In their last newsletter of 2016 the European Research Council (ERC) puts the spotlight on the ice2ice project and writes: “With an ERC Synergy Grant, Prof. Jansen and three Nordic world class researchers are currently investigating the dramatic loss of Arctic sea ice.” The article includes a picture of the flagpole on top of the Renland ice cap in East Greenland that mark the multinational effort.

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Science diplomacy

In October the ERC arranged a conference focusing on how frontier research can contribute to science diplomacy. The conference included a presentation of the ice2ice project presented by the Ice2Ice Coresponding Principal Investigator Eystein Jansen.

In the editorial to the newsletter, Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, writes “Scientific cooperation in the Arctic can help stabilise an area where there is much potential for collaboration as there is for competition.”

ERC to reinstate Synergy Grants call

ERC has also announced that they will open another call for Synergy Grants and there is an article covering this in the newsletter. In 2014, the Scientific Council established an ad hoc group tasked with assessing the outcomes of the two synergy calls. In March last year ice2ice was the first project that the evaluation committee would meet with and we believe that this meeting has strongly contributed to the fact that the group recommended reinstating the synergy grant scheme.

Based on the groups findings the ERC President stated: “The Synergy Grants awarded so far have shown that this funding fosters interdisciplinary research and can trigger unconventional collaborations, allowing for the emergence of new fields of study. They will contribute significantly to fill a gap in EU funding for frontier research.” The decision to open another Synergy Grants call is welcomed by the Ice2ice team.