Norway

The Council coordinates Norway’s national research strategy, promotes cooperation and coordination among Norwegian academic institutions, and advises its government on science and technology issues. Its goal is to increase society's knowledge of science and technology, as well as to encourage innovation in industry and the public sector. 

Dr. Kirsten Broch Mathisen, Director, Division of Strategic priorities, the Research Council Norway, is the current Council Member for Norway, she is also Chair of the Finance Committee, a Member of the Executive Committee, and a Member of the Program Committee.

Professor Arild Underdal, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo is the current Chairman of IIASA's Science Advisory Committee. A primary role of the Committee is to advise the Council and the Director on a general scientific strategy for fulfilling IIASA's mission and goals.

Key Relationships and Collaborations

IIASA has partnerships, or is collaborating with more than twenty Norwegian organizations, including:  

• The Research Council of Norway
• University of Oslo
• University of Tromsø
• University of Bergen
• Central for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO)
• Climate and Pollution Agency (KLIF), Oslo
• Institute of Marine Research, Bergen

Select Research Highlights

Fisheries and evolutionary research:

IIASA is the coordinator, or is a member of, several fisheries networks that involve, or are led by, Norwegian scientists. Select examples include:

• Norway, through the Institute for Marine Research, is a major contributor to the European Research Training Network on Fisheries-induced Adaptive Changes in Exploited Stocks (FishACE). This network, coordinated by IIASA, has been established to investigate the prevalence and consequences of fisheries-induced adaptive changes in exploited aquatic systems in European waters.
• FINE: Norway through IMR, the University of Oslo, and the University of Tromsø participate in FINE, the Fisheries-induced Evolution Network. Coordinated by IIASA, FINE aims to understand the effects of fisheries exploitations on the genetics of select fish populations as a contribution to the sustainable management of Europe’s natural resources.
• Norway and IIASA are represented on the steering committee for FROSpects: Frontiers of Speciation Research - a European Science Foundation Networking program. This network aims to facilitate bridge building between disparate approaches to speciation research, by bringing together young and senior European speciation scientists around a number of conferences, workshops, and symposia. 

Energy and climate change research:

• Norway contributes a lead analyst to the Energy End Use chapter of the Global Energy Assessment (GEA). The GEA is a major initiative seeking to redefine the global energy policy agenda. Norwegian, Olav Kjørven, Assistant Administrator and Director of Development Policy, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a GEA Council Member. Norway is also a sponsor of the GEA via the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). 

Forestry and land management:

• Through the Agricultural University of Norway, Norway participated in INSEA, the Integrated Sink Enhancement Assessment project. Coordinated by IIASA and financed through the EC FP6, this project developed tools to assess the economic and environmental effects of GHG and carbon abatement measures on agricultural land.

Air quality and GHG mitigation:

• IIASA has applied the GAINS model to Norway (as one of the Annex 1 countries under the UNFCCC) to help inform decision makers on the priority and selection of policies for the energy and transport sector and the evaluation of environmental objectives.
• 
  IIASA participates in the “Arctic Initiative” involving Norway and other Arctic countries. The initiative aims to develop mitigation options for pollutants (black carbon (BC), ozone, halocarbons, and methane) affecting the Arctic region.  Most recently GAINS was one of two models used in the development of a new report presented at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting, (May 2011). An Assessment of Emissions and Mitigation Options for Black Carbon (BC) estimates BC emissions, trends and mitigation potential to 2030 from all Arctic Council Nations.
• With CICERO IIASA completed an assessment of the impacts on global warming of different means of transport. The study utilized a suite of climate chemistry models to consider the climate effects of all long- and short-lived gases, aerosols and cloud effects, not just carbon dioxide, resulting from transport worldwide.

Population studies:

• Norway through the Department for Statistics is an active collaborator in several joint studies on population and aging in Europe. One output of this ongoing collaboration is the European Demographic Datasheet 2008, produced by the IIASA-Vienna Institute of Demography.  This datasheet summarizes the major factors driving population aging in Europe, including Norway, and is a helpful data source for policymakers and planners.
• Norwegian population expert IIASA’s Vegard Skirbekk, is a regular visitor to Norway and is associated with Statistics Norway; and maintains links to the Norwegian Centre for Advanced Studies. In 2009 Dr Skirbekk was awarded the European Research Council's "European Starting Independent Researcher Grant."

Risk and adaptation:

• IIASA has ongoing collaborations with CICERO on the issue of risk management, in particular, SafeLand - Living with landslide risk in Europe. SafeLand is a large-scale integrating project funded by The 7^th Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7) of the EC. SafeLand aims to provide policymakers, public administrators, researchers, scientists, and other stakeholders with an improved framework for assessing and quantifying landslide risk at local, regional and European scales.

Capacity Building

IIASA’s annual Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) funded primarily by NMOs, offers advanced level PhD candidates the opportunity to work with IIASA scientists over a 3-month period, with the explicit aim of refining or extending their research skills in the area of systems analysis. Since the first Norwegian participant in 1997 a total of 19 Norwegians have completed the YSSP.

Special Awards:                

Each year two or three participants of the YSSP are recipients of the Peccei or Mikhalevich Awards. The awards recognize exceptional performance during the summer and allow recipients to return for an additional 3 months research at IIASA

In 2005 the Peccei Scholarship was awarded to Anne Maria Eikeset of Norway, while the Mikhalevich Scholarship was awarded to Geir Halnes also from Norway. In 2003 Christian Jørgensen of Norway received the Peccei Schlolarship.

Last edited: 19 September 2012