Two new divisions, two new directors

Division for Energy, Resources and the Environment

As Executive Director of the Division for Energy, Resources and the Environment, Fridtjof Unander has responsibility for research and innovation activities targeted towards national and global challenges in the fields of energy, petroleum, climate, the polar regions, the environment and marine resources.

Mr Unander’s background includes experience as a researcher at the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) and from several positions held at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris. He served as Director of the Research Council’s Department for Energy and Petroleum Research from 2008 to 2010.

As Executive Director of the Division for Energy, Resources and the Environment, Fridtjof Unander has responsibility for research and innovation activities targeted towards national and global challenges in the fields of energy, petroleum, climate, the polar regions, the environment and marine resources. (Photo: Andreas B. Johansen) What are the most important challenges facing your division?
“We are responsible for areas that not only reflect key societal challenges, but also represent extremely important sectors of the Norwegian economy. This means that we have an exciting, but challenging role to play in the interface between research, industry and policy. We need to develop our capacity to provide sound research policy input as well as good knowledge bases and strategies in conjunction with key national strategic processes related to our areas of responsibility. We must also clearly communicate our strategic priorities, instruments and not least the results of the research we fund.”

“We are focusing considerable efforts on promoting industry participation in our initiatives, with the aim of ensuring that research activities lead to value creation. We will also help Norwegian trade and industry to develop solutions that can play a part in meeting global challenges,” states Mr Unander.

What does the reorganisation mean for the fields under your division?
“The reorganisation will consolidate efforts and increase our ability to coordinate and strengthen our activities. The many common research questions and connections across the various fields mean there is great potential for developing thematic synergies. Environmental research and research on marine resources have been brought together under the same department and a separate department has been established for climate and polar research. The result will be better coordinated environmental research activities, and a more targeted research effort in the field of polar and climate research,” states Mr Unander.

Division for Society and Health

As Executive Director for Society and Health, Jesper Simonsen has responsibility for research targeted towards major societal challenges in the areas of health, welfare, education and social organisation.

Mr Simonsen is a qualified agricultural economist and has previous experience as a researcher and research coordinator at the Agricultural University of Norway (now the Norwegian University of Life Sciences), as Director of Research at the Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute (NILF) and as State Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment (1997–2000). He served as Director of the Research Council’s Department for Global Issues from 2006 to 2010.

The reorganisation will serve to focus greater attention on the social sciences, which until now have been largely swallowed up in divisions that were mainly oriented towards technology and natural science subjects, says the Executive Director for Society and Health Jesper Simonsen. (Photo: Andreas B. Johansen) What are the most important challenges facing your division?
“The division will provide input as to the role that good research can play in meeting the major challenges facing society. We administer sizeable financial resources on behalf of society and will create meeting places between the research community and society at large.”

“There is no shortage of challenges,” states Mr Simonsen. “How, for example, can research help us get more out of each Norwegian crown allocated to health, and help us to a greater extent to view health, welfare and education in conjunction with one another? How can our research activities enhance innovation in the public sector? And how can research contribute to a fairer distribution of health and welfare both at the national and at the global level?”

What does the reorganisation mean for the fields under your division?
“The new model involves a clear upward shift in the priority given to health and welfare research in Norway. The Research Council’s Division for Science will still play a part in the development of the medical and health science fields, while our division will generate targeted research designed to meet health challenges facing society.”

“The reorganisation will also serve to focus greater attention on the social sciences, which until now have been largely swallowed up in divisions that were mainly oriented towards technology and natural science subjects. Another important change is that global challenges, which are an important part of the new division’s area of responsibility, are now being integrated across the Research Council’s activities,” Mr Simonsen concludes.

From Forskning Magazine no. 1/2011