Author: nilsolav

Meeting of Hub Directors in Bergen during László Lovász’ visit

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The AE-Bergen Knowledge Hub was honored to host László Lovász, the academic director of our sister hub in Budapest, for one evening during his Norway visit this spring. Possible cooperation was discussed.  

The academic director of the AE Hub in Budapest, mathematician László Lovász, was awarded the Abel Prize for 2021.

The academic director of the AE Hub in Budapest, mathematician László Lovász, was awarded the Abel Prize for 2021.

The academic director of the AE Hub in Budapest, mathematician László Lovász, was awarded the Abel Prize for 2021. Because of Covid restrictions last year, he visited the Norwegian Acadamy of Science and Letters this year instead. His week in Norway included 2 days in Rosendal in western Norway, as well at 3 days in Bergen, where a meeting with the AE-Bergen Hub took place.

László Lovász was awarded the 2021 Abel Prize jointly with Avi Wigderson.

– Lovász and Wigderson have been leading forces in the development of theoretical computer science and its mathematical foundations over the last few decades. Their work interlaces in many ways, and they have both made fundamental contributions to understanding randomness in computation and in exploring the boundaries of efficient computation, says Hans Munthe-Kaas, chair of the Abel Committee, and continues:

– Thanks to the ground-breaking work of these two, discrete mathematics and the relatively young field of theoretical computer science are now firmly established as central areas of modern mathematics.

Abel Prize winners Dennis Sullivan and László Lovász in Oslo. In the background Lise Øvreås, president of DNVA.

Abel Prize winners Dennis Sullivan and László Lovász in Oslo. In the background Lise Øvreås, president of DNVA. Photo: Natalia Demina / Abelprisen

Several opportunities for cooperation were discussed during the meeting between Hub directors László Lovász and Eystein Jansen. Among these were the thematic mission of the Budapest Hub: Methodology of Science Education, as well as Urban Sustainability. Of these, the theme of Urban Sustainability is a good fit with the focus on sustainability in the strategy of the Bergen Hub.

Recorded Event: Deep Sea Minerals at Arctic Frontiers Conference

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Explore the recording of a UiB and Academia Europaea Bergen Knowledge Hub organized Side Event at this year’s Arctic Frontiers Conference – “Race to the (seabed) bottom – realities and sustainability dilemmas in the demand for minerals”.

Vast quantities of metal-rich mineral deposits have been found in deep sea areas including deep sea regions of the Arctic and sub-Arctic. While the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has granted exploration licenses in various locations, in particular in the Pacific Ocean, several countries are planning to initiate exploration within their own jurisdiction. Norway being one of them.

The green transition generates a need for critical minerals, expected to be greater than the supply from existing land-based mining industry and recycling. Norway is in a position to become a leader in the exploration for deep-sea minerals. The race has started, and this event will address both challenges, opportunities, and dilemmas.

Does the Green Shift really need deep-sea minerals? Do deep-sea minerals have a potential for creating new industries? Is the technology advanced enough? Do we have the knowledge base needed to safely explore these resources without irreversible damage to surrounding ecosystems? How is Norway preparing for its 1st licensing round for deep-sea minerals, and how will this influence the arctic regions? Is the Norwegian Act on Mineral Activities on the Continental Shelf (Seabed Minerals Act) a sufficient regulatory framework? And finally; can deep-sea mineral extraction be sustainable enough to be justified?

Target audience: Industry professionals, environmental groups, policymakers, the geoscience community, and other stakeholders.

Regrettably, the sound quality is varying on this recording.

List of speakers:

  • Chair: Eystein Jansen (Scientific director of AE-Bergen Knowledge Hub, University of Bergen)
  • Andrew Bloodworth (Policy director, BGS – British Geological Survey Keyworth)
  • Walter Sognnes (CEO of Loke Minerals, Stavanger Norway)
  • Kaja Fjærtoft (Senior Advisor , Sustainable Oceans in WWF-Norway)
  • Pedro A. Ribeiro (Dr., UiB – University of Bergen)
  • Anita Parlow (MSt., Formerly Harvard-MIT Arctic Fisheries, Wilson Center Team Lead Polar Code Initiative, Fulbright Scholar-Iceland, United States)

Lecture by László Lovász – Graphs and Geometry

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In this lecture Professor László Lovász, Abel Prize Winner in 2021, will survey some forms of interplay between graph algorithms and geometry: algorithms for perfect graphs, maximum cut, connectivity, bandwidth.

The lecture: Graphs and Geometry

To represent a graph by a nice geometric picture is a natural goal in itself, but in addition it is an important tool in the study of  various graph properties and in the design of graph algorithms. We survey some forms of this interplay between graph algorithms and geometry: algorithms for perfect graphs, maximum cut, connectivity, bandwidth.

Everybody is welcome!

The lecture starts at 14.00, on Tuesday 31st of May 2022 in VilVite – Nash Auditorium, Thormøhlens gate 51.

Professor László Lovász

A brilliant mathematician since he was a teenager, László Lovász more than delivered on his early promise. Born in 1948 in Budapest, Hungary, he has also served his community as a writer of books, noted for their clarity and accessibility, as an inspirational lecturer, and as a leader, spending a term as president of the International Mathematical Union (2007-2010).

In the 1970s graph theory became one of the first areas of pure mathematics able to illuminate the new field of computational complexity. Lovasz later said that he was very lucky to experience one of those periods when mathematics was developing completely together with an application area. In addition to his work on the foundational underpinning of computer science, Lovász has also devised powerful algorithms with wide-ranging applications, such as the LLL algorithm, which has had remarkable applications in areas including number theory, cryptography and mobile computing.

In addition to recieving the Abel Prize in 2021 together with Avi Widgerson, Lovász has won many awards including the 1999 Wolf Prize, the 1999 Knuth Prize, the 2001 Gödel Prize and the 2010 Kyoto Prize.

Petroleumsindustrien og det grønne skiftet

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Petroleumsindustrien er nødvendig for det grønne skiftet

NTVA, Academia Europaea og Tekna inviterer til foredrag om CO2 lagring med omvisning på utstillingen “Vår porøse verden” på Universitetsmuseet i Bergen tirsdag 24. mai.

Om arrangementet
Store deler av Norges klimautslipp kommer fra aktivitet på norsk sokkel. For å bidra til en mer bærekraftig petroleumsindustri på norsk sokkel, ble nylig «Centre for Sustainable Subsurface Resources (CSSR)» etablert med NORCE som vertsinstitusjon, og med betydelig finansiering fra Forskningsrådet og industrien.

Foredragsholderne påpeker at til tross for stadig utbygging av fornybar energi, er fortsatt petroleumsproduksjon nødvendig, mens mer forurensende energikilder som kull fases ut. Derfor er elektrifiseringen av sokkelen et nødvendig tiltak for å nå Norges utslippsmål. Elektrifisering av sokkelen med et  stort innslag av fornybar energi, fører til mange tekniske muligheter og utfordringer. Spesielt er utfordringene innenfor reservoarforståelse og reservoarstyring knyttet til variabilitet i energiforsyning fra fornybare kilder, så vel som mulighetene som oppstår i forbindelse med H2 og CO2 lagring, viktige temaer som krever ny forskning på tvers av fagdisipliner.

I det nye forskningssenteret skal forskere utføre undersøkelse og utvikle ny teknologi innenfor de tre forskningsområdene: (1) Forståelse av undergrunnen med tanke på energieffektiv utnyttelse. (2) Digitalisering for kunnskapsbaserte beslutninger i det grønne skiftet. (3) Sikre langsiktig verdi for petroleumsindustrien i transisjonen til et nytt energilandskap.

Presentasjonen vil introdusere et nytt UiB konsept innen tverrfaglig forskning på lagring av klimagassen CO2 og knytte aktiv forskning til formidling i form av omvisning på utstillingen «Vår porøse verden» ved Universitetsmuseet i Bergen.

  • 18:00-19:00 –   Foredrag inkludert diskusjon: «Petroleumsindustrien er nødvendig for det grønne skiftet»  v/Sarah Gasda og Martin Fernø
  • 19:00-19:30 – Omvisning i utstillingen «Vår porøse verden» hvor vi også får demonstrert CO2-lagring i praksis  v/Martin Fernø
  • 19.30-20.00 – Lett servering for påmeldte

Praktisk informasjon
Arrangementet er gratis og åpent for alle interesserte. Av hensyn til matbestilling ønskes påmelding senest mandag 23. mai.

Foredraget finner sted på Universitetsmuseet i Bergen i “Forhandlingsrommet”. Benytt hovedinngangen til De naturhistoriske samlingene. Vær ute i god tid, da ytterdøren til bygget vil være stengt når foredraget starter.

Arrangører
NTVA og Academia Europaea Bergen i samarbeid med Tekna Bergen.

Recorded lecture: Yadvinder Malhi – The Metabolism of Planet Earth

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In this lecture Professor Yadvinder Malhi examines human influence on the natural world through the concept of metabolism: how much energy flows through human societies compared to how much flows through the biosphere. The lecture was held at the University of Bergen on April 25th, to mark the Darwin Day.

 

In this interesting lecture, prof. Yadvinder Malhi first looks at the biological metabolism of the planet, how it is measured and how it is distributed over the Earth. He then explores how these energy flows have changed through human history and prehistory, and scenarios for how they may change over this century, where human-appropriated energy flows threaten to overwhelm the life-sustaining metabolism of the planet.

The metabolic profile of a modern industrialised country (the UK) is explored detail: how much of our energy is directly consumed or embedded in products and in societal infrastructure?

The lecture was  a joint event organised by the Horizon Lecture Committee at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the Darwin Day Committee at the Department of Biological Sciences, and Academia Europaea Bergen Knowledge Hub. It is also available at Vimeo:

 

Lecture by Yadvinder Malhi – The Metabolism of Planet Earth

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The lecture: The Metabolism of Planet Earth

We live in a unique time in human and Earth history, when human influence on the planet is so persuasive that it is argued we have entered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. The consequences of this pervasive influence underlies the many environmental challenges we face, from climate change to depletion of marine resources and the loss and degradation of natural ecosystems.

The lecture starts at 16.15, on Monday 25th of April 2022.

In this lecture Professor Yadvinder Malhi examines human influence on the natural world through the concept of metabolism: how much energy flows through human societies compared to how much flows through the biosphere. We first look at the biological metabolism of the planet, how it is measured and how it is distributed over the Earth. He then explores how these energy flows have changed through human history and prehistory, and scenarios for how they may change over this century, where human-appropriated energy flows threaten to overwhelm the life-sustaining metabolism of the planet.

The metabolic profile of a modern industrialised country (the UK) is explored in particular detail: how much of our energy is directly consumed or embedded in products and in societal infrastructure? Malhi concludes by exploring possible pathways out of this predicament, of how to navigate a sustainable future on a human-dominated planet.

Everybody is welcome!

Refreshments will be served before the lecture, from 15.45 (requires registration). The lecture starts at 16.15, on Monday 25th of April 2022 in Egget at Studentsenteret. Find the event on Facebook.

Professor Yadvinder Malhi

Yadvinder Malhi is Professor of Ecosystem Science at the University of Oxford and Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery. His work focuses on the interactions between the biosphere and global change. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in many tropical countries in particular, and is founder of the Global Ecosystems Monitoring network, which conducts detailed studies of ecosystem processes and climate change in field sites ranging across Amazonia, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. More broadly he is interested in the challenge of maintaining a flourishing and sustaining biosphere under the challenges of global change, and how to deliver nature recovery at scale. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was awarded a CBE in the 2020 Queens’ Birthday Honours for his work on ecosystem science. He is a Trustee of the Natural History Museum of London and President of the British Ecological Society.

This lecture is a joint event organised by the Horizon Lecture Committee at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the Darwin Day Committee at the Department of Biological Sciences, and Academia Europaea Bergen Knowledge Hub. See poster from Darwin Day in Bergen.

EASAC holds open session on Regenerative Agriculture Report at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

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EASAC holds open session on Regenerative Agriculture Report at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) in Budapest, in cooperation with the AE Budapest Hub

EASAC, the MTA and the AE Budapest Hub are co-organizing a public event at MTA’s headquarters on 6 April 2022

EASAC, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the AE Budapest Hub are co-organizing an open session on EASAC’s report “Regenerative Agriculture in Europe”. The event will be held in Budapest, at the headquarters of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Széchenyi István tér 9, 1051 Budapest, Reading Room, 1st floor), on 6 April 2022, between 10:00-12 hrs AM (CET). EASAC’s “Regenerative Agriculture” project, according to the organization’s website, “takes as a point of departure the recent shifting agricultural and biodiversity policy arena in Europe and the recent increasing interest, internationally, in Regenerative Agriculture as an umbrella concept for sustainable and resilient food systems. Regenerative agriculture is defined as a system of farming principles and practices that e.g. maintain agricultural productivity, increase biodiversity, enrich soils, restore watersheds, and enhance ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration” (source: https://easac.eu/projects/details/regenerative-agriculture/).

At the open session, EASAC’s experts will deliver presentations about the report which is due to be released in the early days of April. Potential policy outcomes and the report’s relevance for climate will also be explored. The session will be moderated by AE Budapest Hub’s Co-Chair for Urban Sustainability, Professor Gábor Stépán.

The audience are welcome to attend in person at the venue, but the event will also be streamed live at the Hungarian Academy’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/MTA1825

AGENDA

10:00-10:10 Greetings – Professor Ervin Balázs, Chair of MTA’s Section of Agricultural Sciences and Professor Lars Walloe, Chair of EASAC’s Environment Steering Panel

10:10-10:30 Launch of the “Regenerative Agriculture” report – Dr Orsolya Valkó and Professor Lars Walloe, Co-Chairs of the EASAC Working Group on Regenerative Agriculture

10:30-10:50 Presentation of the Report on “Regenerative Agriculture” – Professor Thomas Elmqvist, Project Director, EASAC

10:50-11:10 Potential Policy Outcomes – Anders Wijkman, Tech Dr h. c., Member of the Environment Steering Panel of EASAC

11:10-11:30 Relevance for the Climate: Insights from the Latest IPCC’s WGIII Report – Professor Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, MAE, Professor of CEU, Vice Chair of WGIII of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

11:30-11:50 Q&A

11:50-12:00 Wrap-up and closing of the session – Professor Lars Walloe and Professor Gábor Stépán

Registration to the event is open here.

Webinar: Science advice at times of crisis: what roles for universities and academies?

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An international webinar, Monday 25th April 2022, with Academia Europaea as co-host.

Additional information and registration at Academia Europaea Cardiff Knowledge Hub.

15:00-16:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST) and South Africa Standard Time (SAST)
14:00-15:00 West European Summer Time (WEST), UK and Ireland
09:00-10:00 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) in United States

University and academy networks of expertise play a key role at the research-policy interface, but is their role really understood, recognised and sufficiently resourced? And what is their role at times of crisis?

Science advice to policymakers has come to the fore during the Covid crisis. It is likely to remain so, given the ever-increasing complexity of the knowledge needed for dealing with 21st-century global policy challenges.

University and academy policy engagement networks (such as UPEN in the UK, the Africa Research and Impact Network, Research Impact Canada and SAPEA in the European Union) have established themselves as a core element in the science advice ecosystem. Working across traditional organisational and disciplinary boundaries, they facilitate knowledge generation, synthesis, brokering, horizon-scanning, and much more. They do so in a way that is both nimble and responsive, while also evidence-based and non-partisan.

But is the role of such networks fully understood or acknowledged? How has their role changed over time? Where is the evidence with regard to ‘what works’, especially in relation to sharing best practice or nurturing leadership? What sorts of pressures do these networks and their members find themselves under and how do they cope? How can we make our networks even stronger?

Join our international panel of experts, who will discuss and debate the issues with the audience. Our webinar is free and open to all worldwide.

Our expert panel

  • Professor Ole Petersen, Vice-President, Academia Europaea (Chair)
  • Dr Oludurotimi Adetunji, Associate Dean of the College for Undergraduate Research and Inclusive Science, Brown University
  • Professor Matthew Flinders, Professor of Politics and Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics, University of Sheffield and Chair, Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)
  • Dr Cornel Hart, Senior Lecturer, Community Development Programme, University of the Western Cape, and Board Member of South African Higher Education Community Engagement Forum (SAHECEF)
  • Dr David Phipps, Assistant Vice-President, Research Strategy & Impact (Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation) at York University and Director, Research Impact Canada
  • Chris Webber, Head, Open Innovation Team, UK Government

In Memoriam Olav Eldholm (1941 – 2022)

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Emeritus Professor Olav Eldholm, passed away April 18 2022 at the age of 80. 

In Memoriam Olav Eldholm (1941 - 2022)

In Memoriam Olav Eldholm (1941 – 2022)

Eldholm was elected member of Academia Europaea since 1990, and a prominent person in the international geoscience community. He was also a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and a number of several national and international academies. Eldholm studied geophysics at the University of Bergen, and spent formative years as research scientist at Columbia University´s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York before returning to Norway for a professorship at the University of Oslo in 1974.

At that time Lamont-Doherty was arguably the global hothouse for marine geoscience, and Eldholm soon became an important member of the global community in the field with key collaborators. Most influential was perhaps his collaboration with Manik Talwani, which also resulted in the prominent monograph Evolution of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea in 1971.

Eldholm was widely known internationally for his significant contributions to marine geophysics and geodynamics, notably to the understanding of continental margins, ocean basins, volcanism and plate tectonics –in particular in the North Atlantic region. In 2021 an ancient volcano on the Vøring Plateau was named Eldhø to honour his contributions to science. His research has also been highly influential for oil and gas exploration and production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf not least with many of his students moving to central positions in the industry.

Eldholm was a key person in international programmes in marine Earth Science, and he was for many years deeply involved as a leading figure in the Ocean Drilling Program, where he was a keen promotor of getting young scientists involved in this major global scientific undertaking. This has shaped many excellent scientific careers.

In 2003 Eldholm moved back to his Alma Mater in Bergen to become head of the newly merged Department of Earth Science at the University of Bergen which he led as a dynamic leader for six years before retiring to become an emeritus professor. He was an active emeritus and continued with producing new scientific publications. His legacy is important and many in the national and international marine geoscience community will miss him as an interested and inspiring colleague.

Eystein Jansen