Thematic Research Units

This thematic research unit will focus on Norwegians’ attitudes towards climate change – among other things to what extent they think climate change is a problem and if they worry about it, what they think of the climate debate, and how they stand on possible measures to reduce emissions. This cluster also wishes to study to what extent Norwegians are concerned with climate and environment, and what role Norway should have in this issue. In this issue area, it will be especially interesting to study changes in citizens’ opinions over time and to compare them with patterns in other countries.

The group consists of six permanent members. The scientific coordinators, Thea Gregersen, Gisela Böhm, and Endre Tvinnereim, as well as Svein Åge Kjøs Johnsen, Sverker C. Jagers, and Gisle Andersen.

The Diversity and Inclusion thematic research unit has been part of the Norwegian Citizen Panel since the start in 2013. Over the last decade, the researchers connected with the unit have addressed questions of high societal and scientific relevance across three broad fields:

• Public opinion on questions related to immigration, discrimination, the rights and inclusion of religious, ethnic, and cultural minorities, and members of marginalized or vulnerable groups more broadly.
• Populism and the politics of the radical right.
• Welfare, social class, and political preferences.    

In 2023, the Diversity and Inclusion unit has nine core members from three different departments at UiB. The unit hosts two large externally funded research projects, INCLUDE and TERMS, in addition to several smaller projects. Moving forward, we will continue our efforts to understand the politics and public opinion of diversity and inclusion, while also broadening our scope to the study of the politics of gender, sexual corruption, and children’s rights.

Scientific coordinators are Hege Høivik Bye and Lise Bjånesøy.

With an emphasis on survey experimental techniques, this research unit takes a broad, multidisciplinary approach to basic research questions related to democracy and digital technology in fields such as political behavior, communication science, information science, behavioral democratic theory, experimental economics, and judicial politics. DEMODIGI aims to impact Norwegian society, politics and governance through exploring and proposing solutions to questions that are at the heart of current public debate in Norway, such as:

• How does advances in digital technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), influence citizens’ abilities and opportunities to stay informed and participate in democracy?

• How do social identities, norms, and values affect human attitudes and decision-making in increasingly digitized societies?

• How do people evaluate the legitimacy and trustworthiness of AI-driven decision-making?

• How can we develop new digital technology in a responsible way that enriches, rather than threatens, core democratic values?

Scientific coordinators are Erik Knudsen, Åsta Dyrnes Nordø, and Troy Saghaug Broderstad.

The main objective of this research unit is to increase our understanding of the multilevel and territorial dimensions of citizens’ perceptions and expectations regarding fellow citizens, government, politicians, parties, and policy. More specifically, this research unit aims to study the causes and consequences of (perceived) territorial inequalities as well as the role of politicians, parties, governments and policy in voicing and remedying these inequalities. Thereby, the research unit seeks to contribute to an understanding of the causes and consequences of political and cultural place resentment.

Scientific coordinators are Arjan Schakel and Marta Rekdal Eidheim