University of Bergen

The University of Bergen (UiB) is an internationally recognised research university, and the most cited in Norway. Academic diversity and high quality are fundamental for us, as we contribute to society with excellent research, education, interdisciplinary cooperation and dissemination of knowledge and innovation.

Established in 1946, UiB is structured around seven faculties, and there are close to 18,500 students at the university of whom around 2,000 are international students. We employ more than 4,000 faculty and staff. PhD candidates are paid employees, making the doctoral degree at UiB particularly attractive for rising talent.

The University has three strategic areas for its scientific work: marine research, climate and energy transitions, and global challenges. Among Norwegian institutions, UiB researchers are most often cited by the international scientific community – not least in the domain of Arctic research, in which we are the seventh most cited in the world. Numbers from 2018-2020 shows that UiB collects the most EU funds per academic staff compared with other institutions in Norway.  In Excellent Science, UiB’s success rate is above average regarding European Research Council (ERC) grants and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programmes.

On behalf of the United Nations Academic Impact Organisation and the International Association of Universities, UiB has been assigned a leading role in the work on Sustainable Development Development Goal 14, Life Below Water.

UiB is a member of the ARQUS European University Alliance together with the universities of Granada, Graz, Leipzig, Lyon, Padua, and Vilnius.

To support our participation in European research and innovation, UiB has established our Brussels Office together with the research institute NORCE in the Norwegian House of Research and Innovation.

In parallel, we are proud to host four Centres of Excellence, supported by a Research Council of Norway scheme established in 2002:

  • Birkeland Center for Space Science (2013-2022)
  • Center for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child Health (2013-2022)
  • Center for Cancer markers (2013-2022)
  • Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (2017-2026)

These give Norway’s foremost scientific circles the opportunity to organise their activities to achieve ambitious scientific objectives through collaboration and long-term basic funding. The research conducted at the centres must have major potential to generate ground-breaking results that advance international knowledge frontiers and tackle complex problems, within or across disciplines.

As our 2019-2022 strategy highlights, we are equally committed to innovation and the facilitation of entrepreneurship. We employ a broad understanding of innovation, based on the use of existing or new knowledge in new ways to develop new processes (i.e., service, social and organisational innovation) or products. The focus of our approach, as with our research and teaching, is on achieving real-world impacts and contributing to a better functioning and more sustainable society.

UiB hosts two Centres for Research-based Innovation, supported by The Research Council of Norway:

  • Centre for Smart Ocean (2020-2028)
  • Centre for Media Futures (2020-2028)

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