This text has been translated from Norwegian with the assistance of GPT UiO.
I greatly value this tradition and the way we gather at this time of year to wish one another a merry Christmas. It is also a good opportunity to review the year that is drawing to a close. Here are a few highlights from the Faculty of Social Sciences in 2025. Many other things and people could also have been mentioned.
I must begin with research. It underpins everything we do, and there is much to be pleased about. Our academic communities are strong research environments. We have grown accustomed to performing well in various international rankings, and - as last year - several of our units achieved strong individual positions in the Shanghai rankings and QS rankings. Rankings measure different things, and their value is debated. Still, when units consistently rank highly over time, there is every reason to be pleased with the results and the visibility they bring to the faculty’s strengths.
The Research Council of Norway’s disciplinary evaluation of health research in Norway (EVALMEDHELSE) provided another showcase of our strengths - this time at the Department of Psychology (PSI). PSI as a whole was assessed, and all divisions were rated either “excellent” or “outstanding”. Impressive! PSI’s work in preparing for the evaluation is truly exemplary and something the rest of the faculty can draw on when the Research Council undertakes its next disciplinary evaluation in the social sciences, which will apply to our other departments and centres.
It is also worth noting that the University of Oslo’s two research awards this year went to two colleagues at the Department of Political Science (ISV). Carl Henrik Knutsen received the UiO Research Award, and Sirianne Dahlum received the Award for Young Researchers. Both were honoured at UiO’s Annual Celebration. At the same event, Anna Nordnes Helg?y received the King’s Gold Medal for her thesis, so ISV rightly attracted well-deserved attention when UiO celebrated itself in the Aula on 2 September.
In a period when universities’ core funding is being reduced, competitive research funding arenas become even more important if we are to maintain our current level of activity. Our staff continue to do well on these fronts. It is wonderful news that four new ERC projects have been awarded to faculty members over the past year: Scott Gates at ISV received an Advanced Grant (AdG); Jacob Nyrup at ISV received a Starting Grant (StG); Manjana Milkoreit at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography (ISS) received a Consolidator Grant (CoG); and Tore Wig at ISV also received a Consolidator Grant. The Faculty of Social Sciences has more ERC projects per staff member than any other faculty at UiO - or elsewhere in Norway - and this is being noticed.
We are also delighted that Wenzel Geissler at the Department of Social Anthropology (SAI) has become a partner in an MSCA doctoral network and will recruit two PhD candidates, and that both SAI and ISS have secured MSCA funding to appoint outstanding international postdoctoral researchers.
The Research Council of Norway (RCN) has traditionally been our faculty’s most important external funding source. It is therefore somewhat concerning that application activity to RCN has fallen, even if this aligns with measures implemented by the Council. That said, several applications submitted to RCN’s FRIPRO schemes have been successful. Fulvio Castellacci and Ana Maria Delago at TIK (Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture) each secured a FRIPRO project for experienced researchers, and just a few days ago we received the news that Martin Blomhoff Holm at the Department of Economics (?I) has also been awarded a FRIPRO project for experienced researchers. At the same time, Liisa Raud from PSI obtained a project in the first funding round of the scheme “Radical Research Ideas for Early Career Scientists”. Thematic projects have also been awarded to TIK, ISV, ISS and PSI. A heartfelt thank you to all of you who invest time in writing applications - including those whose proposals have not yet been funded. Your turn will come. Most of us have to try several times, and proposal-writing is both a learning and maturation process that requires time, resources and teamwork.
When the allocations from the so-called “AI billion” were announced, it also became clear that TIK and PSI are participating in three of the new AI centres. This is excellent news for TIK and PSI, and I hope some of the benefits will spill over to the rest of us. AI represents both unique opportunities and major challenges, and it is very positive that two of our foundational units are closely connected to centres researching many different facets of AI. Another centre formation I would like to highlight is the new Centre for International Economics at ?I, with ARENA (the Centre for European Studies) as one of the partners. This is a fine example of a new internal collaboration within the faculty that we have every reason to celebrate.
There is much to be proud of on the teaching front as well. The faculty now has its third merited teacher, namely Lars Erik Kjekshus. Like the two who were already merited teachers - Jemima García-Godos and David Jordhus-Lier - Lars Erik is based at ISS. This is a wonderful recognition of both the individuals and the teaching community at ISS, and I hope it will inspire beyond ISS too.
At a time when many institutions are struggling with low applicant numbers, it is encouraging to see that most of our study programmes continue to attract stable numbers of applicants. Twelve of UiO’s 32 most popular study programmes are housed in our faculty. The faculty initiated a major portfolio process last year, and it is excellent to see the academic units working systematically on changes to the study offerings. We will now also have a new programme in Economics and Finance. TIK is working on a potential BA programme, which we hope will be feasible to implement. Other changes will likely follow in due course. It is crucial that we remain an attractive place to study for young adults interested in societal questions, and this requires precisely the ongoing stewardship of our programmes and our overall portfolio. An educational portfolio that connects the outstanding research conducted across the faculty to our teaching as effectively as possible is key to ensuring our programmes continue to attract interested, engaged and well-qualified students - even as youth cohorts shrink.
Those who have been in the workforce for a while may also need to update and enhance their competence. From spring 2026, PSI will offer a new continuing education programme in child-specialist expert assessment. Interest - measured in applicant numbers - has far exceeded our expectations, so PSI has clearly met a need among a group that makes consequential decisions affecting children and is often quite alone in their assessments. It was disappointing, however, that PSI’s Innlandet track in the professional programme did not receive the financial support from the Government that such a new initiative requires. We are not giving up easily and are keeping our fingers crossed for next year’s national budget.
EILIN has a new coordinator, and we are very fortunate to have Junaid in the role. He has been operational from day one and has played a crucial part in establishing AI training for faculty staff, alongside getting to grips with EILIN's other responsibilities. The groundwork for this autumn’s AI efforts was laid by the Working Group on AI in Teaching and Assessment, which worked in the spring and submitted its recommendations before the summer. Students, academic staff and administrators all participated. Thank you to those of you who contribute your expertise, experience and thoughtful reflections, enabling our community to meet shared challenges more effectively.
Our staff are not only accomplished researchers and committed teachers; many also devote significant time to disseminating their research to a broad public. ARENA’s director, Pernille Rieker, received the European Movement’s dissemination prize in November. ARENA has launched a new podcast: Arena Europa. Domus Bibliotheca (DB) has established itself as an important stage for dissemination and debate, and the series “Klasse i sentrum” followed other successful series such as “Hjernen i sentrum” and “Mat i sentrum”. Our colleagues have also contributed to DB’s series “N?r forskning blir fienden” and “Skjebnetid for Europa”. And speaking of class: Magne Flemmen at ISS has disseminated research on social class via social media and received the Student Parliament’s teaching award. His research has attracted substantial attention, and he is now nominated for the Vixen Awards in the category “Influencer of the Year: Knowledge”.
On occasions like this, our academic staff often - and very rightly - receive much praise. I would also like to commend the administration at our departments and centres, and in the faculty’s shared services. We have an administration with high competence, and we simply cannot reach our goals in any area without their expertise and their readiness to push and support. Thank you for the excellent collaboration between academic staff and administration!
Dear all: thank you for yet another eventful year! I look forward to continuing our work together. But first, let me take the opportunity to wish you all a truly good and well-deserved Christmas break. I hope each of you enjoys a special time with people you care about.