Norwegian Researcher School in Geography

The Norwegian Researcher School in Geography (2013-2018) has been organised as a network of institutions. Its member institutions have been the Department of geography at the University of Bergen, the Department of sociology and human geography at the University of Oslo, and the Department of geography at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The School has been coordinated and administered at NTNU. The aims of the Researcher School have been to renew and improve PhD courses for the candidates; increase the recruitment of candidates; increase the quality control of the PhD education; internationalization; improve the flow of information; and to strengthen the identity to and cooperation within the discipline. These aims have primarily been met through the 21 PhD courses that have been arranged. The courses have recruited widely, and in many cases been over-subscribed. Two of the courses have been Nordic courses. This reflects the School?s work to upscale to a Nordic level. Geography is nationally as small discipline, and in order to ensure recruitment to courses, including more systematic cooperation, the upscaling has proved to be an important maneuver. The funding of the Research School in Geography has been a very important measure in order to more systematically increase the attention to and activities related to the research education. This not only applies to the candidates, but also to permanent staff at the member institutions. It has been very rewarding to organize courses, and the courses have been well received among the candidates. With the end of the funding, it is notable that activities will come to an end because of a lack of financial resources. In future work on the PhD education in geography, it will be important to look into models to continue to finance PhD courses, in addition to seeking ways to continue to cooperate both nationally and internationally.

Den norske forskerskolen i geografi (2013-2018) har bidratt til å fornye og forbedre forskerutdanningen i disiplinen gjennom systematisk satsing på et bredt og forutsigbart kurstilbud. Det er arbeidet bevisst med kvalitetsheving i utdanningen, en internasjonal profil, og halvveis i prosjektperioden, en oppskalering til et nordisk nivå. Forskerskolen har bidratt til økt samarbeid mellom institusjonene, ikke minst fordi kandidatene har deltatt på kurs på tvers av institusjonell tilknytning. En oppskalering til nordisk nivå har utvidet rekrutteringsbasen for kursvirksomheten, samtidig som det har bidratt til å skape nye nettverk og forsterket allerede eksisterende nettverk. En sentral utfordring som kommer ut av forskerskolen er å finne former for videre nasjonalt og internasjonalt samarbeid (bl.a. mht. finansiering av kurs), når den eksterne finansieringen har tatt slutt.

The Norwegian Researcher School in Geography will be run by a network of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the University of Bergen and the University of Oslos. The Researcher School will provide a unified framework for developing and re newing geography in Norway by facilitating an integrated and comprehensive PhD education of high international standard. The Norwegian Researcher School in Geography will be composed of three permanent courses where methodological and core theoretical iss ues are targeted, with an aim to ensure continued development and renewal of Norwegian geography. It will further provide a context as well as a website gateway where one-off courses related to thematic initiatives and cross-cutting activities can be prom oted to attract national and international interest. The Researcher School will also help internationalisation by involving international capacities in the PhD courses, promoting joint courses with other Nordic countries, attracting international students and by providing a website gateway where international networks can be made available for PhD candidates planning to spend time abroad.