History of the Centre

Professor emeritus Gunnar Skirbekk, initiator of the Center.

History of the Centre

The Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (SVT) was established in 1987 as a permanent inter-faculty institution at the University of Bergen, Norway. The field of study, Theory of Science was (in accordance with the Jeløya Conference in 1975, which was under the auspices of the Norwegian Research Council) defined as research in the fields of philosophy, history and social science focusing on the roles these different sciences play in society; in addition it was defined as research into the theoretical and ethical aspects and uses of such scientific research.

During its first years SVT was located at Állegt. 32. From the Fall of 2008 the Centre was moved to the same building as The Centre for Women’s and Gender Research (SKOK) in Ida Blom’s House, on Állegt. 34 situated across from the Science Building south from Nygårdshøyden in Bergen.

Today the Centre has a staff of about twenty people, with research fellows, post-docs, and permanent academic and administrative personnel (the latter are part of the joint administration with The Centre for Women and Gender Research).

In modern scientifically-based high risk societies there is a documented need for critical reflection and constructive collaboration across different fields. The Centre has, like other academic institutions at the University, its work tied to research, teaching and information dissemination. The Centre prioritizes collaboration with colleagues in other fields; in this sense the Centre also has an interdisciplinary profile.

From its inception the Centre has had the theory of science and ethics portion of the PhD training of doctoral candidates from different faculties as one of its most important tasks. In latter years the Centre has been responsible for similar training of researchers under the auspices of Vestnorsk Nettverk (VNN-FU), which is one of the collaborative programmes for universities and university-colleges in Western Norway, from Agder to Møre.

In addition to collaboration on the regional and national level, the Centre has an extensive international collaboration with colleagues and closely related professional circles in Europe as well as in the Americas and Asia.