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The research institute sector

 

THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE SECTOR

The Norwegian research institute sector comprises a large number of institutions which vary widely in terms of scientific focus, tasks, organisation, financing and historical background. The sector encompasses a total of over 200 institutions, of which 70 have R&D as their primary area of activity.

A partially performance-based public basic funding system has been introduced for the research institutes. The performance-based portion of the basic allocation is distributed on the basis of four performance indicators: scholarly publication; income from nationally commissioned research; income from international sources; number of doctoral degrees completed.

The funding system for research institutes is designed to strengthen the roles of these institutions in the Norwegian R&D system.

Institutes receiving public basic funding

Primary industry institutes

The primary industry institutes have been developed to meet the needs of the public administration and primary industries for research-based knowledge. The institutes cooperate with actors in the primary industries, often sole proprietorships or micro-companies, to define research needs and carry out research activities. The primary research institutes also play a key role in efforts to transfer and apply research-based knowledge in the industries and perform wide-ranging administrative tasks on behalf of the public administration within their areas of expertise and responsibility.

  1. Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomic Research (NIBIO) 
  2. Nofima 
  3. Centre for Rural Research, Norway (CRR) 
  4. SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture 
  5. Norwegian Veterinary Institute (VI) 

Environmental institutes

The environmental institutes conduct applied research in the fields of the environment, climate, cultural history, social science and natural science. The institutes play a key role in generating knowledge for sustainable societal development.

As well as conducting research, the environmental institutes provide research-based expertise, advice and assistance to the Ministry of Climate and Environment in the context of national and international forums and carry out studies of environmental issues on commission from the ministry.

  1. Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research, Oslo (CICERO) 
  2. Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre (NERSC) 
  3. Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) 
  4. Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) 
  5. The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) 
  6. Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) 
  7. Institute of Transport Economics (TØI) 
  8. Uni Research AS

Social science institutes

Technical-industrial institutes

The technical-industrial institutes encompass a broad range of subject areas and disciplines within the fields of natural science, technology, environmental science and technology management. Research from these institutes is commissioned primarily by companies and industries with a high level of R&D activity. The technical-industrial institutes operate to a large extent on an international market and therefore play a key role in bringing new technology to Norwegian industry from abroad.

 

  1. Christian Michelsen Research (CMR) 
  2. Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) 
  3. Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) 
  4. NORSAR 
  5. Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute (MARINTEK) 
  6. Norwegian Computing Centre 
  7. Northern Research Institute ICT (NORUT) 
  8. Norut Narvik ICT 
  9. International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS Technology) 
  10. SINTEF 
  11. SINTEF Energy Research 
  12. SINTEF Petroleum Research 
  13. Tel-tek 

Other research institutes

Museums

Health institutions

Registries and archives

Institutions with a social science-oriented research profile

Institutions with a natural science and technology-oriented research profile

More information