The Arctic plays a key role in Earth's climate system and is an geographical area of growing strategic importance for European policy. In this ITN, coordinated by University of Bristol, 15 Early Stage Researchers will explore various aspects of othe fast changing Arctic environment and the factors that impact ecosystem and organism response to the warming Arctic.

Researchers will deliver information about the role and influence of external inputs of nutrients that drive biogeochemical processes through the investigation of annual variation in microbial activity and biogeochemical processes in terrestrial Arctic ecosystems. For the first time, biogeochemical winter processes and their impact on the summer melting microbial dynamics will also be considered. Researchers will also explore ecosystem responses to these inputs in the already changing Arctic. The effect of time and season and the warming of the Arctic (melting glaciers and thawing permafrost) on ecosystem functioning and Arctic natural resources, such as soil development, evolutionary ecology and fast adaptation, over time scales of hundreds of years will be quantified through geochemical analyses and next generation multi-omics approaches. Research fellows will also focus on organism response and adaptation (e.g., key fungal species, psychrophiles, methanogens and cyanobacteria) using a range on biochemical, molecular, experimental and culturing approaches. These first three work packages will be developed interactively in order to provide synergistic scientific evaluations of the potential effects of managing Arctic warming during Horizon 2020 and beyond. Addressing specific societal issues, such as agricultural practices, colonisation by pathogenic organisms and biotechnological exploitation of Arctic ecosystems, will be the focus of WP4, which will link the research underpinning the first three work packages with local community knowledge and practices. WP4 will also provide, for the first time, information on policy and economic aspects related to the commercial exploitation of microorganisms in the Arctic.