Professor II position in natural hazard at the Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo

Climate related natural hazard events have become more frequent, and several serious events have occurred in Norway recently. Precipitation, and both the frequency and intensity of extreme events increase in most regions. Projections through this century show the same trend, and there is an increasing need for adaptation of buildings and other infrastructure. This again necessitates increased focus on education and research on geohazards. The evaluation of Norwegian geosciences in 2011 pointed at a lack of focused education in natural hazards, as well as a significant potential for improvement in cooperation and coordination in both research and education in this field. The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, NGI, has the largest geohazard research community in Norway. Between 2003 and 2012, NGI and Department of Geosciences (DG) at UiO cooperated closely on both education and research within the SFF (CoE) 'International Center for Geohazards' (ICG). The present project has contributed to re-establish a closer cooperation between the two organizations, as well as with other relevant organizations. DG and NGI are complementary in that DG focuses on education and basic research, whereas NGI focuses on applied research and consulting, and therefore will ensure fast application of research results in society. The Prof. II position for Anders Solheim has formed a 'hub' between the two organizations and has contributed to strengthening and coordinating the geohazard education, coordinating research and research proposals, as well as improved communication and cooperation between the university and the institute sector. The activities have comprised: ? General introductory presentations on Natural Hazards for new students at UiO. ? Lectures in the course GEO4181 ? Introduction to natural hazards, and GEO4171 ? Floods and landslides, incl. full-day excursion.. ? Supervision of MSc. students, with thesis topics from NGI's research projects: o 3 students finished in the spring of 2017, in topics within debris flows, snow avalanches and rock fall. o 2 students finished in the spring 2018, focussing on debris flows and debris avalanches. o 4 students finished in 2019. Two were about precipitation induced landslides, one was on run-out modelling of snow avalanches, and the last focused on erosion and sediment transport during floods events. o 2 students are doing thesis work on numerical modelling of snow avalanches and quick clay slides, respectively, to finish in the summer 2020 (UiO has extended the Prof.II position with 0,5 year). o 3 students have strated thesis work on rock-fall, to finish spring 2021 (Solheim is co-supervisor). o Since 2016, a total of 7 MSc theses have been connected to SFI-Klima2050, in which NGI is one of the partners. The other theses are connected to NGI's research on snow avalanches and internally NGI-funded research projects, respectively. ? Meetings with and advising new students in geohazards; what courses to take, potential thesis subjects, job possibilities, etc. ? Travel and meetings in China, 2016, and in Korea, 2017, to establish research cooperation with Chinese and Korean organizations. A contact network is established, particularly in China, which has been followed up, but so far has not resulted in projects, due to lack of funding. ? Actions towards other Norwegian universities in order to establish closer cooperation in geohazards education. Meetings were held at the University of Bergen and the University College in Sogndal (HiSF) in 2016, and this work continued in 2017, through the informal body 'Geofarerådet'. A main aim was to coordinate the geohazard education in all the main universities, and to establish one joint, web based course in geohazards, which can be followed by students from all the main universities. This initiative was followed up by UiB, and a course starts in the fall 2020. ? Planning the conference 'Geofaredagen'. The conference, which has main focus on students and student theses, was held at NGI in the fall 2017, at NORSAR, Kjeller in 2018, at UiB in 2019, and will be held at UiT in 2020. All has attracted >100 students. Solheim has been member of the program committee for the first three events. ? Contributed to a seminar series at UiO, in which NGI scientists give presentations on natural hazard subjects. The seminars have given UiO colleagues a better insight in NGI's activities. UiO colleagues have also given seminars at NGI. ? Promoted cooperation on research proposals. UiO was partner with NGI in proposals to the KLIMAFORSK program in 2017 and 2019, and in a large proposal for an SFI, submitted in 2019 (not yet decided on). ? General participation in ongoing activities at Dept. of Geosciences at UiO, such as being internal reviewer at MSc. Exams, advice students, and also be present and available at the institute.

Prof. II stillingen har bidratt til et tettere samarbeid mellom Institutt for geofag ved UiO og NGI innen temaet geofarer, gjennom: -Forelesninger i mastergrads kurs -Veiledning av 11 MSc. oppgaver, tilknyttet FoU prosjekter ved NGI. -Veiledning av nye studenter mht. studievalg og jobbmuligheter. -Lunsj-foredrag, ved begge inst. Bedre samarbeid og koordinering av undervisning og FoU innen geofarer i Norge, gjennom: -Initiativ til felles undervisning i geofarer, som UiB har fulgt opp og starter et nytt felles, web-basert kurs H2020. -Etablering og ledelse av 'Geofarerådet'. -Etablering av 'Geofaredagen', et årlig arrangement og treffpunkt for studenter inne geofarer. -Deltakelse i arbeidet med SFU søknaden 'iEarth'. -Felles NGI-UiO søknader til Forskningsrådet. Virkninger på samfunnet gjennom: -Utdanning av kandidater som er relevante for næringsliv, offentlig sektor og U&H sektoren. -Bidrag til FoU resultater som raskt tas i bruk, bl.a. gjennom SFI-Klima2050.

During fall 2014, Norway has faced dramatic events related to natural hazards, with the exceptional high rock creep velocities along the Mannen landslide in Romsdalen, and the extreme flooding events, which were accompanied with debris flows in the Flåm and Voss area (western Norway). This fall illustrates a situation, which colleagues expect to be more frequent during the future. There are various demands from the public, that Norway have to improve its ability to adapt to these changing conditions (mitigation), and predict the landslide and flooding event dynamics (hazard) and associated consequences (risk). To facilitate this demand, natural hazards in education and research has to be discussed and focussed on both a regional and national level. In the geo-evaluation, the paucity of determined study programs in natural hazard along with fragmented research and education and the need for this knowledge in society has been emphasized. In view of the high current and future societal demand, and inadequate teaching capacity and programme structure, there is an urgent need for co-ordination, co-operation and potentially concentration/focusing of education and research within natural hazards in Norway, in particular in and around Oslo where a number of actors in the field are concentrated. This application (NatHaz) seeks for funding of an Adjunct professor position in natural hazard to strengthen and build further on the cooperation between the Department of Geosciences (UiO) as a basic research institution and the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) who brings this research into society and to customers. Based on this pre-established co-operation we see the need to facilitate and strengthen interaction between other groups within the field towards the integrative national and international network that is adequate to deal with natural hazards.