–This shows the strength and breadth of UiO in an impressive way. I would like to congratulate all the research communities with good applications. There is hard and planned work behind each of these applications, and regardless of the outcome, this will mean a lot for our further professional development, says Rector Svein St?len.
Almost all of UiO's units are represented among the research communities that desire status as outstanding research centers. Here is the distribution:
- 21 applications at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
- 16 applications at the Faculty of Medicine
- 6 applications at the Faculty of Humanities
- 5 applications at the Faculty of Social Sciences
- 4 applications at the Faculty of Law
- 2 applications at the Faculty of Educational Sciences
- 1 application each at the Faculty of Dentistry, the Museum of Cultural History and the Center for Gender Research.
- Eight of the applications are interdisciplinary collaborative projects.
–I am impressed with how well the research communities and the research administration have worked in the process of presenting these applications. The support from the management at the faculties, the expert panels with voluntary efforts from UiO's own talented researchers and research leaders and the resource group for externally funded centers have made this a quality-assured process that everyone involved comes out of strengthened, says St?len.
Gender balance requirements
For the first time, the Research Council requires that the institutions that submit five or more applications must have at least 40 per cent female center managers for five years or more. Of UiO's 57 applications, 70 per cent have female managers and thus exceed the requirement.
–I think it is important that the Research Council now sends this clear signal about requirements for gender balance and gender equality in research. We have many talented, female researchers at UiO who also want to lead the research environments in an excellent way, St?len continues.
Research infrastructure of national interest
The Research Council has also announced funding for research infrastructure. UiO has sent a total of 52 applications, where UiO is the project owner in 21 of the applications and partner in 31. The funds will go to research infrastructure that is too expensive to finance and run by a single institution alone, where cooperation between several institutions nationally is required and which fits in in the Research Council's 11 area strategies for research infrastructure.
–These are funds of significant importance for UiO to fulfill its strategy, not least for UiO's research and innovation environments. Based on its new roadmap for research infrastructure, UiO will invest in, develop and maintain infrastructure that contributes to strengthening the university's international position as a research-intensive university, says St?len.
The 52 applications that have been submitted have all been assessed according to strict criteria. Most importantly, they naturally fall into UiO's recently prepared roadmap for research infrastructure. They must be in line with UiO's academic strategies and contribute to excellent research environments. The award will probably be ready in early autumn 2021, and here too the competition is fierce. A total of NOK 1.4 billion has been announced.
To be decided in 2021 and 2022
It is still a while to wait for the final decision from the Research Council in these announcements. SFF applicants will be told if they will proceed to stage 2 at the end of May, and one year after that, a final decision will be made on which 11 centers nationally will be awarded. The national research infrastructures Norway and UiO will finance in the coming years will be decided in early autumn 2021.
–I wish everyone the best of luck, and I look forward to following them further in this process, St?len concludes.