The new research centres will study the interactions between technology and society and will examine Norway's energy policy challenges from a social science perspective.
Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Riis-Johansen presented the three centres on 15 February.
"The research conducted by the centres will provide politicians with the knowledge they need for drawing up energy policy strategies," said Fridtjof Unander, Executive Director of the Division for Energy, Resources and the Environment at the Research Council.
The centres are a step in building research communities that make major contributions to developing a fact-based knowledge pool for strategic decision-making in the public and private sectors.
The three new FME Samfunn centres
- Centre for Sustainable Energy Studies (CenSES). Host institution: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim.
- Strategic Challenges in International Climate and Energy Policy (CICEP). Host institution: Center for International Climate and Environmental Research ' Oslo (CICERO).
- Oslo Center for Research on Environmentally friendly Energy (CREE). Host institution: Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research, Oslo.
More information about the FME Samfunn centres (in Norwegian): Informasjon om sentrene (PDF)
Tough competition
Eight host institutions and their partners submitted project outlines in the first phase of the application process to qualify to become a Centre for Social Science-related Energy Research (FME Samfunn centre). The Research Council received five applications in response to the final funding announcement, three of which were granted FME Samfunn status.
"All of the applications were of high quality. The three centres that were selected received the highest combined score from the referee panels involved in the assessment process," said Mr Unander.
