Norwegian Centres of Excellence (SFF)

The University of Bergen currently leads three Norwegian Centres of Excellence. Their research pushes the international frontier of knowledge and is innovative and groundbreaking.

Our Centres of Excellence

Center for Digital Narrative (CDN)

The Center for Digital Narrative (2023–2033) studies how stories are created, spread, and experienced through digital technology – from video games and electronic literature to social media and generative AI. These narratives shape our everyday lives, yet we still lack a comprehensive understanding of how they work and what purposes they serve. CDN is building an international hub for humanities-led research that connects theory and practice in this field.

Centre web page

Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting (BCEPS)

Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting  (2023–2033) will become a world-leading research centre developing new methods and ethical frameworks to help decision-makers allocate health services more fairly and efficiently.

Centre web page

Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE)

Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour  (2017–2027) aims to provide groundbreaking insight into what it means to be human. The centre has exclusive access to Blombos Cave, the Klasies River main site and the Klipdrift complex — key locations for unlocking our earliest history.

Centre web page

About the SFF scheme

The Norwegian Centres of Excellence scheme (SFF) gives Norway's foremost scientific circles the opportunity to organise their activities in centres that seek to achieve ambitious scientific objectives through collaboration and long-term basic funding of approximately 80-180 million NOK over 10 years.

Centres with completed funding periods

Center for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child Health – CISMAC (2013–2024)

Center for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child Health – CISMAC (2013–2024) aims to improve the health and survival of mothers and children as well as child development through intervention studies among low-income populations in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Read more about the Centre for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child Health

Birkeland Center for Space Science – BCSS (2013–2023)

Birkeland Center for Space Science tries to understand the Earth’s relationship to space. They are looking to answer the  three questions: When and why are the auroras in the two hemispheres asymmetric? What are the effects of particle precipitation on the atmospheric system? What is the role of energetic particles from thunderstorms on geospace?

Read more about the Birkeland Centre for Space Science (BCSS)

Center for Cancer Biomarkers – CCBIO (2013–2023)

Center for Cancer Biomarkers aims to discover, validate and translate functional cancer biomarkers to improve our understanding of tumour mechanisms, advance early diagnosis of aggressive tumour phenotypes and support cost-effective and responsible treatment of cancer.'

Read more about the Centre for Cancer Biomarkers

NORMENT (2013–2023)

UiB is also partner in a CoE coordinated by UiO, The Norwegian Centre for research on mental illnesses – NORMENT, that aimed to find answers to why some people develop serious mental illnesses.

Read more about NORMENT at uio.no

Centre for Geobiology (2007–2017)

The centre was succeeded by the K.G. Jebsen Centre for Deep Sea Research (2017–2021) and the Center for Deep Sea Research (2021–2026).

Bjerknes Center for Climate Research – BCCR (2003–2012)

The centre has become one of the most important climate research centres globally. 

Read more about the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research

Centre for Medieval Studies – CMS (2003–2012)

Medieval research is still a focus area at UiB. At the Faculty of Humanities, the research was continued in various research groups at the Medieval Research Cluster. 

Read more about the Medieval Research Cluster

Last updated: 07.08.2026