CCCI PhD summer school: reflections from PhD participant on interdisciplinary research
The NordForsk-funded Scenario Analyses Regarding Climate Change Hazards and Critical Infrastructures in the Arctic (CCCI) PhD summer school was recently held at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (12 - 16 August 2024). The summer school gathered PhD students and professors from across the Nordic region with a multidisciplinary background covering law, social -and natural science to develop scenario analyses regarding climate-change related hazards and their impact on critical infrastructure.
Climate change-induced hazards are expected to increase in severity and frequency, especially in the Arctic. Additionally, the scope of climate change induced hazards requires expertise beyond that of a single academic field. The CCCI PhD summer school addressed the need for multidisciplinary perspectives by gathering an interdisciplinary and Nordic group of PhD students tasked with collaborating on scenario analyses identifying how critical infrastructure is affected by climate change hazards.
Are presenting his contribution during his group’s final presentation for the CCCI PhD summer school. Pictured from left to right: Are Frode Kvanum, Poonam Noor, Karolina Sikora. Photo credits: Dina Abdel-Fattah
The summer school was an arena that allowed me to connect with peers from different disciplines, giving me new perspectives on my work on sea ice prediction and parameterization using deep learning. Throughout the week, we fostered a collaborative environment in which we were able to practice how to incorporate our expertise into a shared exercise, which helped contextualize different applications for my research on a larger societal scale.
My peers exposed me to different methodological approaches, and we got to work on a scenario analysis which we described from different disciplinary angles. Our interdisciplinary approach involved building upon each other's work in a constructive manner, and it was cool to see how my work was used as part of another student’s results. Learning how researchers from different disciplines interpret and analyze one's own results demonstrates the importance of clarity in science communication, as it is easy to forget that we all view science with a certain disciplinary bias.
The summer school also highlighted the importance of composing an interdisciplinary team when research is targeting societal adoption. Researchers from different disciplines have epistemological differences which reflects how they acquire and interpret data. An interdisciplinary team is more likely to consist of researchers who have different epistemic standpoints, and consequently a wider representation of epistemically marginalized groups. I see this as a strength, as working interdisciplinarily allowed me to discover blindspots in my own scientific perception.
Finally, It is important to mention that the summer school also showed that working interdisciplinary is difficult, and requires flexibility and adaptability. A good collaboration requires a holistic synergy which extends beyond every researcher working on their own parts. In-line with the inter- and transdisciplinary approach of the PCAPS project, PCAPS aims to establish transdisciplinary networks throughout the Arctic regions. The CCCI PhD summer school therefore was a unique opportunity to build an inclusive and interdisciplinary network of early career researchers, equipped with the skillset to take action and develop further knowledge on climate change impacts.
We invite all who are interested in hearing about the perspectives from the CCCI PhD summer school students to attend our side event during Arctic Frontiers 2025 in Tromsø, where we will discuss the process of translating science into policy briefs as well as the challenges and opportunities of working interdisciplinarily. Further details about the event will be forthcoming during Fall 2024.
Are Frode Kvanum is one of the CCCI PhD summer school participants and will be present at Arctic Frontiers 2025.