I have reported a few times on the existing informal international synthesis consortium, a group of like-minded colleagues and the synthesis centres/initiatives they lead with focus on natural sciences. There are a few updates I want to mention here also on behalf of my dear fellow centre colleagues, a group I really enjoy interacting with. See below some descriptions about the status, missions and activities of several newly established initiatives. Exciting times with new funding opportunities for collaborative synthesis research.

Brazil:

The Brazilian Synthesis Center on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services – SinBiose, approaches the final phase of its first funded projects. SinBiose, coordinated by Marisa Mamede, is a research program from the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq). Its mission is “to produce international-level data and concepts´ synthesis with emphasis on current issues related to biodiversity and ecosystem services. The center must act as a science-policy broker, helping in the development of scenarios, strategies and solutions. It must also help identifying knowledge gaps and emerging environmental problems". SinBiose prepares to launch a new call for projects in the second half of 2023.

So far, seven working groups were funded three years ago. Project topics are: ecological integrity of secondary forests in the Amazon (REGENERA), drivers of degradation of the Amazon biodiversity (SYNERGIZE), pollination intensification for sustainable agriculture (SPIN), Brazilian reef communities management and conservation (ReefSyn), Brazilian grasslands biodiversity and restoration (GrassSyn), modelling tropical neglected diseases outbreak risks in the Amazon (Redes DTN) and techno-productive trajectories relating to public health as an ecosystem service in the Amazon (TRAJETORIAS). A final meeting with the presentation of results is being planned for May 2023.

Denmark/Norway:

There is a very recently established synthesis centre in Copenhagen, AquaSYNC, managed by Jesper Andersen. It is a partnership consisting of Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Department of Ecoscience at Aarhus University /ECOS-AU) and the Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment (SIME-GU). AquaSYNC is hosted by NIVA Denmark and located in Copenhagen.

The primary goal of AquaSYNC is to foster state-of-the-art aquatic synthesis research in a data-rich but information-poor world. Their research focus is on streams and rivers, lakes and ponds and on coastal and marine water. An open call for establishment of two new synthesis working groups will be launched late 2022 / early 2023.

AquaSYNC employs four key instruments: (1) Meetings of Synthesis Working Groups, comprised of both external participant and core AquaSYNC staff, (2) synthesis projects led by AquaSYNC core staff or Postdocs, (3) integrated assessment activities, including development of innovative multi-metric indicator-based assessment tools, led by AquaSYNC core staff, and (4) hosting visiting scientists for short and long periods. In addition to AquaSYNC’s core activities, other activities and outputs may include systematic reviews, seminars and training courses and an international symposium on synthesis research in aquatic ecosystems is planned (September 2025).

USA:

Another very recent initiative is the Institute for Global Change Biology (IGCB) at the University of Michigan, directed by Peter Reich. The goal of the IGCB is to improve our ability to predict and prevent the tragic outcomes of global change. IGCB will host working groups that specifically focus on global change biology to address unmet questions. IGCB is developing funding streams in partnership with existing Synthesis Centers as part of building a broader community network of scientists across the nation and globe, including accelerating the training and mentorship of early career scientists.

IGCB funds already seven working groups and has an open call right now. IGCB Working Groups will be awarded one or two 2-3-year Postdoctoral Fellow positions to facilitate work at the University of Michigan across three or more lead PIs.

The newly established Environmental Data Science Innovation & Inclusion Lab (ESIIL), directed by Jennifer Balch,is led by the University of Colorado Boulder in collaboration with NSF’s CyVerse at the University of Arizona and the University of Oslo. It is the outcome of the latest NSF call for a new synthesis centre initiative, focusing on data driven science and just started in summer 2022. ESIIL’s research community envision to generate discoveries and novel approaches through: 1) cutting-edge team science, 2) innovative tools and collaborative cyberinfrastructure, 3) data science education and training, and 4) building inclusive participation and diverse groups.