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Four new centres aiming for excellence

Four research centres at the University of Bergen have gone to the second round in the process of becoming a Norwegian Centre of Excellence.

Blurry picture of researcher looking into a microscope, photo used to illustrate article about candidates for the Centre of Excellence scheme.
ONWARDS TO FINAL ROUND: Four of the UiB research centres applying for the prestigious status of Centre of Excellence, supported by the Research Council of Norway, have been approved for the second and final round, with the potential of receiving financial support for a 10 year period. Photo: Colourbox
Photo:
Colourbox

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By Solfrid LangelandUpdated: 22.06.2016 (First published: 17.03.2016)

The Centre of Excellence (SFF) scheme is administered by the Research Council of Norway, and the University of Bergen (UiB) currently has four of these national research centres.

Four new centres could be added to this total, if all the four applicants moving into the second round of the 2016 call are successful.

“We are delighted for the four applicants moving into the final round of being granted the SFF status,” says UiB’s Rector Dag Rune Olsen.

“Now they need to use the time leading up on the next deadline in late May, in order to be prepared for the final announcement of who gets the excellent centre status this time.”

From evolution to Alzheimer’s

The four applicants moving into the second round are:

  • Centre of Responsible Evidence Appraisal; principal investigator: Professor Jeroen van der Sluijs, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (SVT) at the Faculty of Humanities.
  • Centre for Early Human Behaviour (EHB) Homo Sapiens Behavioural Evolution 100-50 000 Years, South Africa; principal investigator: Professor Christopher Henshilwood, Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion at the Faculty of Humanities.
  • Centre for research into age related neurodegenerative diseases; principal investigator: Professor Laurence Bindoff, Department of Clinical Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
  • Centre for Integrated Quantitative Earth System Dynamics; principal investigator: Professor Ritske S. Huismans, Department of Earth Science at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.

Scaling international heights

The Research Council of Norway received 150 applicants for the call for this year’s SFF scheme. This is the fourth time the SFF scheme is announced. The applications are reviewed by an international scientific committee.

Of the 150 applicants, 34 potential centres were invited to submit a more detailed application for the second round. The application deadline for the second round is 25 May. The final decision for who receives SFF status is due in December 2016.

FACTS

Centres of Excellence

  • The Centres of Excellence (SFF) scheme is a national programme administered by the Research Council of Norway.
  • The goal is to establish time-limited research centres characterised by focussed and long-term research efforts of a high international calibre, including researcher training.
  • The Research Council provides the basic source of funding for the scheme, and SFF centres normally receive extensive funding for a 10-year period.
  • The first centres under the SFF scheme were announced in 2002, when three SFF were established at UiB: Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Centre for Medieval Studies, and Centre for Integrated Petroleum Research (CIPR). Their SFF status expired in 2012.
  • There are currently four SFF at UiB: Centre for Cancer Biomarkers, Centre for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child Health (CISMAC), Birkeland Centre for Space Science (BCSS) and Centre for Geobiology (CGB).
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