Background
NORCE Norwegian Research Center AS (NORCE) was founded in July 2017 to create a powerhouse for research that will lead the way in innovation, value creation and research.
NORCE continues to build on the legacy of the research institutes Agderforskning, Christian Michelsen Research (CMR), GenØk - Centre for Biosafety, International Research Institute of Stavanger AS (IRIS), Norut - Northern Research Institute, Uni Research Polytec, Uni Research and Teknova.
In January 2018, NORCE took over the ownership of Uni Research AS, the International Research Institute of Stavanger AS (IRIS), Christian Michelsen Research AS (CMR), Agderforskning AS and Teknova AS.
The business was fully integrated in the autumn of 2018 when the five former institutes were merged into NORCE.
In December 2018, NORCE took over the ownership of Norut Northern Research Institute AS, which was merged into NORCE in 2019.
The GenØk Center for Biosafety was infused in December 2021.
The owners' ambitions are for NORCE to:
- contribute to change and innovation in the private and public sectors
- strengthen research-based innovation and development
- increase their national and international competitiveness
- increase opportunities for their competence to be used across disciplines and sectors
- increase their chances when competing for EU research funding
The largest owners in NORCE are the four universities in Bergen, Stavanger, Agder and Tromsø, either as direct owners or through regional holding companies. Other owners are local authorities, research foundations and companies in industry and finance.
We trace the oldest heritage we manage back to 1930 with the establishment of Stiftelsen Chr. Michelsens Institutt, the first polytechnic institute in Norway. Later, in 1992 the natural science department became Christian Michelsen Research (CMR).
