Adopted by the Department Board on 5 December 2024
Overarching strategic goals
The strategy is based on the Department of Political Science’s main objective, which is to contribute to the development and sharing of knowledge in the academic discipline of political science. In this way, we bring new knowledge to society and contribute to the development of the discipline nationally and internationally.
The Department of Political Science’s overarching goals are:
- to conduct excellent political science research, promote subject development, and to provide excellent research-based education.
- to be the broadest and strongest academic community in political science in Norway.
- to be one of the leading political science departments in Europe.
These goals for the Department of Political Science will be achieved by:
- conducting and publishing independent, groundbreaking, high-quality research in many different parts of the discipline.
- offering excellent teaching at all levels in the form of bachelor’s and master’s education and PhD education, and continuing and further education, in various parts of the discipline.
- actively participating in the dissemination and exchange of knowledge with society in general, both nationally and internationally.
The Department’s academic breadth is considered a competitive advantage in terms of research, education, and dissemination, but the Department of Political Science also wants to make it possible to build up an academic environment in a specialized area over time. In other words, the Department of Political Science aims to be a research-intensive department covering a broad range of sub-fields.
Specific strategic goals
Below are the Department’s more specific strategic goals in the areas of research, education, dissemination, and public relations, as well as organization, working environment and staff.
These goals can be seen as more concrete specifications of the overarching strategic goals. Planned measures to achieve these goals are set out in the Department’s annual plan.
Research
General goals
The Department’s research is of high quality and contributes excellent, groundbreaking studies in political science. The Department protects academic freedom, research integrity and academic independence.
Specific goals
The Department will contribute normative, theoretical, and empirical research in many different areas of political science (including the sub-disciplines of international relations, comparative politics, public policy and administration, and political theory, and in interdisciplinary fields).
Above all, the Department will ensure independent basic research in the discipline and the various sub-disciplines, but also independent research that applies theories and methods from political science to specific societal problems and policy fields. Our research will contribute constructively to improvements in society in both the short and the long term.
The Department will be a vibrant research environment that attracts highly qualified researchers when recruiting. This requires that the employees are ensured adequate time and real opportunities to concentrate on their own research, and that the relationship between research time and teaching time is predictable for academic staff.
Employees at the Department will publish at a high international level, and the Department will have several academic environments that are leading in Europe and preferably also globally.
The Department aims to have multiple externally funded basic research projects at all times, including more than one from the European Research Council (ERC).
The Department aims to obtain funding for and establish a Norwegian Centre of Excellence (SFF) by 2033.
The Department’s employees will collaborate with researchers in leading environments at other institutions in Norway and further afield, while safeguarding and further developing local academic environments through internal research collaboration within the Department of Political Science and the University of Oslo as a whole.
The Department will contribute to Open Science in terms of where the research is published and presentation of results and data.
The Department will ensure that employees have access to relevant research infrastructure and will actively contribute to developing relevant research infrastructure.
The Department will work systematically to safeguard research integrity in the Department’s research activities.
Education
General goals
Studying at the university lays the foundation for lifelong learning. The Department will offer education that contributes to the students’ intellectual development through both the acquisition of specialized knowledge of political science and the development of their ability to think critically and generate new knowledge. Students will be equipped to become independent and constructive contributors to the development of society in both the short and the long term.
Specific goals
The Department will offer education that ensures graduates have excellent opportunities for a professionally relevant career and equips them with the tools to address today's and tomorrow's societal challenges in the workforce they will join.
The department will offer comprehensive education in the discipline at both the bachelor's and master's levels, as well as options for specialization within the discipline.
The Department will offer good opportunities for fruitful combinations with other subjects – that is, both multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity – to provide training in dealing with complex societal issues.
The Department will offer research-based teaching of high academic and educational quality, i.e. teaching based on academic expertise with solid pedagogical qualifications. Our curriculum will be up-to-date and reflect the current research front.
The Department will include students at all levels in the Department’s outstanding research environments by incorporating inquiry-based learning and practical research at all levels, and by linking master’s degree students to ongoing research in connection with their master’s projects.
The Department’s programmes of study should attract well-qualified applicants for all the spots available.
The Department will offer excellent and relevant study opportunities for foreign students and support academically rewarding periods of study abroad for Norwegian students.
The Department will facilitate study environment that provides students with a sense of belonging and community on all its programmes of study.
The Department will take active steps to minimize drop-out from all programmes of study.
The Department will increase the number of credits taken and the degree of completion on all its programmes of study at both BA and MA levels from 2025 to 2027.
The Department will offer education at the doctoral level, aimed at a career in research and other high-level jobs in the public and private sectors. The Department’s organized research training will maintain a high academic standard.
The Department will educate PhD candidates who are attractive and competitive candidates for positions in research and higher education, in Norway and internationally.
The Department will explore the extent to which and how we can offer continuing and further education that provides alumni and other professionals with good opportunities to update and adapt their knowledge and skills as required.
The Department’s overall educational provision must be aligned with the capacity and expertise of the academic staff.
Public relations and dissemination of research
General goals
Dissemination about research and public relations contribute to the Department serving as an open educational and research institution and help ensure that society is makes use of both established and new knowledge.
Specific goals
The dissemination of research results should be perceived as an integral part of the research process.
The Department will maintain good contact with institutions and teams that have particular needs and abilities to benefit from our research results.
The Department will disseminate research directly through the Department’s social media accounts, via book launches and in the form of other open academic events aimed at the general public at the University of Oslo and elsewhere.
The Department will make research-based knowledge available to the public, potential future students, and the Norwegian public sector via the mass media, by employees agreeing to be interviewed by journalists and participating in relevant radio and television programmes whenever relevant.
The Department will provide research-based knowledge to policymakers and central and local government bodies upon request, as long as staff availability permits.
The Department will make research-based knowledge available to parties, stakeholder organizations, NGOs, and trade and industry, to the extent that our capacity allows.
The Department will make research-based knowledge available to the international public through the mass media and to decision makers in international organizations when relevant.
Organization, working environment and staff
General goals
The Department of Political Science’s organization as an institution and as a workplace must support our core tasks and strategic goals for research, education, and dissemination.
Specific goals
The Department will have a defined organizational structure that ensures clear distribution of responsibilities, good information flow, real opportunities for participation and transparency in key decisions.
The Department will have a well-structured organization of academic employees’ research and teaching activities adapted to the size of the Department.
The Department will ensure efficient and predictable management of resources within an appropriate management structure.
The Department will have a transparent, well-managed and healthy economy, which ensures sufficient freedom for the successful development of research, education, and dissemination.
The Department will plan the total teaching and research project activities and manage the use of educational resources in such a way that the employees’ research time is safeguarded (i.e. no employee should have more than one semester’s surplus or deficit in the teaching account system).
The Department’s units for administration of academic affairs, research administration and other support functions will be efficiently organized. The organizational structure will facilitate good interaction between academic and administrative personnel.
The organizational structure will facilitate the dynamic development of research initiatives and research groups that can achieve critical mass in terms of expertise and activities necessary for competitive research in their field.
The Department will ensure an inclusive team culture that encourages dialogue, collaboration, knowledge sharing and development in respect of research, education, and dissemination.
Ensuring a good working environment is the responsibility of both the management and each individual employee and will be supported by motivating management forms, where the employees have autonomy and a high level of influence on the organization of their daily work.
The Department of Political Science should be an attractive workplace, for administrative and academic staff alike, where everyone has good opportunities for professional development.
The Department will attract highly qualified employees to all types of post. The Department will recruit outstanding researchers and educators to permanent academic positions, and over time ensure that the balance of the staff’s expertise covers a wide range of different fields and academic methods.
The Department’s postdoctoral researchers will be given the opportunity to develop a research profile and expertise that makes them qualified to apply for a position as an associate professor at Norwegian universities or similar, tenured positions in other countries.
The Department will ensure a balance of permanent and temporary academic positions that supports the core tasks in respect of both research and teaching.
The Department will have a good gender balance in all job categories and will aim to achieve a higher proportion of women among the permanent academic staff.
C-REX – Centre for Research on Extremism
The Centre for Research on Extremism (C-REX) is a research centre at the Department of Political Science that conducts research into right-wing extremism, hate crimes and political violence. C-REX opened on 1 February 2016 and has a scheduled end date of 31 January 2026. On 12 December 2023, the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget), passed a request resolution asking the government to ensure continued funding of C-REX after this date. However, it is not yet clear how such funding is to be provided.
C-REX aims to be a leading research environment on right-wing extremism and related topics, and to function as a hub in the development of an interdisciplinary research environment in the field in Norway.
The Centre’s researchers will achieve recognition at a high international level through their publications and their contributions at international conferences.
The Centre will communicate results to practitioners, the general public, and academia.
C-REX collaborates with other units at the University of Oslo, and with researchers and research groups at other educational and research institutions.