Assess students' ability to design a graduate‑level multidisciplinary research proposal to quantify, model, and mitigate permafrost carbon feedbacks across Arctic landscapes under 21st‑century climate scenarios. Require clearly stated objectives and hypotheses; integrated methods combining field measurements, laboratory incubations, remote sensing, and Earth‑system model coupling; sampling and scaling strategies; data assimilation and uncertainty analysis; measurable carbon flux and storage metrics; proposed mitigation interventions and evaluation criteria; project timeline, deliverables, and expected scientific and policy impacts.