SapienCE was established in 2017 by the Research Council of Norway in collaboration with the University of Bergen. The SapienCE Centre is cooperating closely with the University of the Witwatersrand, Norce, Royal Holloway University of London, Université de Bordeaux and Universität Tübingen.

SapienCE is part of the Research Council of Norway's Centres of Excellence (CoE) scheme. The scheme organizes the activities of Norway’s foremost scientific circles in centres to achieve ambitious scientific objectives through collaboration and long-term basic funding.