Challenges to human, animal, and environmental health aren’t contained by geopolitical boundaries. Thanks to the Norwegian Centennial Chair program (NOCC), neither are efforts to address them — at least when it comes to the U.S. and Norway.
NOCC was established after the Norwegian government gave the University of Minnesota $750,000 to help endow a chair in bioenergy, genomics, and food safety. The University matched the grant, creating a fund to support the activities of the chair, including cultivating research partnerships between UMN and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). Later the University of Oslo joined the partnership. Over the years, the three-way partnership — which has been renewed twice, with additional funding provided – has sparked numerous interdisciplinary, transnational research initiatives through a seed grant program for faculty from all three institutions as well as travel grants for students and faculty. Priority areas include biotechnology, solutions to environmental challenges, human and animal health, bio-manufacturing, food safety, and more.
