Top U.S. graduate research fellows coming to Norway
Nordic Research Opportunity
The Nordic Research Opportunity scheme, which brings leading young US researchers to Norway, is being continued. During 2010, seven more top graduate research fellows from the US will spend time carrying out research at Norwegian institutions.
The Nordic Research Opportunity scheme provides funding to US graduate research fellows participating in a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) program who wish to conduct research at Norwegian institutions for a period of three to 12 months. For the U.S. participants, the scheme is a way to help more graduate research fellows to gain international experience early in their careers.
From Oslo in the south to Tromsø in the north
This year’s grant recipients are conducting research in a wide range of subject areas, from geosciences and technology to linguistics and sociology. The host institutions in 2010 are the University of Oslo, the University of Tromsø, Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute in Ås, SINTEF and Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim and the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Oslo.
The research fellows submit their own applications to the NSF for research stays in Norway. The NSF pays the graduate research fellows’ salaries during their stay, while the Research Council of Norway provides an additional supplement to cover travel and living expenses in Norway.
Positive experience
According to the grant recipients who came to Norway last year, their time in Norway was extremely well spent.
“They report that their stays in Norway have given them new scientific perspectives, the motivation to conduct their own research and an opportunity to establish professional contacts in Norway,” states Martin Jæver of the International Scholarship Section at the Research Council, which administers the Norwegian component of the programme.
Benefits Norway and the host institutions
“By serving as host for the NSF graduate research fellows, the Norwegian institutions enhance their opportunity to build lasting relations with prominent US research groups,” explains Terje Emblem, who is responsible for following up cooperation with North America at the Research Council.
The Norwegian institutions that hosted grant recipients last year found the Nordic Research Opportunity scheme to be an excellent way to gain insight into new scientific perspectives and to internationalise their research activities.
A component in research and technology cooperation
Launched in 2009, the Nordic Research Opportunity scheme is one component in the efforts to follow up the Norwegian Government’s “Strategy for Norway’s Scientific and Technology Cooperation with North America”.
The scheme was established as a three-year trial with Norway and Finland as the initial partners. Denmark joined the scheme in 2010.
Nordic Research Opportunity 2010 – US grant recipients to Norway
| Grant recipient | Subject area | Host institution | Home institution |
| Adam Booth | Geosciences | Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGU) | University of Oregon |
| Rosemary Cox-Galhotra | Materials technology | Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) | University of Virginia |
| Emily Fertig | Inter-/multidisciplinary technology | SINTEF Energy Research | Carnegie-Mellon University |
| Annie Gagliardi | Linguistics | University of Tromsø (UiT) | University of Maryland |
| Jennifer Ann Holland | Sociology | University of Oslo (UiO) | University of Wisconsin – Madison |
| Samia Ilias | Chemical technology | University of Oslo (UiO) | University of Minnesota Twin Cities |
| Eleanor Lahr | Ecology | Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute | University of Montana |
Source: Research Council of Norway
