Accessing the Arctic
What is Transnational Access within INTERACT?
The INTERACT III project under EU H2020 provides altogether 6500 person-days of Trans-National Access (both physical and remote) in 2020-2023. All INTERACT activities, including Trans-National Access, have the overarching goal to respond to six major societal challenges of local and global relevance.
Access is offered to 39 research stations located in the Arctic and northern alpine and forest areas in Europe, Russia and North-America.The sites represent a variety of glacier, mountain, tundra, boreal forest, peatland and freshwater ecosystems, providing opportunities for researchers from natural sciences to human dimension.
Transnational Access (TA) means free of charge, transnational access to research infrastructures or installations for selected user groups. The access includes the logistical, technological and scientific support and the specific training that is usually provided to external researchers using the infrastructure. INTERACT Transnational Access calls will be open annually in the autumn for the summer and winter seasons of the following year. In addition, 1-2 additional calls may be arranged focusing on specific themes.
Remote Access (RA) is a form of Transnational Access in which the user(s) do not visit the infrastructure/installation physically themselves; instead the staff of the infrastructure/installation is conducting the study/collecting the samples/doing the monitoring for the user(s) according to their research plan.
Virtual Access (VA) means free and open access to stations’ data and databases for everyone, without selection or evaluation process. Altogether 25 research stations located in the Arctic and northern forest and alpine areas offer INTERACT Virtual Access by 2023. INTERACT Virtual Access Single Entrypoint data portal allows you to search and access data and information from the Arctic and beyond.
TA/RA calls are open annually for scientists and research groups (=users/user groups) to apply for Transnational Access and Remote Access.
Transnational Access includes:
- Free access for eligible user groups to research facilities and field sites
- Support for travel and logistics costs
- Free access to information and data in the public domain held at the infrastructures
Access can only be granted to user groups to conduct research, not for arranging or attending courses, conferences, seminars or workshops. The maximum amount of access that can be granted per user group is 90 days (3 months) in the INTERACT III funding period of 2020-2023.
Click here to find information about the next TA/RA Call.
The following tables describe some typical features of research to be conducted with TA, RA and VA, as well as some requirements for studies conducted with the different modalities of access .
| Trans-National Access is ideal for |
|---|
| Research (incl. experimental and monitoring studies; the latter if sufficient resources are available or for a short time continuation of a longer time series) |
| Data from one or few sites |
| Developing longer term scientific cooperation with station(s), e.g. implementation of scientific network standards for contributions to regional/global assessments (requires agreement by station) |
| Filling a data gap for scientific research |
| Scientific research requiring specific skills and competences |
| Requirements for scientific research supported by Trans-national Access |
|---|
| Eligible applicants – see https://eu-interact.org/accessing-the-arctic/tacall/ |
| Station is open and space available in required period |
| Station has the appropriate field environments, access to sites, and laboratory facilities for the research to be carried out there |
| The proposed research has not been done before at the station, or is ongoing by another research group |
| Acceptance for the study is obtained by the station after scientific evaluation by the INTERACT Trans-national Access Selection Panel |
| Remote Access is ideal for |
|---|
| Research (incl. experimental and monitoring studies; the latter if sufficient resources are available or for a short time continuation of a longer time series) |
| Obtaining data from one or several sites |
| Filling a data gap |
| Obtaining comparable data form other areas than your own study |
| Obtaining background data or complimentary data from the location where you obtain new data |
| Following rapid response to e.g. possible environmental/biological hazards at multiple sites |
| Minimising CO2 emissions from travels to field sites |
| Developing longer term cooperation with station(s), e.g. implementation of scientific network standards for contributions to regional/global assessments (requires agreement by station) |
| Requirements for Remote Access studies |
|---|
| Simple experimental setup and instructions, and realistic demand for time and expertise |
| Researcher(s) are able to provide necessary equipment if the station does not have it available |
| Staff with required skills are available at the station or no expert knowledge or special training is required to conduct the research |
| Staff is available at the required time of data collection |
| Virtual Access is ideal for |
|---|
| Obtaining retrospective/historical data |
| Obtaining time series (monitoring) data |
| Obtaining comparative data from same area/larger areas/several sites |
| Obtaining comparative data from same/other conditions (natural, semi-controlled, experimental) than your own study |
| Obtaining background data or complimentary data from the location where you obtain new data |
| Reducing CO2 emissions from travel to station, and environmental footprint at station |
| Requirements for Virtual Access studies |
|---|
| Virtual Access means free and open access to data; there are no specific requirements or selection procedure for Virtual Access |
| At some cases user registration is required to download the data |
| Acknowledgement or attribution of the data source in publications resulting from Virtual Access is encouraged |
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D5.1 Virtual Access Assessment Report 1
application/pdf
