University of Bergen


The University of Bergen is a public research university in Bergen, Norway. As of 2021, the university had over 4,000 employees and 19,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 1946 consolidating several scientific institutions that dated as far back as 1825. It is Norway's second-oldest university, and is considered to be one of the nation’s four so-called "established universities." It has faculties and programmes in all the academic fields typical of a classical university, as well as such degree programmes as medicine and law that, traditionally, only the “established universities” are authorized by law to offer. It is also one of Norway's leading universities in many of the natural sciences, including marine research and climate research. It has consistently been ranked in the top 200 or top one percent of universities in the world, and as one of the best 10 or best 50 universities worldwide in some fields, such as earth and marine sciences. It is part of the Coimbra Group and of the U5 group of Norway's oldest and highest-ranked universities.

History

The university traces its roots to several earlier scientific and scholarly institutions founded in Bergen. Academic activity had taken place in Bergen since the founding of Bergen Cathedral School in 1153, the Seminarium Fredericianum in 1750 and the establishment of the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy in 1817. Academia and higher education would also be significantly advanced in the city with the establishment of Bergen Museum, later renamed University Museum of Bergen, in 1825. Founded by Wilhelm Frimann Christie and Jacob Neumann, the museum became a venue for both research and education specialized on natural science, and featured prominent researcher like Michael Sars, Daniel Cornelius Danielssen and Fridtjof Nansen.
Bergen eventually became a city with several arenas for higher education and research with the Geophysical Institute being established in 1917, the Chr. Michelsen Institute in 1930, the Norwegian School of Economics in 1936 and finally the university in 1946. The University of Bergen was established by an act of parliament in 1946, as Norway's second university.

Rector elections

2021

Organization

The University of Bergen has an elected rector. The current rector is Margareth Hagen, who was elected for a four-year term starting 1 August 2021 after serving as interim rector.
The university has 7 faculties, the newest being The Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design which was established in 2017. The University of Bergen Library and the University Museum of Bergen have a faculty-like status. Most of the university campus and administration is located in the Nygård neighbourhood, which has resulted in the campus area often being referred to as Nygårdshøyden or simply Høyden, meaning "the hill".

International relations

The university is an active member of the University of the Arctic. UArctic is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of more than 200 universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arctic region.
The university also participates in UArctic's mobility program north2north. The aim of that program is to enable students of member institutions to study in different parts of the North.

Academics

The University of Bergen has three strategic areas:
In 2010 the university was ranked as number 135 worldwide by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and 181st worldwide by the 2015/16 QS World University Rankings. UiB was also ranked number 148 worldwide in the July 2010 Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. The URAP has ranked UiB for 2014/2015 as the 219th worldwide.

Tuition

The University of Bergen, in common with other Norwegian universities, does not charge tuition fees, except for students coming from outside the EU. Students are however required to be members of the student welfare organisation. As of 2024, this fee is NOK 690 per semester, and provides access to several services, including cultural activities, childcare, refunds for many medical expenses and subsidized accommodation. NOK 40 of the fee is a donation to the SAIH, a student charity, but this is optional.

Faculties

Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design

The Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design was established on 1 January 2017. It is composed of the earlier Grieg Academy – Department of Music, and the Bergen Academy of Art and Design.
  • The Art Academy – Department of Contemporary Art
  • The Grieg Academy - Department of Music
  • Department of Design

    Faculty of Humanities

  • Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities
  • Centre for Women and Gender Research
  • Department of Archeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion
  • Department of Foreign Languages
  • Department of Linguistics, Literary and Aesthetical studies
  • Department of Philosophy and First Semester Studies
  • The Grieg Academy – Department of Music
Two Norwegian Centres of Research Excellence are hosted at the Faculty of Humanities:
  • Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour
  • Center for Digital Narrative
The faculty revised its structure and names in August 2007.

Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law was established as a separate faculty in 1980, with legal studies and research having been conducted at the university since 1969. The faculty is one of three Norwegian institutions which offer legal studies, the other two being the law faculties at the University of Oslo and the University of Tromsø. The faculty offers a five-year programme leading to a Master's degree in law and a three-year PhD programme, and currently has approximately 1900 students.

Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

As of 1 January 2023 the faculty is organised into the following seven departments:
The Faculty is tied to a number of centres:
Centres of Excellence in Research:
  • Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting
Centres of Research-based Innovation:
  • Climate Futures
  • Smart Ocean
  • Sea Lice Research Centre
Centres of Excellence in Education:
  • BioCEED
Other important units and centres:
Since January 2013 the faculty is organised in the following departments and units:
The University of Bergen is the only institution in the Nordic countries where the study of psychology has been assigned to its own faculty. Established in 1980, it educates psychologists and is responsible for the university's pedagogic education.

Alumni

  • Knut Olav Åmås, writer, editor, and politician
  • Leif Ove Andsnes, pianist and chamber musician
  • Jon Fosse, author and dramatist, Nobel laureate in Literature
  • Lars Gule, philosopher and social commentator
  • Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General UNCTAD
  • Karl Ove Knausgård, author
  • Tom Mollnes, immunologist and academic
  • Torbjørn Mork, Director of the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision
  • Monica Mæland, Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry
  • Freda Nkirote, Director of the British Institute in Eastern Africa and President of the Pan-African Archaeological Association
  • Iselin Nybø, Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry
  • Bernt Østhus, lawyer, investor, photographer
  • Sveinung Rotevatn, Norwegian Minister of Climate and the Environment
  • Lars Henrik Smedsrud, Norwegian polar oceanographer and an academic
  • Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway
  • Hans-Wilhelm Steinfeld, journalist and writer
  • Grethe Fatima Syéd, literary scholar, translator, and author

    Faculty

  • Frank Aarebrot, comparative politics
  • Fredrik Barth, social anthropology
  • Jan Fridthjof Bernt, law
  • Margunn Bjørnholt, sociology
  • Julia Brannen, sociology
  • Tom Colbjørnsen, sociology
  • Michael Fellows, computer science
  • Per Fugelli, medicine
  • Knut Fægri, botany
  • Gabriel Gustafson, archeology
  • Pinar Heggernes, computer science
  • Gudmund Hernes, sociology
  • Helga Hernes, sociology and political science
  • Georg Johannesen, rhetoric
  • Stein Kuhnle, sociology and political science
  • Johan Olsen, political science
  • Stein Rokkan, sociology and political science
  • Gunnar Skirbekk, philosophy
  • Harald Sverdrup, oceanographer and meteorologist
  • Sigve Tjøtta, mathematics