Plutonium (Pu) has been released in Japan by the 2011 Fukushima accident and the 1945 detonation of a Pu-core weapon at Nagasaki. CERAD's collaborator Dr Tom Hinton is one of the authors of a newly published paper that reports the use of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) methods to distinguish the Fukushima-accident and Nagasaki-detonation Pu from worldwide fallout in soils and biota.
We have a vacant 3-year PhD–position related to transgenerational effects of chronic exposure to ionizing radiation at CERAD/NMBU. Apply before 14.10.2020
The IAEA will soon launch their Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme that will provide opportunities to highly motivated and talented female students by providing scholarships and internship opportunities
Authorities are considering easing restrictions on the areas most severely affected by the Chernobyl accident. It may provide great financial opportunities for those who still live there, but residents are not sure if it is a good idea.
Mila Pelkonen have started her PhD at CERAD in March. She will be working on radionuclide speciation and dynamic terrestrial ecosystem transfer at the Isotope laboratory.
Protection of humans and non-human organisms from the contaminants is based on risk assessments. Do you want to learn how it is done? In June 2020, CERAD will co-organize a course on assessment of risk to humans and environment at NMBU, Ås.
NMBU at CERAD is a partner in a new EU project on radon and natural radioactive materials. The project will support good management and handling of these materials, and help to educate new researchers in radiological protection.
Professor Deborah Oughton stepped up as new director of CERAD on 1 February 2020. She sees a bright future and many new interesting research questions for the centre.
A 3-year PhD position is available at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management (MINA) and CERAD Centre for Environmental Radioactivity. The project will build on previous work from MINA, documenting arthropod communities at Chernobyl.
This summer, CERAD researchers participated in the research cruise to document leakage from the wreck of the sunken submarine "Komsomolets". The report from the cruise is now available.
A permanent position of advisor at the laboratory for the radioactivity measurements is available at the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority
Professor Donald A. Brown received 2019 UNESCO Avicenna Award for Ethics in Science for his lifelong commitment to ethics of climate change science, policy and communication. Our research director Deborah Oughton was on the jury
Frøydis Meen Wærsted has successfully defended her PhD thesis "Mobility of naturally occurring radionuclides and stable elements in alum shale: A case study of Gran, Highway 4, Norway" September 28th 2019
The Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management (MINA) has a vacant 2- year research scientist position within hydrogeochemistry linked to nuclear decommissioning and waste disposal, with possibility of extension. Focus is put on processes, interactions and modelling. The position is financed by CERAD.
It is a good tradition at NMBU to organise a PhD ceremony for the new doctors. Four of the CERAD PhD students were among those receiving their degree on September 20th
CERAD offers intensive courses in Radioecology (5 ECTS) and Experimental Radioecology (10 ECTS). The courses will run in parallel over 2,5 weeks from January 8th to January 24th, 2020 at NMBU (Campus Aas), 30 min by train south of Oslo. Please note that for non-NMBU students there is a deadline to apply to become guest student:October 1st 2019.
Researchers from CERAD and NMBU went on a research cruise in July 2019 and uncovered a leak of radioactive material from the sunken submarine "Komsomolets", which is at the bottom of the Norwegian Sea. TV2 has made a documentary about the cruise, which will be available at TV2 Sumo
The Section of Environmental Chemistry/CERAD Centre of Excellence, Faculty of Environmental Sciences (MINA) at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) has a vacant 3-year PhD position within radioecology/environmental radioactivity
Researcher Hans-Christian Teien and PhD student Shane Sheibener took part in a research cruise to document leakage from the wreck of the sunken submarine "Komsomolets". Radioactive caesium has been detected, but there is no danger to humans or the environment.
Researchers from CERAD and NMBU are going on a research cruise. The goal is to find out if there is radioactive leakage from the sunken submarine "Komsomolets", which is at the bottom of the Norwegian Sea.
Magne Simonsen successfully defended his PhD thesis “Marine transport modeling of radionuclides using a dynamic speciation approach” on Tuesday June 18, 2019.
Yevgeniya Tomkiv has successfully defended her thesis "Risk communication in nuclear emergency preparedness: Embracing the complexity" on June 12th 2019
NMBU/CERAD invites you to a guest lecture in the Clock Building, Lecture Hall U120, Monday June 17th at 12:15 – 13:00. The lecture will be given by Dr. Raúl Periáñez, University of Seville, Spain
More than 40 participants from four countries participated in a seminar on Environmental Radioactivity for PhD, Postdoc and MSc students that CERAD co-organized with the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv (Ukraine) on June 4th – 6th.
Conferences offer great opportunities to present and discuss your work with variety of colleagues. Wondering where to go next? Check our list of upcoming events
Every year CERAD publishes a report that summarises our activities for the past year and presents research highlights. CERAD Annual Report 2018 is now available.
CERAD is co-organizing a seminar on Environmental Radioactivity for PhD, Postdoc and MSc students in Kyiv (Ukraine) in 2019 (June 4th – 6th). Travel and accomodation support for PhD and MSc students is available. Apply before April 28th!
Anna-Lea Golz has successfully defended her PhD thesis "Role of ecological processes in determining effects of contaminants in aquatic ecosystems" at the Stockholm University on April 5th.
Jarle Ballangby has successfully defended his master thesis on "Chromatin Accessibility after Inhibition of Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (Ezh2) in Zebrafish Embryos".
A vacant one-year position as a researcher with possibility of extension for up to three years is available at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). The bioinformatics position is closely linked to CERAD. You will be employed by NIPH and the workplace will be at the Department of Molecular Biology, NIPH. Apply before February 3rd, 2019.
Our recent paper by You Song and colleagues has been selected as the best toxicology paper in 2018 by the Norwegian Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology (NSFT)
A call for position of CERAD Director and Professor in Radioecology/Environmental radioactivity has opened. Application deadline is December 15th 2018.
Several young scientists have been appointed as Research Area and Umbrella leaders on the Extended Management Group Meeting that took place on October 26th.
CERAD and NRPA are organising a mini seminar on how the risk from UV-radiation can be translated into the risk framework for ionizing radiation on November 1st, 2018
CERAD Research Director Deborah Oughton attended her first meeting as the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters’ representative to the All European Academies (ALLEA) Permanent Working Group on Science and Ethics.
CERAD offers intensive courses in Radioecology (5 ECTS) and Experimental Radioecology (10 ECTS). The courses will run in parallel over 2,5 weeks from January 9th to January 25th, 2019 at NMBU (Campus Aas), 30 min by train south of Oslo.
The Section of Environmental Chemistry/CERAD Centre of Excellence, Faculty of Environmental Sciences (MINA) at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) has a vacant 3-year PhD position within radioecology/environmental radioactivity.
Selma Hurem was representing CERAD on 6th International Conference on Radiation and Applications in various fields of research, which was held on 18-22nd of June 2018 in Ohrid (Metropol Lake Resort), FYROM Macedonia
CERAD has co-organized the 7th International Conference on Radioactivity in the Arctic and other Vulnerable Environments, that took place from 18th to 20th of June in Oslo.
Ole Christian Lind represented CERAD on the Annual Meeting of the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group that was organised on 4 – 8 June 2018 in Switzerland
The article "Current radiological situation in areas of Ukraine contaminated by the Chernobyl accident: Part 1. Human dietary exposure to Caesium-137 and possible mitigation measures" has recently been published by our colleagues from Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology.
On May 29th 2018, the Norwegian Medical Association has awarded its prize for preventive medicine to Christina Søyland Hassfjell, a former senior researcher at CERAD
NMBU/CERAD invites you to a guest lecture in the Soil Building, Lecture Hall JmU111, Monday June 25th at 10:15 – 11:00. The lecture will be given by Professor Keith Fifield, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
The European Radioecology ALLIANCE organised the Workshop “Epigenetic factors and long-term effects of ionising radiation on organisms”, that took place at IRSN, Paris, France, from the 4th to 6th of April 2018.
Every year CERAD publishes a report that summarises our activities for the past year and presents research highlights. CERAD Annual Report 2017 is now available.
An international field course "Experimental Radioecology and Radiobiology" will be organised in Ukraine on June 1st-15th 2018. The course offers a unique opportunity to work in Chernobyl exclusion zone and is organized in cooperation between Centre for Environmental Radioactivity, Norwegian University of Life Sciences and National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine.
Leonardo Martín Martín successfully defended his PhD titled "Transcriptome profiling during zebrafish embryogenesis: miRNA dynamics and gamma radiation effect" on Tuesday February 20th 2018.
Selma Hurem, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (VET) successfully defended her PhD thesis “Two-generational study of biological effects from gamma radiation exposure during sensitive life stages in the zebrafish (Danio rerio)” on 13 February 2018.
Annual conferences have become a good tradition in CERAD. This year’s conference was held at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters on 29th-30th of January.
Research director Deborah Oughton participated in a seminar “Ethics, risk communication and practical radiological culture in post nuclear accident situations: the role of experts in empowering affected people” at Nagasaki University.
CERAD arranged two workshops within the EC TERRITORIES project, Work Package 4 (Strategic and integrated communication, education and training), in Oslo, Norway, 14th – 16th November 2017. Oslo welcomed international guest with cold and snow, but that did not stop anyone from participating.
The Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management (MINA) and CERAD Center of excellence for Environmental Radioactivity has a vacant 3 year PhD-position within environmental chemistry in collaboration with Norwegian Institute of Water Research (NIVA).
The workshop took place in Oslo, October 16-17th and was organized by CERAD/NMBU with support from Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SiU)
What is a better way for learning about effects of radioactivity than doing it in hands-on in the field? CERAD and NMBU have a joint project with the institutions in Ukraine. Therefore, can we now organize an experimental course in Chernobyl!
CERAD was widely represented at the 4th International Conference on Radioecology and Environmental Radioactivity (ICRER 2017), held in Berlin on September 3-8th
Biomarkers can be used to indicate an exposure to or effect of a contaminant on an organism and are widely used in (eco)toxicology. This year, CERAD is introducing a new course “Effect and biomarker methods in (eco)toxicology”. Registration deadline is August 16th!
A 3 year PhD–position within environmental radioactivity/radioecology is available at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management (MINA) and CERAD Center of Excellence for Environmental Radioactivity. The research will focus on developing and testing models used for radiological risk assessment.
"I particularly dislike terms used to "sell" science" says Simone Cagno, our associated researcher. He has kindly answered some of our questions in CERAD Faces series.
We must dare to ask ourselves whether it is such a good idea to keep the legal limits for arsenic and radiation in food as low as possible, says our PhD-student Yevgeniya Tomkiv
Gitte Helene Brunstad has successfully defended her master thesis on “Calculating UV Doses and Cesium-137 Deposition in Western Norway in Relation to a Hypothetical Sellafield Accident”
«Dynamic reindeer» - that’s the relatively meaningless title of a CERAD project focussing on these fantastically adaptive animals. However, the title points to the aim of the project: To develop a modelling tool that simulates the highly “dynamic” and variable levels of radioactive caesium in reindeer during the year.
CERAD PhD Frøydis Meen Wærsted gave a guest talk about her research at the Section for Environmental Technology at Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) on March 27th.
CERAD Annual Report summarises activities performed within the Centre of Environmental Radioactivity in the year 2016, and highlights from the first four years. Report can be downloaded here.
We must dare to ask ourselves whether it is such a good idea to keep the legal limits for arsenic and radiation in food as low as possible, says our PhD-student Yevgeniya Tomkiv
Brit Salbu was invited to Japan during March 9-14 by Professor Onda, University of Tsukuba, by Dr Igarashi, Japan Meteorological Institute and Dr Satou, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA).
SHAMISEN project aims to learn from past nuclear emergencies and develop recommendations for health surveillance of affected people in the aftermath of an accident. On March 23-24th, the project held its final workshop at OECD conference center in Paris.
Nematodes, radiation, multiple stressors and risk communication - there is something interesting for everyone. Five CERAD PhD students will be having their seminars on 3rd of April at room J105 (Soil Building, Fougnerbakken 3), NMBU Campus Ås
This spring we commemorate the 6th anniversary of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. CERAD researchers has been actively engaged in the research in the area since the time of accident, sharing their knowledge with Japanese colleagues.
Remember the ecosystem experiments? Tanya Helena Hevrøy is one of the scientist behind this exciting research and a star of our recurrent column this month.
Annual conferences have become a good tradition in CERAD. This year’s conference was held at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters on 8th-9th of February.
How does one effectively involve stakeholders? How does one build and assess public confidence? How can broader stakeholder involvement help decision makers to make well-informed decisions that effectively address stakeholder views? These and other questions were discussed in Paris on 17-19th January.
Entomologist Greg Lamarre visited us with a guest lecture in December. Here he is presenting a new project, where he will study insects of Chernobyl in collaboration with CERAD
12th LOWRAD International Conference, “The Effects of Low Doses and Very Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation on Human Health and Biotopes” was held on 12-13th December 2016 in Warsaw, Poland.
Nature is complex, full of relationships and interactions, that all intertwine in one way or another. Therefore, we must focus our scientific approach to encompassing this complexity when studying effects of radiation (or other pollutants) on the environment.
CERAD is a partner in the COMET project, which aims to enhance and maintain European capacity and skills in radioecology. In 2016 we co-organized a field course in Chernobyl, where participants were able to get hands-on experience in development of sampling strategies and application of different techniques for measurement and analysis.
AERC (Association of Ecosystem Research Centers) and IUR (International Union of Radioecology) hold a joint Workshop, hosted by Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) at Aiken (South Carolina, USA), 2-5 October 2016
Two new EU-projects CONFIDENCE and TERRITORIES will receive funding through CONCERT - European Joint Programme for the Integration of Radiation Protection Research. CERAD is partner in both projects.
Orrefjell is an area in Salangen (Norway) with high natural level of uranium. CERAD is partner in a research project called Case Orrefjell, funded by FRAM center. This project will evaluate possible adverse effects related to living in an area with enhanced levels of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM).
CERAD Faces is a series of articles presenting various scientists who are linked to our Centre of Excellence. Opening this series is Professor Thomas Hinton from Fukushima University in Japan.
A joint focused meeting and workshop on Environmental and (eco)toxicological Omics and Epigenetics: Science, Technology and Regulatory Applications, were organized in Gent, Belgium, from 12th to 15th September 2016.
A 3-year PhD–position within environmental radioactivity/radioecology is available at the Department of Environmental Sciences (IMV) and CERAD Center of Excellence for Environmental Radioactivity. The research will focus on the food chain transfer of radionuclides/trace elements to fish and associated effects i.e., toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics.
A 3 year PhD–position within environmental radioactivity/radioecology is available at the Department of Environmental Sciences (IMV) and CERAD Center of Excellence for Environmental Radioactivity. The research will focus on the environmental behavior of radionuclides, which are present as nano- to millimeter-sized particles.
CERAD scientists recently published an article in Nature Scientific Reports. This publication by Graupner et al demonstrates genotoxicity of low dose rate gamma radiation in mice at exposure levels that humans can receive in emergency situations.
The Radiation Protection Week is a 'must' for all scientists and decision makers participating in radiation protection research globally. It was organized on 19-23rd of September 2016 in Oxford.
CERAD PhD student Selma Hurem won an award for best oral presentation on the 30th Congress of the New European Society for Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, which was held in Barcelona 4-7th September 2016.
Professor of Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Director of the Centre for Environmental Radioactivity, Academician of Norwegian Academy of Sciences Brit Salbu was awarded with the title of the Honorary Professor of National University of Life and Environmental Sciences, Ukraine.
30 years after world’s worst accident on a nuclear power plant have CERAD scientists performed an extensive sampling in the security zone around Chernobyl
Chernobyl accident resulted in radioactive contamination of the parts of Norway. How did researchers at Ås help to solve problems related to food production, which appeared after the accident? Vitenparken is organizing a seminar on Tuesday 26th of April from 11:30 to 16:15 (in Norwegian).
In November 2015, the International Union of Radioecology organized a consensus symposium. This symposium gathered 30 scientists with diverse background to discuss the ecological impact of radiation on populations and ecosystems. Several CERAD representatives participated in the symposium.
A PhD Seminar for Environmental Chemistry Section/CERAD at the Department of Environmental Sciences will be held on Tuesday, December 15th 2015 at SKP Auditorium (NMBU Campus Ås).
The final Workshop of work package 3 of the European research project PREPARE “Management of Contaminated Goods after a nuclear accident” was held on 12 & 13 November 2015 at OECD – Château de la Muette, Paris, France.
On October 20-21st, CERAD representatives attended SFF Forum – a Forum that was established as an arena for communication, for exchange of experiences and for initiating collaboration on various perspectives related to the operation of the Centres of Excellence (SFF). The meeting was hosted by the Research Council of Norway.
A Nordic nuclear safety research (NKS) funded seminar entitled “NKS seminar on nuclear forensics in Nordic countries” was organized in Oslo 5-6 October 2015 by CERAD CoE in cooperation with Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA), Icelandic Radiation Safety Authority (Geislavarnir Rikisins), Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), Sweden and Danish Technological University (DTU).
Urma Mahrosh, Department of Environmental Sciences, will defend her PhD thesis: "Road deicing salt and copper: Transfer and effects on fertilization and early life history stages of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), on 28 September 2015.
Zebrafish researchers from NMBU and UiO recently organized the 9th European Zebrafish Meeting (EZM2015) which was the the big annual zebrafish conference in 2015 and gathered 650 zebrafish researcher from all around the world during 4 beautiful summer days from June 28 to July 2. The venue was Oslo Conference Center at Youngstorvet (zebrafish2015.org).
PhD degree – You Song, Dep. of Environmental Sciences will defend his PhD thesis” Transcriptional responses in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) following single and combined exposure to depleted uranium and gamma radiation” on 20.06.2014.
PhD degree – Trial Lecture and Public Defence Jelena Mrdakovic Popic, Dept. of Environmental Sciences will defend her PhD thesis ”Environmental Impact of Radionuclides and Trace Elements in the Thorium Rich Fen Area in Norway” on May 13th 2014
The second part of the seminars about the possible consequences of a hypothetical nuclear accident with contamination over Rogaland, was held on March 10th in Stavanger.
CERAD Annual Conference 2015 was held on 9th-10th of February at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. The agenda for the meeting is given below.
What would happen in case of radiological contamination of the western coast of Norway? What kind of challenges would appear for the local populations and how could they be solved?
