This text is translated with the assistance of UiO GPT.
Tore Wig, a professor at the Department of Political Science, receives EU funding for five years for the research project “AutoKnow: Authoritarian Threats to Scientific Knowledge.” The starting point for the project is the recognition that scientific knowledge is an impressive human achievement, but that the societal causes behind it remain underexplored.
Science's superpower turning authoritarian
– I want to find out how authoritarian regimes and leaders affect science – that is, whether the authoritarian nature of regimes matters for what research finds in different areas. Does the turn toward authoritarianism in the U.S. matter for social science produced there? China produces a great deal of research, but would the country have done even better if it were a democracy? Will scientific progress slow down if more countries around the world become autocratic? The project will use big data, artificial intelligence and new statistical methods to understand these questions, says Wig.
He emphasizes that this research is important because an increasing share of science is being conducted in authoritarian countries. In particular, the scientific "superpower," the United States, is moving in an authoritarian direction.
Manjana Milkoreit, professor at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, receives EU funding for the research project “CAMELOT: Capacities for More Effective Long-Term Climate Change Governance.”
She will examine the mismatch between the fact that climate change requires long-term planning while public institutions often operate within short-term horizons, and how this makes effective global governance difficult. According to Milkoreit, this can have major consequences for human welfare on a changing planet.
Important for protecting future generations
– Many of the most dangerous climate risks, such as tipping points, play out over decades or centuries, while our political and institutional systems are organized for short-term thinking. This mismatch creates real blind spots and serious threats to our welfare, development and security. If we are to protect current and future generations, we need forms of governance that can anticipate and respond to long-term, non-linear changes, says Milkoreit.
In the research project she will work closely with decision-makers and public officials at various levels, scholars across disciplines, and other actors who are deeply engaged in reflecting on the future.
Success rate well above average
Vice Dean for Research Lars Tjelta Westlye at the Faculty of Social Sciences emphasizes that the faculty leadership is very happy and proud that researchers at the Faculty of Social Sciences have once again been awarded ERC funding.
– These grants are highly prestigious and demonstrate that the research at the faculty is of top international quality. ERC funding gives our researchers a unique opportunity to pursue ambitious, long-term curiosity-driven research, and provides both the project leaders and their academic environments with visibility and recognition far beyond our country’s borders. This is very gratifying and important for the faculty, and we congratulate both the project leaders and their environments, says Westlye.
He underscores that ERC projects are considered among the most prestigious awards in Europe, and the competition for the funds is strong.
– That our environments also research highly topical issues with great societal relevance, have access to research infrastructure of high quality, and can make use of data that is unique in an international context – for example Norwegian population and health registries – are also important contributors to why our researchers succeed internationally, Westlye stresses.
Will continue to nurture environments that succeed internationally
– The Faculty of Social Sciences has an academic portfolio with impressive breadth and diversity. We will preserve this. Norway is a small country, and we cannot be world-leading in everything, but we should be able to aspire to nurture more environments that can compete internationally so that we can utilize and strengthen the full breadth. It is important that we learn from the environments that already succeed, while also preserving diversity, which is crucial for creating robust research environments that can respond to society’s challenges in the future, says Lars Westlye Tjelta.
The ERC Consolidator Grant is worth €2 million and funds the projects that run for five years. The Faculty of Social Sciences had eight applicants in this round, which had a deadline in January 2025. Four of these were invited to interview, and two have now been awarded funding. That corresponds to a success rate of 25% – in line with the high level the Faculty of Social Sciences has maintained for several years. The success rate for ERC at UiO overall, and in Norway, has in previous years been about 13%..