On the Peace Research Institute Oslo
Independent—International—Interdisciplinary
The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) conducts research on the conditions for peaceful relations between states, groups and people. Researchers at PRIO work to identify new trends in global conflict, as well as to formulate and document new understandings of and responses to armed conflict. We seek to understand how people are impacted by, and cope with, armed conflict, and we study the normative foundations of peace and violence.
PRIO’s purpose is to conduct research for a more peaceful world. In pursuit of this, we cultivate academic excellence, communicate with communities of scholars, policy-makers, practitioners, as well as the general public, and we engage in shaping the global peace research agenda.
PRIO strives to be at the cutting edge analytically as well as in the impact of peace research on policy and practice.
About PRIO
Founded in 1959, the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) is an independent research institution known for its effective synergy of basic and policy-relevant research. PRIO also conducts graduate training and is engaged in the promotion of peace through conflict resolution, dialogue and reconciliation, public information and policymaking.
People at PRIO
PRIO has an international staff of approximately 75 (counted in person-years), of which more than 50 are researchers, including doctoral candidates. The institute maintains an administrative/support staff of 15. Within the Norwegian setting, PRIO staff stand out for their high levels of professionalism and their academic productivity. The Institute’s governing board consists of five external appointees and two staff members. PRIO is an equal opportunities employer and values staff diversity.
Research at PRIO
Research at the Institute is multidisciplinary and concentrates both on the driving forces as well as the consequences of violent conflict, and on ways in which peace can be built, maintained and spread. Projects carried out at the Institute are organized within thematic research groups, and researchers at PRIO are in addition organized in three administrative departments and the PRIO Cyprus Centre. From 2002 through 2012, PRIO hosted the Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW), a long-term, interdisciplinary initiative that was awarded Centre of Excellence status and core funding by the Research Council of Norway. The diversity of disciplines at PRIO creates a thriving research community that attracts both scholars and funding from around the world.
Journals at PRIO
The Institute owns and hosts the editorial offices of two international peer-reviewed journals – Journal of Peace Research and Security Dialogue – both of which are edited at PRIO and published by Sage Publications in London. In addition, PRIO houses the editors of International Area Studies Review and the Journal of Military Ethics. The Institute also publishes reports and policy briefs. Institute researchers maintain high levels of productivity in the form of peer-reviewed articles in top international journals and books with reputable academic publishers.
Research and Engagement
At PRIO, academic research and engagement in peace processes go hand in hand: all peacebuilding engagements are rooted in solid research competence and feed into ongoing research – and ultimately to published academic work. The Institute’s policy-relevant findings are in high demand among international bodies (the UN, the World Bank), NGOs, the media and governments, including a number of Norwegian ministries.
Oslo and Nicosia
The Institute is located in modern research facilities in central Oslo. It maintains a separate office in Nicosia: the PRIO Cyprus Centre (PCC). The PCC is committed to research and dialogue aimed at contributing to an informed public debate on key issues relevant to an eventual settlement of the Cyprus problem. Researchers attached to the PCC include both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
Economy and Funders
Budgeted turnover for PRIO as a whole in 2015 is approximately 120 million Norwegian kroner (equivalent to roughly €13 million or $16 million). The Institute has a bottom-up and project-based budget model, where all research engagements depend on the acquisition of external funding. PRIO staff are skilled at combining research innovation with project-development initiative. Major sources of funding include the Research Council of Norway, Norwegian government ministries, the European Comission and a variety of international organizations and foundations.
Website: < http://www.prio.org/>
On the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) is a public research university located in the city of Trondheim, Norway. NTNU is the second largest of the eight universities in Norway, and has the main national responsibility for higher education in engineering and technology. In addition to engineering and the natural and physical sciences, the university offers advanced degrees in other academic disciplines ranging from the social sciences, the arts, medicine, architecture, and fine art.
NTNU was formed in 1996 by the merger of the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH), the Norwegian College of General Sciences (AVH), the Museum of Natural History and Archaeology (VM), the Faculty of Medicine (DMF), the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art and the Trondheim Conservatory of Music (MiT). Prior to the 1996 merger, NTH, AVH, DMF, and VM together constituted the University of Trondheim (UNiT), which was a much looser organization. However, the university's roots go back to 1760, with the foundation of the Trondheim Society, which in 1767 became the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. In 2010 the society, and NTNU, as the society's museum now is part of the university, celebrated its 250th anniversary to commemorate this history. NTNU itself celebrated the 100th anniversary of the foundation of NTH in the same year.
NTNU is governed by a board of 11 members. Two of the members are elected by and among the students.
The university consists of seven faculties with a total of 48 departments and has approximately 22,000 students:
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Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art
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Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology
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Faculty of Humanities • Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology
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Faculty of Information Technology, Mathematics and Electrical Engineering
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Faculty of Medicine
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Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management
Academic and administrative staff contribute 5,100 person-years of which 3,100 are in education and research. NTNU has more than 100 laboratories and is at any time running some 2,000 research projects. Students and staff can take advantage of roughly 300 research agreements or exchange programs with 58 institutions worldwide.
NTNU's overall budget in 2011/2012 was 673 million euros, most of which came from the Norwegian Ministry of Education. Funding from the Research Council of Norway (NFR) totaled 82 million euros.
The university is home to four of 21 Norwegian Centers of Excellence. These are the Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures, the Centre for the Biology of Memory and the Centre for Quantifiable Quality of Service in Communication Systems. The Centre for the Biology of Memory is also one of four Kavli Neuroscience Institutes. In 2012 Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg opened the Norwegian Brain Centre as an outgrowth of NTNU's Kavli Institute one of the largest research laboratories of its kind in the world.
To increase open access publishing, NTNU has established a publishing fund. In 2008 NTNU's digital institutional repository was founded. The intention was to establish a full-text archive for the documentation of the scientific output of the institution, and to make as much as possible of the material available online, both nationally and internationally. In addition to research articles and books, intended for academics and researchers both inside and outside the university, NTNU disseminates news to the public about the institution and its research and results.
NTNU specializes in technology and the natural sciences, but also offers a range of bachelor's, master's and doctoral programmes in the humanities, social sciences, economics and public and business administration, and aesthetic disciplines. The university also offers professional degree programmes in medicine, psychology, architecture, the fine arts, music, and teacher education, in addition to technology.
NTNU had 84,797 applicants in 2011 and a total student population of 19,054, of whom 9,062 were women. There were 6,193 students enrolled in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management, 3,518 in the Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology, 3,256 in the Faculty of Humanities, 3,090 in the Faculty of Information Technology, Mathematics, and Electrical Engineering, 2,014 in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, 1,071 in the Faculty of Medicine, and 605 in the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art. About 3,500 bachelor and master degrees are awarded each year, and more than 5,500 participate in further education programmes.
NTNU has more than 300 cooperative or exchange agreements with 60 universities worldwide, and several international student exchange programmes. There are, at any given time, around 2,600 foreign students at the university.
Scientists at NTNU have so far been awarded four Nobel Prizes: Lars Onsager in Chemistry (1968); Ivar Giæver in Physics (1973) and Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser in Medicine or Physiology (2014).
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On NTNU’s Department of Sociology and Political Science
The Department of Sociology and Political Science at NTNU (ISS) offers bachelor and master studies in sociology, political science, and sports science, as well as master studies in media, communication, and information technology (MKI) and PhD programs in sociology and political science. Studies in sociology include courses in organisation and working life, social inequality and welfare, and media. Studies in political science include courses in international and comparative politics, public policy and administration, political theory, and political behaviour. Studies in sport science include courses in sport as activity and practical area, sports sociology, and child and youth sports. MKI is a multidisciplinary programme of study combined of courses from sociology, political science, media, psychology, educational science, and information technology. All programmes of study include courses in research methods. ISS has an active research environment consisting of several research groups working on local, national, and international projects. This department cooperates with national and international partners, as well as other departments at NTNU and research institutes in Trondheim. ISS emphasizes contact and collaboration with external institutions, such as industry and commerce, the public sector, and voluntary organisations. The Department has had close collaboration with PRIO for many years. In addition to Nils Petter Gleditsch, Scott Gates and Halvard Buhaug have for many years held joint positions at the two institutions.
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