The merger of several existing institutes in Arkhangelsk, Russia results in the establishment of a new top research center on the Arctic. The new federal science center on the Arctic will house 500 researchers, regional authorities say.
"Our main task will be to conduct research and experimental studies, as well as to implement research inventions and protect Russian national interests in the Arctic," said Professor Vladimir Pavlenko.
Pavlenko has been hand-picked to lead the new center, which is planned to be fully operational by year 2020. By that time, a new research building complex is expected to be completed in downtown Arkhangelsk. The four-floor building will have a price tag of more than 500 million rubles (about $7.5 million), the Arkhangelsk regional administration said in a press release. In addition, regional authorities also plan to build a new housing block with 100 flats for the center's researchers.
Regional Minister of Research and Education Igor Skubenko said about 500 people will be employed in the center by 2020.
"The emergence of this federal center is truly a historical event," regional Governor Igor Orlov said in a statement. "It allows us to represent the interests of Russia in the Arctic on the very highest level."
The center will be subordinated the Russian Academy of Science and is based on the merger of several existing research institutes. A state decree on the establishment of the center was signed in October 2015.
Among the center's key research fields will be the development of Russian coastal areas and the infrastructure of the Northern Sea Route, Pavlenko said.
This story is posted on Alaska Dispatch News as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.