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Research

International Research Cooperation

International research collaboration is important for NMBU to achieve its strategic goals. It gives access to expertise, networks and resources that strengthen the quality and relevance of research. Collaboration across borders promotes knowledge and new solutions to global challenges. It also contributes to increasing NMBU's visibility and recognition internationally.

The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) has long experience with international academic cooperation. Some institutional agreements with universities outside Norway have been active for many decades. NMBU participates in international networks and consortia within a wide range of scientific disciplines.

Cooperation agreements 

International research cooperation is carried out mainly at the project level by scientific staff at the faculties and within the context of institutional academic agreements between NMBU and universities outside Norway.

NMBU has formal collaboration agreements with over 100 universities and research institutions worldwide. An overview of ongoing agreements, countries and the nature of the agreement can be found here.  

NMBU’s Department of Academic Affairs, particularly the Student Information Centre (SIT), coordinates student exchange and facilitation of studies at NMBU for foreign students.

International research cooperation activities

  • NMBU and the University of Minnesota Collaboration

    The collaboration started bilaterally in 2003. In 2011, a tripartite collaboration agreement including the University of Oslo as third partner was signed. The collaboration is called the Norwegian Centennial Chair program (NOCC). NOCC collaboration supports stays, travel and research and educational collaboration between the three institutions. The thematic areas include all disciplines with a particular focus on strategic areas at each university. The collaboration is carried out in transatlantic research groups with academic staff, master- and PhD students from the three institutions.

    Details about the collaboration are found on the NOCC website.

  • The Peder Sather Centre for Advanced Study (University of California - Berkeley) Collaboration

    The Peder Sather Center for Advanced Study promotes research collaboration between the University of California Berkeley and eight Norwegian universities. NMBU joined the collaboration in 2016. The goal of the center is to support collaboration between Norwegian researchers and researchers at UC Berkeley, which is one of the world's most renowned universities. The center supports research and academic activities across disciplines. This includes, for example, research projects, visiting researcher stays and seminars.

    Read more on the program website: Peder Sather Center | An International Research and Educational Collaboration between UC Berkeley and Norway

  • NMBU collaboration with partners in the Global South

    NMBU has a long history of collaboration with academic institutions in the global south. Many agreements with universities in the South have been in place since the 1970s and have focused on research, education and capacity building. The Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric) at the Faculty of Landscape and Society has a particular focus on collaboration with partners in the global south, but virtually all of NMBU's faculties have collaborations with partners in this part of the world.

    Collaboration with Ethiopia

    NMBU has had academic collaboration with Hawassa University and Mekelle University in Ethiopia since the 1980s. The current period of the collaboration (2022-2027), funded by the Norwegian Embassy in Ethiopia, includes research collaboration, doctoral and master's degree education, capacity building at Ethiopian universities, etc.

    NORHED-II projects

    NMBU is an active participant in the Norwegian Programme for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED-II). NORHED-II is a Norad-funded programme that promotes academic cooperation between Norwegian and universities in the Global South. The aim is to strengthen education and research, promote inclusive higher education and contribute to a qualified workforce and sustainable social solutions.

    NMBU coordinates several projects under the programme. The projects and their partners can be found here:  NORHED - II projects at NMBU.

  • Scholars at Risk

    In 2011, NMBU joined the international network Scholars at Risk (SAR). NMBU welcomed its first SAR in 2022, followed by the second in the autumn 2023. We look forward to welcoming a new SAR in 2024.

    SAR promotes academic freedom and defends the human rights of scholars and their communities worldwide. In joining SAR, NMBU shows its solidarity with scholars and institutions in situations where academic freedom is restricted and research, publication, teaching and learning are repressed.

    By offering temporary academic positions (as guest researchers), SAR members help scholars to escape dangerous conditions and to continue their important work. In return, scholars contribute to their host campuses through teaching, research, lectures and other activities. The Norwegian members of Scholars at Risk are coordinated under the SAR-Norway network.

  • EU Programmes

Contact information: