- We are proud to be part of these two SFIs. Projects such as these are at the heart of what BI does as a provider of research-based education, bringing together the most knowledgeable and skilled researchers from across Norway and the world. I want to congratulate the faculty involved and look forward to seeing the academic and societal impact these centres will have, says Provost Hilde C. Bjørnland.
Centre for Rescue of Earth Materials and Waste in the Circular economy
Marit Sjøvaag, Per Espen Stoknes, Espen Skaldehaug and Eivind Furuseth will look at how Norway can build a circular economy.
The aim is to build a leading national and international centre for research and innovation on sustainable use of earth materials. The centre comprises 29 partners, including research and teaching institutions like BI, major businesses like Skanska and several counties and municipalities.
- Earth materials represent the greatest volume of waste and although the rate of recycling is high, we do not use resources as effectively as we could if we had a better understanding of pollution, better technology and an improved regulatory framework. I’m very excited to work with so many different organizations and businesses on finding more sustainable solutions, says Associate Professor Marit Sjøvaag.
Centre for Research-Based Innovation on Mobile Health
Per Ingvar Olsen, Thomas Hoholm and Kari Kværner will look at better ways to evaluate digital mental health treatments.
The aim of the centre is to expand use of digital mental health interventions and improve their effect compared with standard treatment. The centre comprises 22 partners, including research institutions, health organizations and businesses who will develop new models for assessing the economic impact, service design and implementation of different treatments methods. For BI, this is an opportunity to further research from the current SFI Centre for Connected care.
- Use of digital mental health treatments is increasing, and we see good effects from them. At the same time, many treatments are in early innovation stages, and it is difficult to assess their potential because there are so many unknowns. This makes it difficult for decision makers to prioritize, and for innovative companies and people to get breakthroughs for their products. In this SFI we will therefore develop and test methods for early stage decision support, says Associate Professor Thomas Hoholm.
Sustainability is key
- The centres are especially important for new industries with a need for research competence and technology development. With long-term investments in collaboration between business and research, we build a solid foundation for the green transition and future employment, says Director of the Research Council of Norway (RCN) John-Arne Røttingen.
- Sustainability is one of BI’s strategic priorities and both centres are clearly relevant to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals, says Bjørnland.