NCE Subsea, University of Bergen Enter Agreement

Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Helge K. Dahle (left), signed the agreement on behalf of the University of Bergen. Here with Trond Olsen, CEO of NCE Subsea.

Norwegian Centre of Expertise Subsea and the University of Bergen have signed an agreement that makes the university a new partner in the subsea cluster network.

Through this partnership the Norwegian Centre of Expertise Subsea (NCE Subsea) and the University of Bergen (UiB) want to improve communication between researchers and industry, establish and conduct projects that build the university’s expertise and also strengthen the subsea industry’s foundation and ability to innovate.

Another aim is that companies in the NCE Subsea cluster should find it easier to get access to relevant researchers at the university, and through them also access leading researchers worldwide.

Will go global

NCE Subsea is now laying the foundation for admission in the planned cluster program Global Centers of Expertise (GCE). This will be a program for the 4-5 strongest and most important clusters in Norway, who are also global in their industry segment.

“UiB possesses very high research expertise in relevant disciplines and has an extensive international network at universities and research institutions,” says Trond Olsen, the CEO of NCE Subsea. This will be a crucial of the foundation for the GCE-application.

Important research contributions

“The university has made important research contributions that have become products in the subsea industry,” Mr. Olsen says.

One of the prominent areas in that respect is acoustics. This is a discipline that cuts across industries and research areas such as medicine, environment and energy. A number of businesses in the Bergen region have gained their expertise in acoustics at the University of Bergen, and have developed advanced sensors for use in the subsea industry.

Millions for research funding

One of the projects NCE Subsea and UiB cooperate on is the application for a Centre for Research-based Innovation in ‘Integrated Well and Subsea Instrumentation’.

“We have received very good feedback from the Research Council of Norway on the work done on the application so far,” says Trond Olsen. This project includes several other partners from R&D and industry.

A centre like this would generate between 200 and 400 million Norwegian kroner of research funding over eight years.