The Norwegian Research School in History

The National Research School in History (NRSH) has nine partner institutions, all universities or colleges with PhD students in history and related fields. In addition, the National Library is a strategic partnership institution. NRSH aims to strengthen students' intellectual reach, specialist competencies, and transferable skills. The courses help build networks among PhD candidates, crossing national and institutional boundaries. The Research School also facilitates sharing experiences regarding PhD education across institutions. Organization: All partner institutions participate in the board. During the period 2019-2022, Professor Hanne Hagtvedt Vik from the University of Oslo (UiO) led NRSH and the board. In the period 2023-2024, Associate Professor Ada Nissen from UiO has taken over this role. Each partner institution has one representative, and the board also includes two PhD student members. Until summer 2023, it also had two external members – Professors Regina Grafe at the European University Institute in Florence and Charlotte Appel from Aarhus University. The board meets annually, and between meetings, designated board members assist Nissen in matters of importance to the Research School. PhD candidates, teachers, and the NRSH leadership evaluate all courses to learn best practices for future courses. UiO is the host institution for NRSH. Activities: NRSH offered its first course funded by NFR in December 2019, organized by the University of Oslo. In 2020-2021, the COVID-19 pandemic led to restructuring of the courses to fit a digital format. From 2022 to 2024, NRSH has offered a mix of physical and digital courses. Participation in the courses has been strong throughout the period. The courses receive good evaluations from students and teachers. Courses and activities: Theory, Methods, and Research Ethics, Basic Course, 5 ECTS: 2020, March: Methodological and theoretical problems in history, UiO. 2021, March: Methodological and theoretical problems in history, digital course, UiO. 2022, March: Theory, Methods, and Research Ethics in History, Oslo, UiO. 2023, March: Theory, Methods, and Research Ethics in History, Oslo, UiO 2024, March: Theory, Methods, and Research Ethics in History, Oslo, UiO Theory, Methods, and Research Ethics, Advanced Research Course, 3 ECTS: 2020, October: Multi-voice history with perspectives from indigenous and minority history, digital course, UiT. 2021, May: History and Materiality, digital course, UiB/BI. 2022, October, Quantifying History, NTNU 2023, October, Memory Wars: Conflicting and Contested Pasts, UiT History in Use, Advanced Research Course on Major Societal Challenges - University Staff and Practitioners Together, 3 ECTS: 2019, December: History in Society: Examples from Environmental and Climate History, UiO. 2021, September: History in Society: The Case of Migration, digital course, UiA. 2024, June: History in Society: Ideas, Ideologies, Politics, UiO Career Development and Research Communication Courses, 1 ECTS: 2020, March: Digital Humanities for Historians, Oslo, UiO. 2020, October: Remembering Contested and Repressed Pasts, digital course, UiT. 2021, October: Write for the Public, digital course, UiA 2022, March: Digital Humanities for Historians, UiO. 2022, October: Quantitative Methods in History, NTNU 2023, March: Digital History, National Library 2023, May: Writing Book Reviews, UiA 2023, October: Public History, UiT 2024, March: Digital History, National Library Thesis Seminars: 2020, June: How to Craft Great Titles, digital course, UiT. 2020, September: How to Situate Your Thesis in the Historiography, digital course, UiB. 2020, November/December: How to Formulate a Persuasive Argument? Digital course, NTNU. 2021, February: How to Write Introductions to Chapters and Articles, digital course, UiA. 2021, June: New Digital Archives and Tools, digital course, HiV. 2021, September: How to Give Presentations at Academic Conferences, Tromsø, UiT. 2022, February: How to Write Convincingly about Theory and Methods, digital, Nord. 2022, June: The Art of Condensed Writing - The Writing of Abstracts, UiB 2022, September: Editing for Clarity, digital, USN 2023, February: Writer's Block, Volda 2023, June: Writing and Receiving Peer Reviews, UiA 2023, September: How to Situate Your Thesis in the Historiography?, HVL 2023, October: Public History - Sensitive and Contested Pasts on Display, UiT 2024, June: How to Write a Good Introduction?, Nord Other activities: 2020, Feb: Steering committee meeting 2021, Feb: Steering committee meeting, 2021, Sep: Round table discussion at Norwegian History Days in Tromsø: Assessing a PhD in history. 2022, Apr: Steering committee meeting 2022, Sept: Steering committee meeting 2023, Mar: Steering committee meeting 2023, Mar: Ethics in historical research: workshop for supervisors, UiO 2023, Sep: Steering committee meeting 2024, Apr: Steering committee meeting

Den nasjonale forskerskolen i historie har bidratt til styrke forskerutdanningen til doktorgradsstipendiater i historie i Norge. Ved å delta på forskerkurs og –workshoper har stipendiater ved forskerskolens medlemsinstitusjoner blitt utfordret til å tenke nytt om de teoretiske innfallsvinklingene og den metodiske fremgangsmåten i sine forskningsprosjekter. Deltakerne har også fått opplæring i de nyeste utviklingene innen forskningsetiske problemstillinger i historiefaget, både nasjonalt og internasjonalt. I tillegg har stipendiatene tilknyttet forskerskolens medlemsinstitusjoner fått regelmessig kursing i ferdigheter som er karrierefremmende i og utenfor akademia. Dette har blant annet inkludert kurs i digital humaniora, deltakelse i offentlig debatt, skriving for bredere publikum innenfor ulike sjangre, podcast-produksjon, historiekunnskapens rolle i politisk arbeid (Sannhets- og forsoningskommisjonen), og presentasjonsteknikk. Ledene fagpersoner i Norge har blitt invitert til å trene stipendiatene i ferdigheter med sikte på å løfte kvaliteten på avhandlingene deres og øke synlighet av deres forskning i samfunnet. Stipendiater ved forskerskolens medlemsinstitusjoner har deltatt på avhandlingsworkshoper som har blitt arrangert tre ganger årlig i løpet av prosjektperioden. Her har de lagt fram og diskutert sitt avhandlingsarbeid med andre stipendiater og fagpersoner i det nasjonale fagmiljøet i historie. På et strukturelt nivå har NRSHs virksomhet bidratt til å styrke Norges akademiske utdanning for ph.d.-kandidater i historie. Samarbeidet mellom de ni partnerinstitusjonene har bidratt til å utjevne forskjeller i forskerutdanningene som tilbys historikere. Gjennom forskerskolens tilbud har man etablert et strukturert kurstilbud og skapt nye nettverk og samarbeid mellom utdanningsprogrammer, fagmiljøer og undervisningsressurser som tidligere opererte relativt isolert. Dette ble fremhevet i Norges forskningsråds evaluering av humaniora i 2017 (Rapport fra panel 5, s. 6). Forskerskolens arbeid har dermed også bidratt til å styrke det nasjonale tilbudet for historie-stipendiater, og spilt en viktig rolle i å øke den internasjonale attraktiviteten til norske ph.d.-programmer på dette området. Gjennom sin kursvirksomhet har NRSH også støttet opp om internasjonalisering, både gjennom å sette stipendiatenes egen forskning i kontakt med internasjonale diskusjoner innen teori, metode og mer spesifisert kunnskap, samt gjennom å legge til rette for brede kontaktflater. Undervisere og stipendiater ved forskerskolen har hatt ulike internasjonale bakgrunner, og miljøet ved skolen har derfor hatt en tydelig internasjonal karakter. Fremover vil NRSH drive videre med utgangspunkt i erfaringer og kompetanse opparbeidet i den NFR-finansierte perioden. Det vil foregå i tett dialog med skolens partnerinstitusjoner og deres respektive forskerutdanningstilbud. Målet er å opprettholde et mer strømlinjeformet og bedre integrert kurstilbud nasjonalt.

In January 2018, the eight partners to this application initiated a trial national PhD training school in history. The 26 students and 18 teachers who participated in the two pilot courses rated the experience highly. We are now seeking RCN-funding to build on this successful beginning to create a robust research school in history. The school will encompass all historical periods and thematic orientations and supplement existing training. The institutional partners, faculty members, and their students specialize in a variety of sub-disciplines and differ in theoretical inspiration and methodological approach. Bringing this variety together will secure broad disciplinary knowledge and training for our doctoral students. It will also contribute to eliminating disparities in research training and among Norwegian institutions noted in the Research Council of Norway’s 2017 Evaluation of the Humanities (Report from Panel 5, p. 6). We will annually organize 2(3) disciplinary courses, 2 workshops to develop professional skills, 3 manuscript symposia and 1 forum for supervisors. Teachers will come from the partner institutions or be prominent academics and professionals from other institutions in Norway and abroad. Courses venues will be in all parts of Norway. The Research School will continually seek to establish cooperations with international and national institutions in order to provide students with insights and national and international networks that may be helpful for their projects and professional careers. The Steering Committee will focus on sharing best practices and will include scholars with extensive experience in PhD education at internationally renowned history departments. In the first tree-year period, these will be Professor and Head of Department Regina Grafe of the European University Institute and Professor Charlotte Appel from Aarhus University. We expect an average of 40-45 individual students on our activities each year.