The Simula School of Research and Innovation, often referred to as SSRI, was founded in 2007 in order to improve and boost the research education at Simula Research Laboratory (SRL). In order to establish close industrial collaboration that has a real impact on the shaping of a new educational unit, SSRI was established as a private company which is partly owned by external organisations. Currently, the owners of SSRI are Simula Research Laboratory AS (56%), StatoilHydro (21%), the Municipality of Bærum (14%), Telenor (7%), SINTEF (1%), and the Norwegian Computing Center (1%). In addition to the funding for positions supplied by Simula and the Government, substantial private funding is provided by StatoilHydro, the Municipality of Bærum, and Telenor. The academic degrees are awarded by a university, which in most cases is our main partner: the University of Oslo. For each candidate, the regulations of the chosen university will apply in full.

SSRI is the organisational unit for all levels of education at Simula. In particular, these levels count master students, research trainees, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. The research trainee level refers to a one-year position that is used to assess and prepare candidates for a PhD project. All students and postdocs at Simula are associated with projects in the relevant basic research departments and are co-located with the other project members. Usually, the research department also hosts at least one of the student’s supervisors.

How to get information

In addition to the current document, which focuses on information that is static or at least slowly varying with time, SSRI’s web site will be a source for updated information on the educational aspects of Simula. The URL of this site is http://www.simula.no/education/ssri. If the information you are looking for has not been published through any of these channels, please contact one of the members of SSRI’s administration, or send an email to education@simula.no.

Educational goals

SSRI reaches for high educational goals, and will in particular strive to

• achieve high scientific quality

• offer relevant research tasks with potential for applications, in society or in industry

• maximise the number of successful PhD projects

• minimise the need for prolongation of PhD project periods

• contribute to substantial scientific and personal development for the postdoctoral fellows

Academic relations

Simula has for several years earned a good track record according to these metrics. However, as Simula has grown rapidly, and continues to increase, it is essential that proper measurements are taken to preserve and improve the fulfilment of these goals also in an up-scaled organisation. The listed goals are important from the viewpoint of the Norwegian society, they are in general hard to achieve, and they address the fundamental weaknesses of the graduate education in Norway. SSRI is determined to reach these goals.

The selection process used to hire candidates for PhD positions at Simula targets high scientific and personal qualities. This requirement, combined with very good possibilities for international networking, an extended course portfolio, and interaction with dedicated and strong research teams, paves the way for an exciting and valuable learning experience.

SSRI is a research school (Forskerskole) and not a university. Consequently, SSRI can organise the education of master and PhD students, but can not award any academic degrees. For this reason, SSRI depends on close collaboration with renowned universities that can enrol the students in their regular programs, and then award the relevant degrees in agreement with the existing regulations for each particular university.

The University of Oslo

The University of Oslo (UiO) is SSRI’s main academic partner, and there is a particularly close connection to the Department of Informatics (Ifi). Each of the three research departments at Simula stems from a research group at Ifi, and several members of the Simula faculty have part time positions at UiO. Through this close link, the research departments are responsible for the teaching and supervision of their respective fields of expertise at Ifi. Likewise, there are faculty members at UiO with adjunct positions at Simula.

SSRI is formally acknowledged as a research school at UiO. The collaboration with UiO is formalised in an agreement with Ifi and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.

Other academic institutions

Although UiO is a versatile and strong partner for SSRI, there are occasions that call for formal connections to other academic institutions. Such formal collaborations have the form of either (1) employing faculty from other universities in part-time positions at Simula; or (2) having SSRI students graduate from other universities. Such collaboration concerns universities that host research groups that are of strategic importance to Simula, such as the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), University of California San Diego (UCSD), Texas A&M University (TAMU), and Georgia Institute of Technology.

Industrial relations

Simula’s mission statement says explicitly that “The research will focus on fundamental scientific problems with a large potential for important applications in society”. It is therefore important to keep an open eye on the challenges being faced by the industry. One way of interacting with industrial partners is to spend time in their environment, and thereby get first-hand knowledge of the problems they are interested in. Such interaction is already well established with the two major industrial owners of SSRI, namely StatoilHydro and Telenor. Both these companies fund PhD positions in SSRI, targeting specific industry-relevant problems.

In general, SSRI recommends that research trainees spend a period with one of Simula’s industrial partners. Such stays can last from a couple of weeks to several months, depending on the relevance of the particular topics to Simula’s research. Similar stays can also be relevant for PhD students or postdoctoral fellows. In most cases, the industrial connection will be a result of the supervisors’ personal networks. However, SSRI is actively pursuing contacts and collaborative agreements with selected industrial partners, which are considered to be of strategic importance to Simula’s research. These partners will be listed on our web site and can serve as a starting point for candidates that would like to pursue a stay at an industrial company.

Working in SSRI

If you are a research trainee, a PhD student or a postdoctoral fellow at Simula, you are formally employed in SSRI. That is, any questions regarding your employment should be directed to the administration of SSRI. Still, you are totally integrated in the relevant research department in SRL. In particular, you will be co-located with other members of that department, you will be associated with one of the department’s projects, and you are expected to work on topics that adhere to the department’s and the project’s research strategies. In most cases, your supervisor(s) will also be located in the same research department. The figure above illustrates the relationship between SSRI and the basic research departments.

Purchases and travels

Whenever you have need for anything that involves a cost, such as purchase of equipment and books, or participation at a conference, you need to contact your head of department in order to get permission. The head of department may have appointed a local representative, such as your project leader or supervisor. Some of the positions in SSRI are funded by the research departments, while others are funded through SSRI’s budget. The general principle states that the scientific justification for a cost lies in the research department, while the administrative responsibility follows the source of the funding.

The same decision rule applies regardless of the source of your funding: the expense is to be granted if it is justifiable, scientifically and economically. The head of the department and the project leaders in your research department will know the source of your funding, and they will make sure that a request for permission is posted to SSRI in cases where this is required.

Personnel interviews

As in most Norwegian companies, employees in Simula attend annual performance appraisal interviews with their superior. However, for personnel employed in SSRI, there are two such formal interviews each year. The traditional performance appraisal is conducted in a meeting with your scientific superior, such as a supervisor, a project leader, or the head of department. This interview will focus on your research.

In addition to the research-oriented interview, you will have an employment dialogue with a person from SSRI’s administration. This interview will focus on the structural and environmental aspects of your work at Simula. In particular, the interview will address the relationship between you and your scientific supervisor. This mechanism is an important part of the quality assurance of Simula’s educational efforts.

Personnel guidelines

Unless otherwise stated, the employees in SSRI are subject to the same rights and requirements as employees in SRL. In particular, employees in SSRI should follow the personnel and publication guidelines of SRL.

Useful resources:

Simula Culture
Simula’s Publication Guidelines
Simula’s Personnel Guidelines
New at Simula
Basic Research
Research Education