RESEARCH PROJECTS
Research at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology contributes to historical and contemporary knowledge about technology, industry, natural sciences and medicine. It draws on our special advantage as a museum, and is an integrated part of the museum's other activities and takes place across disciplines. The museum's LAB was established in 2014 to further develop the interaction between research, dissemination and management, and as a place to gather different competencies.
The museum is approved as a research organization by the Research Council of Norway and participates in projects together with various institutions nationally and internationally. In 2021, the museum adopted a new research plan for the period 2021-2026, which provides guidelines for research activities at the museum and contains an overview of prioritized research areas. A joint integrity committee for research in collaboration with the National Museum, the Norwegian Folk Museum Foundation and the Holocaust Center came into effect in 2023.
Research results from the museum's employees are registered in the national database Cristin (Current Research Information System in Norway). In 2024, work has been underway to transition to NVA (National Science Archive). Several of the museum's employees contribute to research and education as colleagues, examiners and supervisors. Each year, the museum accepts students for internships. Two master's scholarships were announced for assignments related to the museum's fields of study, and one scholarship was awarded for writing a master's thesis in museology in spring 2025.
The project will explore, develop and share the museums' work on sustainability and sustainable development with an emphasis on communication. The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology will further develop methods for including sustainability perspectives (BEN 2021-2025). This work will focus on renewing the museum's basic exhibitions on industry. The method development will, on the one hand, build on the museum's broad experience with active co-creation with school classes, family groups and young people in the design of activities and exhibitions. The project is led by the Museums in Akershus and is a collaboration between the Østfold Museums, Vitenparken Ås, Varanger Museum, Alta Museum, UiS, UiO and is supported by the Directorate of Culture, through the program Active Collaboration - three-year projects.
Sustainable Energy Narratives (SEN) focuses on the historical and contemporary mandate of museums and examines how this can be used critically to develop new narratives about energy and industry. The project is based on the premise that museums are not passive retellers of energy and industrial history, but actively participate in creating it. The goal is to increase understanding of how energy and industry have been organized, communicated and made public through the museums' narratives. The project is supported by the Arts Council's Social Role Programme and is carried out in collaboration with the Aluminium Museum (Vestfold Museums), the Workers' Museum (Oslo Museum), the Norwegian Textile Museum (Museumssenteret i Hordaland), the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Agency and the Norwegian Petroleum Museum.
I 2024 har BEN fokusert på de ulike delprosjektene for formidling og medvirkning ved museene, hvor museets arbeid har vært knyttet til utstillingen ENERGI i klimakrisens tid. Gjennom året har det blitt arrangert fire skrivesamlinger i BEN, og syv artikler er under arbeid til fagfelle. I tillegg var BEN medarrangør av forskerseminaret der hovedtemaet var sponsing og samarbeid med industrien i samarbeid med MaILHoC. Prosjektet avsluttes med en bokutgivelse i 2025.
Museet har vært delaktig i forskningsprosjektet Privatlivets grenser: sosialitet og tilhørighet i digitale hverdagsliv (2020-2024). Prosjektet har vært ledet av professor Marianne Lien, basert ved Sosialantropologisk institutt ved UiO, og foregått i samarbeid med Norsk institutt for naturforskning. Utstillingen Privatlivets grenser: Nye samvær - nye skillelinjer, åpnet ved museet i 2023 og ble avsluttet i 2024. Prosjektet er finansiert av Norges forskningsråd og programmet SAMKUL.
The project Norwegian fabrics – design and industrial history deals with the large and nationwide textile industry that stretched from its beginnings in the mid-19th century to its closures 100 years later. What was produced in the factories? Who were the designers, and how were the fabrics marketed and distributed? The book project is based on the extensive Hjula Væveri archive which is at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology .
Bokprosjektet Norsk fotohistorie 1940 til 2011 er et samarbeid med Norsk Folkemuseum, Preus museum og Nasjonalbiblioteket om en bred fotohistorisk bok om etterkrigstidas fotohistorie. Boka bygger på forskningsprosjektet Norsk fotohistorie 1940 til 2011 som var støttet av Kulturrådet og ble avsluttet i 2021.
The book examines the role and function of photography in the post-war period, both from the perspective of the photography industry and the field itself, and from a usage perspective ranging from public administration to family albums at home. The aim is to highlight photography's increasing presence in society and everyday life, and how it has contributed to shaping the visual culture of the post-war period.
The book will be richly illustrated, where the photographs will function as arguments and not just illustrations. The book project is supported by the Norwegian Photographers' Association and is planned to be published by Forlaget Press in 2025.
The museum is participating in the research project REDUCE – less plastic in everyday life. The interdisciplinary project aims to reduce plastic in daily life. Plastic is a widely used material that can be used for almost anything, but which creates major problems with littering and leakage of toxins into the environment. The project's three main areas: hygiene, leisure and childhood are fields with high consumption of plastic. The museum will look at how the role of plastic has developed historically, and what it means for consumption today.
Museet har bidratt i et internseminar med en digital utstilling om plastprodukters historie, basert på utstillingsmetoden Object stories. Arbeidet med den digitale utstillingen var i stor grad basert på den vitenskapelige artikkelen Da klær ble av plast – nylonstrømpenes vekst og fall, publisert i Arr, Idéhistorisk tidsskrift, 2023 3-4.
Prosjektet startet i 2021 og skal avsluttes i 2025. Det ledes av Statens Institutt for Forbruksforskning (SIFO) ved OsloMet og er finansiert av Forskningsrådet. https://www.oslomet.no/forskning/forskningsprosjekter/reduce
The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology participates as an associated partner in the European research project Museums and Industry. Long Histories of Collaboration (MaILHoC). The project aims to investigate the relationship between technical museums and industry related to collaboration, sponsorship and ethical dimensions, both from a historical and a contemporary perspective.
MaILHoC is led by the Science Museum Group London, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Aix-Marseille Université, with the think tank Demos and the University of London as other associated partners. The project has received €600,000 in funding for the period 2023-2025 through the call for proposals Cultural Heritage, Society and Ethics under the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage, managed by the French Research Council (ANR). At The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology MaILHoC is linked to the Sustainable Energy Narratives network project.
Forskningsprosjektet hadde ansvar for to sesjoner ved konferansen Science, Technology, Humanity, and the Earth, arrangert i september 2024 av European Society for the History of Science i Barcelona. Samme måned arrangerte prosjektene MaILHoC og Bærekraftige energinarrativer et felles seminar ved The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology. Hovedtemaet var sponsing og samarbeid med industrien, med et særlig fokus på energi og bærekraft. Det ble holdt innlegg, diskusjoner og en egen etikkworkshop, i tillegg til filmvisninger og en omvisning i utstillingen ENERGI i klimakrisens tid. Seminaret samlet om lag 25 deltakere fra inn og utland.
DOCTORAL STUDIES
The project is based on Rolf Hofgaard's prototype computer from 1955. It is an object in the museum's collection that will shed new light on early computer history. In 2024, the research has focused on the last period after 1945, and among other things, revealed previously unknown details about a large European company's interest in Hofgaard's relay-based accounting machine.
Forskningsprosjektet er tilknyttet Institutt for historiske studier ved Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet i Trondheim. Prosjektet startet høsten 2019 og avsluttes våren 2025.
Dag Andreassen med Hofgardmaskinen. Foto: Jill Bottolfsen
The project deals with the history of brewing and is based on the museum's historical archive of the Oslo Breweries. In order to establish a market, breweries were dependent on a stable, durable and recognizable beer that could be mass-produced. It was precisely during this period that a number of practices and theories with scientific origins were incorporated into traditional brewing, which had previously been based on experience-based knowledge.
Forskningsprosjektet er tilknyttet Institutt for historiske studier ved Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet (NTNU) i Trondheim. Prosjektet startet høsten 2019 og avsluttes våren 2025.
Ingebjørg Eidhammer viser frem gamle påskeøletikker. Foto: Håkon Bergseth