papers have international co-authors, higher than any of the other three countries with a larger output[1]. It is expected that these findings will be updated this year, providing a valuable opportunity to gauge progress over the intervening period. Although given the long lead-in times for research and publication it will be important not to overstate any changes attributable to recent events or activities.

Important elements of this success are linked to factors outside funders and researchers’ control, such as the advantage of UK-based researchers publishing in the overwhelmingly English-language journals. But the willingness and ability of those researchers to work in international teams, to take leadership positions in those teams and take advantage of opportunities to share logistics and infrastructure has also been vital.

This is why the NERC Arctic Office has focused considerable effort on creating new opportunities for researchers to work internationally, in particular those at the start of their careers, so that they can create important partnerships that will deliver high quality research now as well as longer-term links and potential for further work in the future. Such initiatives have been strongly and successfully supported by Government Departments such as BEIS, FCDO and others, including through the important Science and Innovation Network teams based in a number of Embassies and High Commissions across the Arctic and beyond. Examples have included:

• A UK-Canada Arctic Research Bursaries Scheme, which operated from 2017-2020 with total funding of over £970k from BEIS supporting 53 awards for teams to work in partnership with Canada-based researchers, combining skills, research assets and approaches.
• The MOSAiC International Arctic Drift Expedition, a £100m-plus Programme led by Germany and the United States, with an agreement for joint funding of £500k by BEIS to pay the ship’s berth costs for seven teams of UK-based researchers to join the RV Polar Stern in its year-long Arctic drift frozen into the ice and £1.8m by NERC to provide the science funding for those teams. The UK was the first international partner to join the programme which ran from 2019-20.
• The UK-Greenland Arctic Bursaries Scheme – 2022-24 developed in partnership with the Science and Innovation Network in Copenhagen and funded by DSIT with over £300k which will see 13 UK-based teams working in partnership with Greenlandic researchers in new areas of environmental research in the first year. The Scheme will deliver high quality science outcomes as well as building skills and self-empowerment to the Greenlandic research community.

We greatly value the skills, enthusiasm and creativity of the Science and Innovation Network teams, science leads and other members of British Embassies and High Commissions across the Arctic. Over recent years we have worked closely with teams in Washington DC, Ottawa, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Tokyo, Reykjavik, Moscow and many more. The opportunity to work with these teams to develop schemes to fund new research, promote UK-based research at events and conferences, and to inform the development of SIN, BEIS and FCDO research priorities is extremely valuable. We look forward to broadening our links in the years ahead.

Canada-Inuit Nunangat-United Kingdom Arctic Research Programme (CINUK) 2021-25

The CINUK Programme is a major new strategic investment by UK Research and Innovation via what was known as the Fund for International Collaboration, through NERC (with ESRC, EPSRC and AHRC support), in Arctic science in Canada. The defining feature of the Programme is the deep and genuine involvement of Indigenous People in Canada – Inuit – in the identification of the research topics; assessment of applications and decision-making; delivery of the projects; and ownership of results and data. Each of the 13 projects has funded participation by Inuit researchers, as well as UK-based and Canada-based researchers. The Programme brings together what has been called Traditional Knowledge with ‘western’ science within each of the projects, enhancing the quality of the research.

Research within the CINUK programme covers a broad range of topics connected to the environmental and human impact of climate change in the Arctic including: shipping, food security, food safety, pollution, non-native species, safe travel on sea ice, human and animal health, renewable energy solutions and many more. Funding is broadly matched on the UK and Canada sides, with each country’s researchers funded separately, but as part of a single project.

Key to the success of the Programme was the signing of an MOU in 2021 between all the Canadian and UK funding partners as well as the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) organisation as an equal partner, setting out the expectations of the Programme to deliver meaningful empowerment in research to Inuit communities across Inuit Nunangat. The Canadian funding partners are: Polar Knowledge Canada, National Research Council, Parks Canada and Fonds du Recherche, Québec.

The NERC Arctic Office provides the programme management function for the CINUK Programme. Further details on the £11.2m Programme involving 150 participants from over 60 organisations can be found here: www.cinuk.org

The Arctic Council

The Working Groups, Expert Groups and other assessment and analysis groups within the Arctic Council play an important role in advancing environmental understanding of the region, proposing new protections and guidelines and synthesising evidence. The NERC Arctic Office does not have direct input into this work and we are not funded to support the participation of UK-based researchers in Arctic Council activities. Although through the FCDO-chaired Cross-Whitehall Arctic Network meetings we are able to contribute to any analysis of where the contributions of UK-based researchers could be most effectively encouraged.

International Arctic Science Committee

The United Kingdom has been closely involved in the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) since its creation in 1990. IASC is an independent, non-governmental organisation dedicated to facilitating and encouraging all aspects of Arctic research across all areas of the Arctic. There are 24 members and all membership contributions are re-invested in project support, including cross-cutting projects mixing environmental and social sciences; early career researchers and active participation by Indigenous Peoples; and the mission of IASC as a whole. The NERC Arctic Office represents the United Kingdom within IASC and Henry Burgess was elected to the IASC Presidency in 2022 for a four year term, after previously serving as one of the Vice-Presidents. This is a voluntary and unpaid position.

IASC has an important role in making the case for impactful international collaboration in research, as well as practical work to produce it. Important developments include:

• The heart of IASC’s work are the Working Group representatives in the Marine, Terrestrial, Atmosphere, Cryosphere and Social and Human groups. The UK has full representation in each of these Groups with two representatives in each, from 10 separate research centres and universities across the whole of the UK: https://www.arctic.ac.uk/resources/arctic-organisations/
• IASC is leading a horizon-scanning and priority setting programme for 2025-2035 through the International Conference on Arctic Research Planning. This is an important opportunity for the whole of the Arctic research community, local and Indigenous Arctic People to have a say in what the big questions, approaches and challenges in Arctic science will be. This will be the fourth time this horizon scan has been undertaken and the results can be influential for the work of the Arctic Science Ministerial Meetings, Arctic Science Funders Forum, Arctic Council as well as national funding bodies. Further details: https://iasc.info/our-work/icarp/939-icarp-iv-2025
• Since 2020 IASC has produced an annual State of Arctic Science Report detailing the key strengths and gaps in Arctic science. This short document provides an important snapshot of the condition of research in the Arctic, acting to highlight key issues of relevance to funding bodies, research agencies and others: https://iasc.info/about/publications-documents/state-of-arctic-science
• IASC’s annual business and science meeting is the Arctic Science Summit Week. The United Kingdom has the honour of hosting the next meeting in March 2024 at the University of Edinburgh in coordination with the Scottish Arctic Network. This is an important opportunity to showcase Arctic science from Edinburgh, Scotland and the whole of the United Kingdom as well as our international partners, in addition to hosting a successful, inclusive and ambitious event. Link: https://www.assw.info/
• IASC has led the initial discussion and announcement about plans for the 5th International Polar Year to be held in 2032-33. Working with the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), UN agencies such as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the University of the Arctic, Association of Polar Early Career Researchers and others, this will be a fantastic opportunity to focus attention and action on polar research. Link: https://iasc.info/news/iasc-news/1079-joint-statement-from-iasc-and-scar-planning-for-the-5th-international-polar-year-ipy-2032-33

Russia

It goes without saying that understanding the breadth and depth of environmental change in Arctic Russia and Siberia is crucial to making the best possible assessment of impact of climate change in the Arctic, and in turn the impact of that change on the rest of the world.

Since 2016, with the excellent support of the Science and Innovation Network team in the British Embassy in Moscow, the NERC Arctic Office was very active in building links with research centres, universities, individual researchers and beyond in Russia to enable UK-based researchers in turn to build partnerships, access data, research stations and other infrastructure and beyond.

A UK-Russia Arctic Bursaries Scheme in 2019, funded by BEIS using over £60k to bring together 10 teams of UK-based researchers with Russian counterparts to build new science partnerships, access research infrastructure and important data-sets in the Russian Arctic. Although the work was partially interrupted by COVID early in 2020 this Scheme made good inroads in opening-up new potential routes for international partnerships. 

Whilst modest in scale compared to countries like Germany’s investment in Arctic research partnerships in Russia (laboratories in St Petersburg, joint science cruises and a German-funded research station in Siberia) we believe that this work was having a meaningful impact, with opportunities for more significant investment. We recognise the hard work of many researchers in building their research networks over many years in difficult conditions.

As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and in line with Government, UKRI and NERC advice, this work has halted. We understand that the Science and Innovation Network team in the Embassy has been disbanded. Researchers are relocating their projects to other parts of the Arctic where possible. We can expect a significant international increase in interest in working in Canada, Alaska and Greenland as a result of similar approaches.

The creation of IASC in 1990, of the Arctic Council itself in 1996 and institutions such as the excellent University of the Arctic, as well as the scores of researchers who have dedicated their careers to building partnerships in Arctic science in Russia are often cited as important aspects of ‘science diplomacy’ in both existence and function. Whilst this is not a formal role of the NERC Arctic Office we recognise that this term has also been applied to us too.

We recognise that whilst researchers from many countries will now find it impossible to work within Russia or to form new science partnerships, that is not true of all countries conducting Arctic science. There is the potential for bifurcation in the Arctic research community, with information and access to the Russian Arctic available to some researchers and not others. This may become a significant challenge to those involved in ensuring that the highest quality and most representative information enters into Arctic and global environmental decision-making processes.

It will be for others to decide if ‘science diplomacy’ still has a role at some point in the years ahead. But if it does, then as well as science continuing to work hard ‘for’ diplomacy there may also be an important role for diplomacy working hard ‘for’ science, so that critical information on the state of the Arctic environment is available to all.

International Initiatives

The recognition of the importance of international cooperation in Arctic science has driven the creation of a number of interesting initiatives. These include the Arctic Science Ministerial Meetings, first held in 2016 in Washington DC under the US Chair, and then subsequently in Berlin (Germany, European Commission) in 2018 and Tokyo (Iceland and Japan) in 2021. It is anticipated that the next meeting of this group will be in 2024 or 2025 hosted by Norway and France. The UK has participated in all the meetings, led by BEIS, with support from the NERC Arctic Office. Open to all countries engaged in Arctic science on an equal footing this has been an important development in connecting researchers to policy and decision-makers, with extensive information gathering in the lead-up to the meetings and an agreed Ministerial statement at the meeting itself.

A key development of the Ministerial meetings has been the creation of the Arctic Science Funders Forum, which is designed to bring together national funding bodies such as research councils to share information, encourage joint working and the creation of new international programmes. The Forum is getting off the ground and after uncertainties caused by COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine it is hoped that the Forum can begin its work again shortly. The NERC Arctic Office represents the UK in this Forum. 

In autumn 2022 an important new MOU was signed between UK Research and Innovation and the Research Council of Norway. The agreement allows for a level of reciprocal funding of each country’s researchers within national funding applications. This means that UK-based researchers could be directly funded (non-salary) by the Research Council of Norway where they are working in partnership with Norway-based researchers. And vice versa. The agreement is not limited to the Arctic but for two nations with strong Arctic research connections there is great potential for this to be used. We are aware of several Arctic research groups who are investigating this route. https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/collaborate-with-researchers-in-norway/.

There is also a longer-standing agreement between NERC and the National Science Foundation in the United States for a broadly similar approach on polar funding between the UK and US to avoid ‘double jeopardy’ situations involving researchers from both countries. Such approaches can provide innovative ways to incentivise the kinds of large-scale international collaboration required in Arctic research.

Summary

The Arctic research community based in the United Kingdom is dedicated, ambitious and highly skilled. They have access to a range of capable and innovative assets and are committed to working collaboratively and internationally. Within the NERC Arctic Office we will continue to champion and promote their success and their potential, helping to create new opportunities. Change within the Arctic and change caused by the Arctic is so profound and so rapid that it requires even better international cooperation, ensuring that large-scale research questions can be addressed at pace and with longevity.

Thank you again for the opportunity to contribute to the Sub-Committee’s evidence gathering process. We have focused on the key areas in this response, but we will be happy to provide additional detail that may be needed on any specific areas.

Yours sincerely

Henry Burgess

Head, NERC Arctic Office

April 2023