Vice President for Research

2025 Remote & Austere Conditions (RAC) Roundtable: Arctic Survival

The University of Utah hosts an annual Remote & Austere Conditions (RAC) Grand Challenge. The RAC Grand Challenge is a research competition that invites teams to propose innovative solutions for problems facing remote populations such as rural communities and soldiers at isolated outposts.

One part of the RAC Grand Challenge (information on last year's event found here) is a roundtable event that brings together top experts in rural, remote, and austere conditions research to discuss innovative solutions to critical challenges in a particular area of this research. The theme of the roundtable event shifts each year.

For 2025, arctic survival will be the topic of the roundtable event. For this roundtable, “arctic” refers to any remote area prone to severe winter weather and “survival” refers to any process that promotes or sustains human life such as technology, medicine, education, or behavioral interventions.



The Arctic Survival Roundtable will bring together researchers, government experts, and industry professionals to discuss unresolved challenges and emerging opportunities related to surviving in remote, wintery areas. Topics to be engaged include:

• Technology needs for populations living in arctic conditions
• Health threats and medical challenges unique to arctic conditions
• Societal challenges unique to arctic conditions

The Arctic Survival Roundtable will be on March 6^th, 2025, followed by the RAC Grand Challenge Pitch Competition on March 7^th, 2025. The pitch competition will feature 16 teams competing for 1 million+ in seed grant funding by presenting research solutions for pressing issues facing remote & austere populations.

Questions about the Arctic Survival Roundtable, and RAC Grand Challenge, should be sent to RACGrandChallenge@utah.edu.