Organizers

The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology

The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, which includes the National Medical Museum and the Oslo Science Centre, is the national museum for technology, industry, science and medicine. The Museum has over 260 000 visitors per year and is committed to providing an open, democratic and safe arena for informed public discussions on contemporary social challenges. The Museum is one of Norway´s acknowledged research institutions with several research and communication projects in the areas of technology, science, medicine and health, as well as museum theory and practice. The Museum aims to document, elucidate, and critically examine how these areas have influenced and been influenced by social and cultural developments. To fulfil this mission, it frequently hosts academic conferences, workshops and seminars, in addition to public lectures and events, and has established strong networks of cooperation with national and international institutions and other museums.

During the last decade, the Museum has developed a number of award-winning temporary exhibits, such as “Klima X” (on climate change, 2007), “Mind Gap” (on the culture of brain research, 2011), and “The Thing” (on the interactions between technology and democracy, 2014). In March 2018, the Museum opened a new exhibition, entitled “FOLK: from racial types to DNA sequences” which explores research on human biological variation by juxtaposing interwar racial science and contemporary genetics. Participants will have the opportunity to visit the exhibition during the meeting.

Visit Website

The University of Oslo

The University of Oslo is a leading European university and Norway´s largest academic institution with 7000 employees and 28 000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. Since its establishment in 1811, the University has been one of the most significant actors for the county´s development, and has had important contributions in international research and innovation. It currently consists of the Faculties of Humanities, Law, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Medicine, Dentistry, Social Sciences, Theology, and Educational Sciences.

Visit Website

Open in map

Department of Biosciences – IBV

The Department of Biosciences (IBV) was established in 2013, following the merge of the Departments of Molecular Biosciences and Biology. It consists of the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and four research sections; Aquatic Biology and Toxicology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Physiology and Cell Biology, Genetics and Evolutionary Biology. The Department´s research covers a broad spectre of subjects and aims at understanding the fundamental biological processes from the molecular and cellular level to the population and ecosystem level. With 130 employees, about 175 PhD students, and postdoctoral researchers, and more than 650 undergraduate and postgraduate students, it is a nationally and internationally renowned teaching, research and innovation institution.

Museum of University History – MUV

MUV was established in 2001 and has since 2005 been part of the Museum of Cultural History. Its main aims are to communicate, document, preserve and develop knowledge related to the history of science and the history of the University of Oslo with special emphasis on the architectural heritage. The University historical photo base is MUV´s most significant documentation project and contains 30 000 digitized photographs from around 1860 to today. MUV contributes to research through the use of the rich written and photographic sources and archival material of the University, in addition to interviews and personal memoirs. All University buildings are used to mount permanent and temporary exhibitions and for public events, while the Museum personnel gives lectures for students and interest groups.

Institute of Health and Society – Helsam

The Institute of Health and Society (Helsam) at the Faculty of Medicine was established in 2010 as a merge of three former departments. Helsam research and teaching span a broad field and stem from the premise that health and well-being are influenced by the culture and society we live in. The Institute is home to 300 employees, about 170 PhD researchers and just under 700 undergraduate and postgraduate students. The section for Medical Anthropology and Medical History researches the cultural and historical dimensions of health and illness/disease, and its activities include the intersecting thematic fields of the history of medical standardization, contemporary history of medicine in Norway, antibiotic resistance and the history of infectious disease, disability, sexual and reproductive health, Asian medicine, and the medicalization of everyday life.

TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture

TIK has been active for more than twenty years in the vanguard of national and international research, education and research communication in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Innovation Studies. The Centre consists of approximately 35 staff members and offers postgraduate education including the European master programme in Science and Technology Studies ESST. STS at TIK explores the role science and technology in environmental conflicts, the ways in which science and technology give rise to controversies related to nature and culture, and how scientific knowledge is used in politics, policy making and regulation of new technologies. Specific topics include epidemiology and environmental health in the age of genomics, the history of medicine and veterinary science and human-animal relationships.