The department hosts a Centre of Excellence: iC3 (Centre for Ice, Cryosphere, Carbon, and Climate), which will investigate the role of the large ice sheets in the global carbon budget. The Department of Geosciences will lead iC3 in close collaboration with the Norwegian Polar Institute and NORCE. Previously, the department was host for another CoE, CAGE (Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate), which was a world leader in research on gas hydrates and how methane emissions affect the marine environment and the climate system. The department also hosted the petroleum centre ARCEx (Research Centre for Arctic Petroleum Exploration), a research and competence centre that investigated the interaction between the environment, technology, and hydrocarbon resources. Furthermore, the department is one of four Norwegian institutions participating in the iEarth network, a national consortium which in December 2019 was designated as a Norwegian Centre for Excellence in Education with the aim of revolutionizing geoscience education in Norway.