Here you will find NTNU’s research, activities, calls for proposals, and opportunities to participate in Arctic Ocean 2050.
The programme is interdisciplinary and brings together more than 500 researchers from 18 institutions.
UiT The Arctic University of Norway leads Arctic Ocean 2050.
Curious polar bear in the Fram Strait, September 2023. Photo: Trine Lise Sviggum Helgerud / Norwegian Polar Institute.
Arctic Ocean 2050 aims to generate knowledge, tools and principles that support sustainability, conservation and geopolitical resilience in the management of the emerging blue Arctic Ocean.
NTNU contributes to five of the programme's six research themes. The themes are listed below in order of priority, with NTNU's main theme presented first.
NTNU places particular emphasis on this research theme, centred on innovating for the future.
Goal: To make optimal use of emerging technologies, numerical models, machine learning methods, and data assimilation techniques to fill observational gaps and enhance our ability to predict and understand the interconnected physical, geophysical, biogeochemical, biological, and societal processes in the rapidly changing Arctic Ocean.
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The research theme is zooming in.
Goal: To understand the atmosphere, sea ice, water column, and seabed within the central Arctic Ocean particularly the le ast - explored slope and deep basin areas.
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The research theme explores prospects and consequences.
Goal: To evaluate the prospects and consequences of future human activity in the Arctic Ocean, to ensure sustainable governance and management of this region at both Norwegian and regional levels.
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The research theme addresses transdisciplinary connections and actionable knowledge.
Goal: To advance an integrated pan-Arctic understanding of how industrial and sectoral development is mediated by physical, biogeochemical, and biological processes, climate-related risks, changing geopolitics and shifting legal and policy regimes.
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The research theme focuses on preparing for surprises.
Goal: To assess the nature and potential consequences of disruptive events by improving our skill in their prediction, characterizing their impact, and providing insight into system resilience.
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The research them is zooming out.
Goal: To understand the interplay between external processes and ongoing and potential future changes in the Arctic Ocean.
Thirty researchers and crew members took part in a research expedition to the Arctic Ocean from 23 July to 10 September 2026 aboard the R/V Kronprins Haakon, one of the world's most advanced research vessels. The vessel is owned by the Norwegian Polar Institute, which also led the expedition.
NTNU researchers participating in the expedition: Postdoctoral Fellow Natalie Maria Summers and PhD Candidate Jon Estil Krågebakk.
