Externally funded research projects

• Project Managers:
  • Professor in Palaeography, Åslaug Ommundsen, University of Bergen, (coordinator)
  • Professor in History, Tuomas Heikkilä, University of Helsinki 
  • Professor in Literature, Lars Boje Mortensen, University of Southern Denmark
  • Professor in Biocodicology, Matthew Collins, University of Copenhagen
• Project: CODICUM - The Medieval Book and Networks of Northern Europe c. 1000-1500: Texts, Crafts, Fragments
• The project examines how books and literary networks shaped Northern Europe between 1000 and 1500 CE.  The project will investigate approximately 50,000 medieval Latin book fragments preserved in Nordic collections — one of Europe’s largest archives of medieval book culture.  
• Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) for the period 2025-2030.

The ERC Synergy Grant is awarded by ERC to foster collaboration between outstanding researchers, enabling them to combine their expertise, knowledge and resources to push the boundaries of scientific discovery.

• Project Manager: Professor in Digital Culture, Jill Walker Rettberg
• Project: AI STORIES – Narrative Archetypes for Artificial Intelligence 
• AI STORIES explores the idea that narrative archetypes shape AI outputs.
• The project examines how large language models (LLMs) may not only replicate historical biases but also narrative structures from their training materials, potentially impacting cultural diversity. 
• Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) for the period 2024–2029
• Read more on the project website

The ERC Advanced Grant is awarded by ERC to experienced senior researchers with a scientific track record which shows groundbreaking research throughout their career, also during the last 10 years.

• Project Manager: Associate professor in Religious studies, Laura Feldt
• Project: RADHEART - Radical Habits of the Heart: Emotions, Embodiment, and Strong, Individual Commitment in Ancient Radical Religion
• The project examines the breadth and depth of commitment in radical religion in a more fundamental way to understand its persistence. It analyses how strong individual commitment is expressed and cultivated in ancient forms of Judaism and Christianity. 
• Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) for the period 2025-2030
• Read more on the project website

The ERC Consolidator Grant is awarded by ERC to researchers with 7-12 years of experience since completion of PhD, a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal.

• Project Manager: Professor Vadim Kimmelman
• Project: Fundamentals of formal properties of nonmanuals: A quantitative approach
• The project will study facial expressions and body and head movements in five different sign languages, using large datasets, Computer Vision and advanced statistical analysis.
• Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) for the period 2023–2027
• More about the project

The ERC Starting Grant is awarded by ERC to researchers with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD, a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal.

Jill Walker Rettberg  |  Machine Vision  |  Consolidator Grant

• Project Manager: Professor in Digital Culture, Jill Walker Rettberg
• Project: MACHINE VISION – Machine Vision in Everyday Life: Playful Interactions with Visual Technologies in Digital Art, Games, Narratives and Social Media
• The goal of the project is to develop a theoretical framework to understand how the everyday use of machine vision affects us as a society and as individuals.
• Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) for the period 2018–2023
• Read more on the project website

The ERC Consolidator Grant is awarded by ERC to researchers with 7-12 years of experience since completion of PhD, a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal.

Scott Bremer  |  CALENDARS  |  Starting Grant

• Project Manager: Researcher Scott Bremer
• Project: CALENDARS – Co-production of seasonal representations for adaptive institutions
• The project will empirically explore the relationship between different institutions’ ideas of seasons and their successful adaptation through an in-depth comparative study in two local communities in Norway and New Zealand.
• Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) for the period 2019–2024
• Read more on the project website

The ERC Starting Grant is awarded by ERC to researchers with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD, a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal.

• Project Manager: MSCA Postdoctoral fellow in Medieval English literature, Timothy Glover
• Project: PopLatin - Priests' Books and the Popularisation of the Contemplative Life in England, 1300-1550
• The project aims to rewrite the history of lay contemplative spirituality in the Middle Ages. It focuses on the Latin textbooks used by medieval priests to teach their congregations, including sources which have been largely overlooked by scholars. 
• Supervisor, Professor in British literature, Laura Saetveit Miles

The MSCA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

• Project Manager: MSCA Postdoctoral fellow in Medieval Literature and Culture, Alicia Glover
• Project: THAISIS - Rethinking medieval and modern sexualities through the 'harlot saint' Thais. 
• The project explores the historical uses, controversies, and evolving interpretations of Thais, a sex worker turned saint, as a lens on the intersection of sex and religion in the Middle Ages.
• Supervisor, Professor in British literature, Laura Saetveit Miles

The MSCA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

• Project Manager: MSCA Postdoctoral fellowship in Educational Linguistics, Camilla Spaliviero
• Project: LATECO - Fostering Multilingualism through LAnguage Teacher COllaboration
• The project explores language teachers’ mindsets and the impact of their collaboration across three language subjects in schools. The project aims to transform language teaching in European schools, making multilingualism an inclusive experience for students while fostering shared practice and growth among teachers.
• Supervisor, Professor in Applied Linguistics and Foreign Language Education, Åsta Haukås

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow in Social Anthropology, Nurul Huda Mohd. Razif
• Project: MALAYMATRIMONEY – The Division of Matrimonial Wealth in Malay Polygyny & the Codification of Culture in Malaysian Islamic Family Law
• The project is an anthropological investigation into the division of matrimonial assets in the Malaysian Islamic family law (IFL) from a socio-legal and gendered perspective. 
• Supervisor: Researcher in Arabic, Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, Eirik Hovden
• Funded for the period 2024–2026

The MSCA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow in Medieval Studies, Pierre Bigot
• Prosjekt: SCALDIC – Skaldic Poems and the Conversion of Norway
• SKALDIC studies the history of the Norwegian society during the period of conversion from pagansim to Christian religion through
  the analysis of court poetry composed during the conversion period (c. 970s to 1028).
• Supervisor: Professor of medieval history, Kirsi Salonen
• Funded for the period 2024–2026

The MSCA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

Laura Cayrol-Bernardo  |  VETULAE  |  European fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow in Medieval studies, Laura Cayrol-Bernardo
• Project: VETULAE – 'Vetulae'. Depicting women's ageing bodies in 15th century Florence
• The project aims to provide a holistic and comparative view of ideas and materializations regarding women’s ageing bodiesin 15th c. Florence at the intersection of art, art theory, and medicine.
• Supervisor: Professor of Italian Literature, Margareth Hagen
• Funded for the period 2021–2023
• Read more about the project

The MCSA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

Simon Meisch  |  CANALS |  European fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow Simon Meisch
• Project: CANALS – Changing Water Cultures
• Climate change is putting significant stress on EU water infrastructures. The CANALS project will investigate new ways of mobilising knowledge of water infrastructures to promote adaptive decision-making.
• Supervisor: Researcher at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, Scott Bremer
• Funded for the period 2021–2023 (project ended)
• Read more about the project

The MCSA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

Tomas Glomb  |  ASCNET  |  European fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow in History of Religion, Tomas Glomb
• Prosject: ASCNET – Favorable Conditions of the Spread of the Cult of Asclepius across the Transportation Network of the Roman Mediterranean: A Quantitative Evaluation
• The main research question of the ASCNET project is how the Roman army and infectious diseases such as the Antonine or Cyprian plague could have contributed to the popularity of the cult of Asclepius.
• Supervisor: Professor of History, Eivind Heldaas Seland
• Funded for the period 2021–2023  
• Read more about the project

The MCSA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

Francesca Mazzilli  |  RENE  |  European fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow in Archaeology, Francesca Mazzilli
• Project: RENE – Regional Religious Networks in the Roman Empire
• RENE investigates the diffusion of religious traditions and architectural style in rural and urban cult sites in relation to the regional mobility of elite and interactions between rural and urban communities in the Hauran and in Lusitania through social network analysis and spatial analysis. 
• Supervisor: Professor of History, Eivind Heldaas Seland
• Funded for the period 2020–2022   
• Read more about the project

The MCSA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

Arnald Puy Maeso  |  SIZE  |  Global fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow Arnald Puy Maeso
• Project: SIZE – The role of size in the sustainability of irrigation systems
• The project aims at assessing the risks and benefits of promoting "large" and "small" irrigation systems through dynamic models and uncertainty/sensitivity analysis.
• Supervisor: Professor at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, Andrea Saltelli
• Funded for the period 2019–2022
• Read more about the project

The MCSA Global Fellowships fund positions outside Europe for researchers based in the EU or associated countries. The researcher has to come back for one year to an organisation based in the EU or associated countries. Last between two and three years.

Álvaro Seiça  | ARTDEL  |  Global fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow in Digital Culture, Álvaro Seiça
• Project: ARTDEL - The Art of Deleting: A Study of Erasure Poetry, Practices of Control, Surveillance, and Censorship
• The research project “The Art of Deleting” (ARTDEL) investigates the topic of deletion and redaction as a poetic, aesthetic, and political act. ARTDEL aims to analyze works of erasure poetry as forms of resistance and activism in digital culture.
• Supervisor: Professor in Digital Culture, Jill Walker Rettberg
• Funded for the period 2018–2021 
• Read more about the project

The MCSA Global Fellowships fund positions outside Europe for researchers based in the EU or associated countries. The researcher has to come back for one year to an organisation based in the EU or associated countries. Last between two and three years.

Sofie Laurine Albris  |  ARCNAMES  |  European fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow in Archaeology, Sofie Laurine Albris
• Project: ARCNAMES – Individuals, social identities and archetypes – the oldest Scandinavian personal names in an archaeological light 
• The project sets out to investigate the oldest Scandinavian personal names from an archaeological perspective.
• Supervisor: Professor of Archaeology, Randi Barndon
• Funded for the period 2019–2021
• Read more on the project website

The MCSA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

Maud Ceuterick  |  AFFIRMATIVE  |  European fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow Maud Ceuterick
• Project: AFFIRMATIVE – Affirmative Post-Cinema: Narrative and Aesthetic Responses to Gender and Power
• The project will look at how post-cinematic art counteracts and aims to change current gender norms through affirmative narratives and aesthetics.
• Supervisor: Professor in Digital Culture, Jill Walker Rettberg
• Funded for the period 2018–2020
• Read more about the project

The MCSA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

Benjamin Martin  |  EPILOG  |  European fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow in Philosophy, Ben Martin
• Project: EpiLog – The Unknown Science: Understanding the Epistemology of Logic through  Practice 
• The project brings together broad fields of Martin's research expertise: solutions to self-referential paradoxes and logical epistemology.
• Supervisor: Associate Professor in Philosophy, Ole Hjortland
• Funded for the period 2017–2020
• Read more about the project

The MCSA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and twoyears.

Claus Halberg  |  FEMSAG  |  Global fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow, Claus Halberg
• Project: FEMSAG – Feminist theory after sex and gender: The nature-nurture complex in contemporary feminism reconsidered in light of the Developmental Systems Theory approach to the philosophy of biology
• The project seeks to develop conceptual tools with which to address nature-nurture issues pivotal to the current philosophy, science and politics of sex and gender.
• Supervisor: Professor Christine M. Jacobsen 
• Project period: 2017–2020
• Read more on the project website

The MCSA Global Fellowships fund positions outside Europe for researchers based in the EU or associated countries. The researcher has to come back for one year to an organisation based in the EU or associated countries. Last between two and three years.

Jan Kozak  |  SYMBODIN  |  European fellowship

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow in Old Norse, Jan Kozac
• Project: SYMBODIN – The Symbolism of the Body in Northern Europe. Cognitive Metaphors and Old Norse Myth from the Viking Age to Late Medieval Times 
• The aim of the research is to investigate the integrative function of bodily metaphors in ancient Norse literature and culture.
• Supervisor: Associate Professor in Old Norse, Jens Eike Schnall
• Funded for the period 2018–2020
• Read more about the project

The MCSA European Fellowships are open to researchers moving within Europe, as well as those coming in from other parts of the world. Last between one and two years.

Asia Alsgaard studies early human marine subsistence in South Africa at the Centre of Excellence on Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE) 

For her postdoctoral research, she is identifying changes in the coastal environment and human harvesting practices of fish and seals during the Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age along the southern Cape of South Africa using stable isotope analyses. She will also use these data to address present day issues in marine sustainability along the southern Cape.

SEAS aims to recruit and bring together highly talented experienced researchers who will provide knowledge crucial for a more sustainable marine future. With expertise in a broad range of fields, this group will strengthen and facilitate UiB’s strong commitment to marine science and ocean sustainability.

Aistė Klimašauskaitė studies epistemic, value-based, and societal aspects of marine sustainability, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities.

She explores the ideas and imaginations of blue growth. In particular, she tryes to figure out why and how blue growth aspirations are implemented in the SEAS programme and in the Norwegian venture of deep-sea mining. She uses guiding topics such as knowledge, expertise, power, and the notions of damage. 

SEAS aims to recruit and bring together highly talented experienced researchers who will provide knowledge crucial for a more sustainable marine future. With expertise in a broad range of fields, this group will strengthen and facilitate UiB’s strong commitment to marine science and ocean sustainability.

Thomas Völker studies responsible and circular aquaculture at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities.

His research focuses on environmental governance and on attempts of transitioning towards more sustainable aquacultures. More specifically, Völker is interested in the development of novel feeds as a case of implementing circular economy policies and introducing principles of responsible research and innovation (RRI) in Norway.

SEAS aims to recruit and bring together highly talented experienced researchers who will provide knowledge crucial for a more sustainable marine future. With expertise in a broad range of fields, this group will strengthen and facilitate UiB’s strong commitment to marine science and ocean sustainability.

• Project Manager: Professor in Digital Culture Scott Rettberg
• Project: CDN – Centre for Digital Narrative
• The centre will investigate how the interactions of human authors with non-human agents result in new narrative forms, how the materiality of digital narratives have changed, and how cultural contexts are reshaping the use and function of digital narrative.
• Project period: 2023–2033
• Read more on the project website

The SFF scheme gives Norway’s best researchers the opportunity to organise their research activities in centres that seek to achieve ambitious scientific objectives through collaboration and with long-term basic funding. The research conducted at the centres must be innovative and have major potential to generate ground-breaking results that advance the international research frontier. 

• Project Manager: Professor in Archaeology Christopher Henshilwood
• Project: SAPIENCE – Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour
• International researchers from a variety of disciplines are researching how modern man originated and evolved 100,000 to 50,000 years ago.
• Project period: 2017–2027
• Read more on the project website

The SFF scheme gives Norway’s best researchers the opportunity to organise their research activities in centres that seek to achieve ambitious scientific objectives through collaboration and with long-term basic funding. The research conducted at the centres must be innovative and have major potential to generate ground-breaking results that advance the international research frontier. 

• Project Manager: Professor in Philosophy, Michael Baumgartner
• Project: Advancing Causal Modeling with Coincidence Analysis
• Coincidence Analysis (CNA) is a method of causal data analysis first introduced in 2009, substantively generalized since then, and now available as an open source software package. The development of CNA is not finished. This project will address four remaining weaknesses and limitations of the method.
• Project period: 2021–2025
• Read more on the project website

Funding is intended to support scientific renewal and development in research that can help to advance the international research front. The funding is for researchers who have demonstrated the ability to conduct research of high scientific quality within all disciplines and research areas.

• Project Manager: Professor of History, Anne Katrine Bang
• Project: MprinT@EAST_AFRICA. Islamic Manuscript, Print and Practice: Textual adaptations in coastal East Africa, c. 1880-2020
• The project is designed to explore one central hypothesis: Reforms in Islamic textual tradition and ritual practice during the 19thand 20th centuries took place within existing authority structures and led to a series of adaptations rather than breaks from tradition.
• Project period: 2021–2025
• Read more on the project website

Funding is intended to support scientific renewal and development in research that can help to advance the international research front. The funding is for researchers who have demonstrated the ability to conduct research of high scientific quality within all disciplines and research areas.

• Project Manager: Associate Professor in Study of Religion Bjørn Ola Tafjord
• Project: The Governmateriality of Indigenous Religions (GOVMAT)
• The project researches articulations of indigeneities and religions of different settings and their political roles today. How and why are they shaped, and how do they work in their environments?
• Project period: 2020–2025
• Read more on the project website

Funding is intended to support scientific renewal and development in research that can help to advance the international research front. The funding is for researchers who have demonstrated the ability to conduct research of high scientific quality within all disciplines and research areas.

• Project Manager: Professor in Norwegian Language, Kari Kinn
• Project: Norwegian across the Americas
• The project investigates the Norwegian language as spoken by the descendants of emigrants across the Americas – and how it has developed over generations.
• Project period: 2020–2027
• Read more on the project website

Researcher Project for Young Talents is intended to give talented young researchers under the age of 40 in all disciplines and research areas the opportunity to pursue their own research ideas and lead a research project. This call is targeted towards researchers in the early stages of their careers, 2–7 years after defence of an approved doctorate, who have demonstrated the potential to conduct research of high scientific quality.

• Project Manager: Associate Professor in English Literature, Laura Saetveit Miles 
• Project: Re-assessing St. Birgitta of Sweden and her Revelations in Medieval England: Circulation and Influence, 1380–1530 
• A research project on Sancta Birgitta of Sweden and her revelations in medieval England, and reassessments of her revelations'  circulation and influence between 1380-1530.
• Project period: 2019–2026
• Read more on the project website

Researcher Project for Young Talents is intended to give talented young researchers under the age of 40 in all disciplines and research areas the opportunity to pursue their own research ideas and lead a research project. This call is targeted towards researchers in the early stages of their careers, 2–7 years after defence of an approved doctorate, who have demonstrated the potential to conduct research of high scientific quality.

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow in archeologi, Christina Videbech
• Project: The Fora of Rome and their Christian Graffiti (4th-8th centuries)
• The aim of the project is to find, document, and study Christian graffiti incised on one of the tempels at Rome's central fora and to enhance the understanding of the fora’s role in the emergence of Christian pilgrimage and identity.
• Finansiert av Forskningsrådet (FRIPRO, internasjonal mobiltet) i perioden 2024–2027

The purpose of this funding scheme is to promote international mobility and career development among researchers early in their careers, and to contribute to knowledge transfer to Norwegian research environments. Postdoctoral researchers will spend two years at a foreign research organization and the third year at a Norwegian research organization.

David G. C. Vogt  |  SOCRIM  |  FRIPRO Researcher Project with international mobility

• Project Manager: Post Doctor in Philosophy, David G. C. Vogt
• Project: Social Injustice and Criminal Justice
• SOCRIM is a philosophical research project that studies the normative relevance of social injustice for criminal justice.
• Project period: 2021–2024
• Read more about the project

The purpose of this funding scheme is to promote international mobility and career development among researchers early in their careers, and to contribute to knowledge transfer to Norwegian research environments. Postdoctoral researchers will spend two years at a foreign research organization and the third year at a Norwegian research organization.

Sorin Bangu  |  Mathematics with a Human Face  |  FRIPRO Researcher Project for Scientific Renewal

• Project Manager: Professor in Philosophy, Sorin Bangu
• Project: Mathematics with a Human Face: Set Theory within a Naturalized Wittgensteinean Framework
• The project investigates the reasons why concepts such as ‘set’ and ‘number’ have remained philosophically obscure – nobody really knows what these things are – despite the immense success of mathematics over centuries.
• Project period: 2019–2023 
• Read more on the project website

The funding scheme for independent projects (FRIPRO) is an open, national, competitive arena that provides funding for basic, ground-breaking projects in all fields of research. The project ideas originate with the researchers themselves.

Synnøve Myking  |  FLANDRIA  |  FRIPRO Researcher Project with international mobility

• Project Manager: Post Doctor, Synnøve Myking
• Project: Flanders, Norway, and Denmark: Relations and Intertextual Exchanges in the High Middle Ages (ca. 1080-1383)
• The project examines the contact between Flanders, Norway, and Denmark in the High Middle Ages, and how this contact influenced Scandinavian manuscript culture. The project studies Norwegian and Danish manuscript material, focussing on fragments.
• Project period: 2020–2023
• Read more about the project

The purpose is to promote international mobility and career development among researchers early in their careers, and to contribute to knowledge transfer to Norwegian research environments. Postdoctoral researchers will spend two years at a foreign research organization and the third year at a Norwegian research organization.

Ole Hjortland  |  Anti-Exceptionalism About Logic  |  FRIPRO Researcher Project for Young Talents

• Project Manager: Associate Professor in Philosophy, Ole Hjortland
• Project: Anti-Exceptionalism About Logic
• The project will develop a new method for identifying argumentative standards. This method is called Anti-Exceptionalism.
• Project period: 2016–2020
• Read more on the project page

Researcher Project for Young Talents is intended to give talented young researchers under the age of 40 in all disciplines and research areas the opportunity to pursue their own research ideas and lead a research project. This call is targeted towards researchers in the early stages of their careers, 2–7 years after defence of an approved doctorate, who have demonstrated the potential to conduct research of high scientific quality.

• Project Manager: Førsteamanuensis i kunsthistorie, Ingrid Halland 
• Project: How Norway Made the World Whiter (NorWhite)
• The project will explore how the Norwegian innovation titanium white has changed surfaces in art, architecture and design – something that has made the world look whiter, brighter, and superficially cleaner.
• Project period: 2023–2028
• Read more on the project website

Funding is intended to support scientific renewal and development in research that can help to advance the international research front. The funding is for researchers who have demonstrated the ability to conduct research of high scientific quality within all disciplines and research areas.

• Project Manager: Professor i digital kultur, Scott Rettberg
• Project: Extending Digital Narratives (XDN)
• The project is essentially about the narrative applications of three newer technologies: XR, generative systems that use AI and other algorithms to author narratives, and conversational interfaces such as smart speakers.
• Project period: 2022–2026
• Read more on the project website

Funding is intended to support scientific renewal and development in research that can help to advance the international research front. The funding is for researchers who have demonstrated the ability to conduct research of high scientific quality within all disciplines and research areas.

• Project Manager: Professor of Cultural Studies, Kyrre Kverndokk
• Project: Gardening the Globe: Historicizing the Anthropocene through the production of socio-nature in Scandinavia, 1750-2020
• The project aims to examine historical processes through which nature has been conquered, controlled and commodified in Scandinavia from the mid-18th century to the present.
• Project period: 2021–2025
• Read more on the project website

Funding is intended to support scientific renewal and development in research that can help to advance the international research front. The funding is for researchers who have demonstrated the ability to conduct research of high scientific quality within all disciplines and research areas.

• Project Manager: Associate professor in Norwegian as a second language, Ann-Kristin H. Gujord
• Project: Adult Acquisition of Norwegian as a second language (ALAN)
• The study will contribute new insights into how a hitherto understudied group adults develop their communicative abilities in a second language in a specific educational context.
• Project period: 2021–2025
• Read more on the project website

Funding is intended to support scientific renewal and development in research that can help to advance the international research front. The funding is for researchers who have demonstrated the ability to conduct research of high scientific quality within all disciplines and research areas.

• Project Manager: Professor in Cultural Studies, Tone Hellesund
• Project: Ordinary lives and marginal intimacies in rural regions. Contrasting cultural histories of queer domesticities in Norway, ca 1842–1972.
• The project will investigate how queer women and men lived and organized their everyday lives across a complex domestic terrain in ways that unsettles customary understandings of private life and family organization in modern Norway (1842-1972).
• Project period: 2021–2025
• Read more on the project website

Funding is intended to support scientific renewal and development in research that can help to advance the international research front. The funding is for researchers who have demonstrated the ability to conduct research of high scientific quality within all disciplines and research areas.

• Project Manager: Associate Professor in Theory of Science, Kjetil Rommetveit
• Project: Covid-19: Digital Politics and the Role of Expertise (Co-Pol)
• The primary objectiv is to describe and analyse how Covid-19 as a political emergency triggers new expert relations and networks across political, regulatory,technological and scientific institutions in Norway (WP4).
• Project period: 2021–2025
• Read more on the project website

Funding is intended to support scientific renewal and development in research that can help to advance the international research front. The funding is for researchers who have demonstrated the ability to conduct research of high scientific quality within all disciplines and research areas.

Mimi Lam  |  MENSA  |  Thematic Researcher Project  for Scientific Renewal

• Project Manager: Researcher Mimi Lam
• Project: MENSA – Managing Ethical Norwegian Seascape Activities 
• The project aims to develop an integrated ethical approach to the sustainable management of Norwegian seascape activities.
• Project period: 2020–2024
• Read more on the project website

The MARINFORSK programme provides funding for research on the marine environment and seeks to generate knowledge about ecosystems in ocean and coastal areas and the impact of pressures from human activity. Research activities are to strengthen the basis for sustainable management and value creation based on marine resources and other ecosystem services.

Kjersti Fløttum  |  CLIMLIFE  |  Researcher Project

• Project Manager: Professor in French Language, Kjersti Fløttum
• Project: Living with climate change: motivation and action for lifestyle change
• The project investigates how people relate the political and existential challenges of climate change to their normal, day-to-day life choices.
• Project period: 2020–2023
• See project page

The KLIMAFORSK programme provides funding for research on societal transformation in response to climate change. Research activities are to enhance basic understanding of natural variability and human influence on the climate system, the impacts of climate change on nature and society, climate change adaptation, and instruments and measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Marie von der Lippe   |   School of Opportunities   |   SAMKUL

• Project Manager: Marie von der Lippe
• Project: School of Opportunities. Democratic understanding and prevention of group-based prejudices
• In order to develop the school as an opportunity arena for democratic understanding and prevention of group-based hatred and prejudices, this project aims to provide new knowledge about the common mechanisms behind the different prejudices in schools today and how these have been addressed in earlier times.
• Project period: 2018–2021
• Read more about the project

The Programme for Cultural Conditions Underlying Social Change (SAMKUL) provides funding for research on cultural prerequisites for societal development and societal challenges. The programme’s objective is to expand the knowledge base and better equip society to address major societal challenges. 

Kyrre Kverndokk  |  The future is now  |  Thematic Researcher Project

• Project Manager: Professor in Cultural Studies, Kyrre Kverndokk
• Project: The Future is Now: Temporality and Exemplarity in Climate Change Discourses 
• This project will examine understandings of multiple temporalities in climate change discourses within vernacular culture, media culture and climate research.
• Project period: 2017–2021
• See project page

The KLIMAFORSK programme provides funding for research on societal transformation in response to climate change. Research activities are to enhance basic understanding of natural variability and human influence on the climate system, the impacts of climate change on nature and society, climate change adaptation, and instruments and measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Margery Vibe Skagen  |  Historicizing the ageing self  |  Thematic Researcher Project

• Project Manager: Associate Professor in French Literature, Margery Vibe Skagen
• Project: Historicizing the ageing self: Literature, medicine, psychology, law 
• Changes in cultural and scientific views of old age will be studied in literary, medical and legal texts.
• Project period: 2016–2021
• See project page

The Programme for Cultural Conditions Underlying Social Change (SAMKUL) provides funding for research on cultural prerequisites for societal development and societal challenges. The programme’s objective is to expand the knowledge base and better equip society to address major societal challenges. 

Frode Helmich Pedersen  |  A Narratology of Criminal Cases  |  Thematic Researcher Project

• Project Manager: Associate Professor in Scandinavian Literature, Frode Helmich Pedersen
• Project: A Narratology of Criminal Cases
• The project’s principal aim is to gain a better understanding of the way stories work within the Norwegian legal system through narratological theory and analyses.
• Project period: 2016–2021
• See project page

The Programme for Cultural Conditions Underlying Social Change (SAMKUL) provides funding for research on cultural prerequisites for societal development and societal challenges. The programme’s objective is to expand the knowledge base and better equip society to address major societal challenges. 

Christine M. Jacobsen  |  WAIT  |  Thematic Researcher Project

• Project Manager: Professor in Social Anthropology, Christine M. Jacobsen
• Project: WAIT – Waiting for an uncertain future: the temporalities of irregular migration 
• The project uses theories of temporality and the concept of 'waitinghood' as tools for producing new and critical insights into the cultural conditions and implications of migration.
• Project period: 2016–2021
• See project page

The Programme for Cultural Conditions Underlying Social Change (SAMKUL) provides funding for research on cultural prerequisites for societal development and societal challenges. The programme’s objective is to expand the knowledge base and better equip society to address major societal challenges. 

• Project Manager: Professor in Computational Linguistics, Koenraad De Smedt
• Project: Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure Norway
• The project aim is to make existing and future language resources easily accessible for researchers and to bring eScience to humanities disciplines.
• Project period: 2012–2026
• See project page

The National Financing Initiative for Research Infrastructure seeks to build up relevant, up-to-date infrastructure that is accessible to the Norwegian research community and trade and industry. New infrastructure contributes to research and innovation at the international forefront in areas of importance for Norwegian society.

• Project Manager: Professor in Cultural Studies, Kyrre Kverndokk
• Project: SAMLA: National Infrastructure for Cultural History and Tradition Archives
• SAMLA will digitize and make accessible the archival material of three Norwegian tradition archives. These archives contain a rich source material that will be made accessible at the web page samla.no as a joint digital archive. 
• Project period: 2020–2027
• Read more on the project website

The National Financing Initiative for Research Infrastructure seeks to build up relevant, up-to-date infrastructure that is accessible to the Norwegian research community and trade and industry. New infrastructure contributes to research and innovation at the international forefront in areas of importance for Norwegian society.

Eirik Hovden  |  How does Islamic law change?  |  Starting Grant

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral fellow Eirik Hovden
• Project: How does Islamic law Change? Canonization and Codification of Islamic Legal Texts (CanCode)
• The project will study processes of change in islamic legal texts by starting with two terms, or concepts: "Canonization" and "Codification".
• Project period: 2020–2024
• Read more on the project website

The TMF Starting Grant is the foundation's "flagship", a recruitment program that has helped recruit outstanding researchers from around the world to the University of Bergen since 2005.

Helen F. Leslie-Jacobsen  |  Transformations of Medieval Law  |  Starting Grant

• Project Manager: Researcher in Medieval Philology, Helen F. Leslie-Jacobsen
• Project: Transformations of Medieval Law: Innovation and Application in Early Modern Norwegian Law Books 
• The project explores how medieval and Early Modern law books in Norway and Iceland reflect the legal and cultural contexts in which they were written and compiled.
• Project period: 2018–2023
• Read more on the project website

The TMF Starting Grant is the foundation's "flagship", a recruitment program that has helped recruit outstanding researchers from around the world to the University of Bergen since 2005.

Michael Baumgartner  |  Coincidence Analysis  |  The Toppforsk programme

• Project Manager: Professor in Philosophy, Michael Baumgartner
• Michael Baumgartner has developed a method that finds answers to complex questions in all fields, called "Coincidence Analysis" (CA).. It is a method that measures the interaction between different causes and identifies the role they play in complex causal structures.
• Project period: 2017–2023
• Read more on the project website

With the support of the Trond Mohn Foundation, the University of Bergen has recruited five international top researchers to strengthen leading research environments. By providing top researchers with excellent conditions and administrative support, the collaboration has strengthened UiB in the international competition for outstanding researchers. 

Åslaug Ommundsen  |  From manuscripts fragments to book history  |  Starting Grant

• Project Manager: Professor in Medieval Latin philology, Åslaug Ommundsen
• Project: From Manuscript Fragments to Book History. Norway and the European Manuscript Culture 1100–1300.
• The focus of the project was analysis of the rich fragmentary material from Norwegian medieval manuscripts, mainly stored in the National Archives in Oslo.
• Project period: 2012–2016
• See project page

The TMF Starting Grant is the foundation's "flagship", a recruitment program that has helped recruit outstanding researchers from around the world to the University of Bergen since 2005.

• Project Manager: Postdoctoral Fellow in Old Norse Philology, Stefan Drechsler
• Project: Nordic Law Books: The Production and Use of Vernacular Law Manuscripts in the North from 1100 to 1600 (NordicLaw)
• The project will investigate common aspects of the best-preserved genre of writing of the medieval North: the laws.
• Project period: 2023–2026
• Read more on the project website

NOS-HS promotes research within the fields of humanities and social sciences in the Nordic countries. The focus is on supporting flexible bottom-up research and facilitating Nordic collaboration between researchers at different stages of their careers and international connections.