“I felt that now I need to give something back,” says Letizia Jaccheri. She was named this year’s ODA Awards Woman and recently won a gender equality award at NTNU.

Ulf Sverdrup, Director of NUPI, is seeking talented researchers among students with immigrant backgrounds. He is calling for a new diversity programme.

When universities and university colleges look to increase their ethnic diversity, they often choose the path of internationalization. “In Norway, we are by no means done discussing what diversity really means,” says Beret Bråten.

A new survey report reveals that many Norwegian research institutes lack action plans and that no universities are satisfied with their efforts to increase ethnic diversity.

More than a year has passed since a virus pandemic shut down most of society, including the university and university college sector. Researchers with young children as well as teaching duties and research to conduct have been squeezed the hardest, according to recent research.

“My impression is that many PhD students and post-docs get used as workhorses on research projects,” says a former employee representative for researchers.

Headhunting top international researchers does not necessarily make academia more diverse. Diversity is not achieved by hiring from a pool of academics from well-known US universities, says Mariel Aguilar-Støen.

But the vast majority of them are foreign researchers. Immigrants educated in Norway and descendants of immigrants are underrepresented in Norwegian academia, new statistics show.

The top five news articles in 2020 deal with topics such as sexual harassment, discrimination, COVID-19's effect on scientific productivity, and new EU demands for gender equality plans.

Many students with non-Western backgrounds pursue challenging educational programmes. For them, sibling support is an important resource.

A new EU report shows how gender and sex analysis can make research better and more creative – including in disciplines that have not yet incorporated them.

Beginning next year, a research organization applying to Horizon Europe will need to have a gender equality plan to be eligible for funding. But Heidi Holt Zachariassen and Curt Rice of Norway’s KIF committee wonder if that will be enough to achieve real change that is inclusive for all.

The assumption that male academics publish more than their female colleagues is deeply ingrained. But new analysis shows that much of the difference vanishes if you dig into the numbers.

While Norwegian Centres of Excellence are at the cutting edge of research, they are low on gender balance. Many believe the centres should be role models in gender balance and diversity.