The Origins of BCEPS
BCEPS was established as a centre in 2019 and succeeded the former Global Health Priorities Research Group at the University of Bergen.
BCEPS Funding and Establishment as a Centre
In 2019, the Trond Mohn Research Foundation (TMF) (external link) joined forces with the University of Bergen and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) (external link) to establish BCEPS, building on a platform of existing projects managed by the Global Health Priorities (GHP) Research Group (external link) and funded by earlier grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (external link), Norad, the Research Council of Norway (RCN) (external link), and the University of Bergen.
BCEPS’ research activities are relevant in both a national and international context, with BCEPS researchers often being called upon to provide input to debates on priority setting in health in Norway and internationally. When the Centre was established in 2019, funding was allocated to planned project activities in Ethiopia, Zanzibar, and Malawi.
Since then, it has attracted additional funding from RCN and Norad for activities that are now ongoing in India, Nepal, Tanzania, and Ghana.
In September 2023, BCEPS earned the prestigious status of an RCN Centre for Excellence in recognition of the quality, scope, and importance of the research being done at the Centre, which also provides funding from RCN for the next ten years.