Oslo and Akershus University College pledge 10 MNOK for collaborative research centre with Simula
Published:
In yesterday's board meeting at Oslo and Akershus University College (HiOA), the final agreement was reached to open the Center for Digital Engineering (CDE). This collaboration between the University College and Simula aims to increase the research and educational capacity within ICT and digitisation in Norway.
In preparation for the digitisation of society
The creation of the Center for Digital Engineering is a direct response to the national and European need forgreater capacity withinICT research and digitisation. The centre will performresearchaccording to highinternationalstandards, andit will alsosupervise students from HiOA on the graduate level. Finally, the centre willcontribute to the establishment of a PhD programme at HiOA that is in accord with the centre's scientific profile.
The digitisation of society and the labour market means that the varieties ofprofession-oriented educationprovided by HiOA could change significantly in the coming years. A higher level of competence within ICT and digitisation will enable HiOA to adapt and performahead of this development. Further, HiOA hasan extensive selection of ICT-related subjects onBachelorand Master's levels, but no ICT subjects on the PhD level. Simula on the other hand, hasconsiderable supervision activity on both Master's and PhD levels, and can contribute to the development of the academic community at the University College.
Purpose and goals
Simula and HiOA agree that the centre should meetthe following criteria:
- Toperform research at a high international level,
- To strengthen HiOA's role as a university through the construction ofacademically strong and recognised research activity,
- To increase the capacity for student supervision at HiOA's PhD and Master's levels,
- To contribute to the developement of HiOA academic community and study programmes within ICT and digitisaiton,
- To reach a quality of research that is so high that the centre is a real competitor to the most prestigious funding frameworks, such as the Norwegian Research Council's SFI and SFF programmes.
10 MNOK will be contributed to the centre annually by both Simula and HiOA. CDEwill be located at HiOA, and will beorganised much like Simula is today, which ensures an academically oriented strategy. The long term plan for the centre is to superviseten Master's and five PhD candidates each year.The planned opening of the centre will be January 1, 2018.