Research and development

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 strengths as a museum, 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 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. In 2022, a mandate was drawn up for a joint integrity committee for research together with the National Museum, the Norwegian Folk Museum Foundation and the Holocaust Centre, which will come into force in 2023. The new exhibition I/O, which opened on 7 April 2022, is based on research and knowledge work over several years.

Research results from the museum's staff are registered in the national database Cristin (Current Research Information System in Norway). Several of the museum's employees contribute to research and education as colleagues and examiners. Each year, the museum also accepts several students for internships.

Sustainable energy narratives: Industrial museums face the climate crisis

Sustainable energy narratives (BEN) puts the museums' historical and contemporary mandate at the center and examines how this can be used critically to develop new narratives about energy and industry. The project's starting point is that the museums are not passive retellers of energy and industrial history, but are actively involved in creating it. The aim is to increase understanding of how energy and industry have been organised, communicated and made public knowledge through the museums' narratives. The project is supported by the Cultural Council's Community Role Program and is carried out in collaboration with the Aluminum Museum (Vestfold museums), the Arbeidermuseet (Oslo museum), the Norwegian Textile Museum (Museum Center in Hordaland), NVE and the Oil Museum.

In the autumn of 2022, the project carried out a survey on the place of climate change in the Network for Technology and Industrial History. The answers will be processed in the winter of 2022. Dissemination projects and seminars have also been carried out on participation, museum learning and the role of museums in conversations about the climate crisis.

Private lives

The research project Private Lives: Embedding Sociality at Digital Kitchen-tables is based at the Department of Social Anthropology, UiO, and is taking place in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research and The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology . It started in 2020 and will run until spring 2024, and is funded by the Research Council of Norway (SAMKUL). The project studies the relationship between digital technology and social relations through several case studies. In 2023, the themes and findings of the research project will be communicated through an exhibition at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology , developed in the museum's LAB in collaboration with the Academy of Performing Arts (NTA) at Østfold University College. This exhibition will be an integral part of I/O, as an “exhibition within the exhibition”.

The museums' topography of knowledge

The research project Museums' Knowledge Topography (2018-2023) is led by The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology and carried out in collaboration with the Østfold Museums. The project also involves Malmö Museums, Gothenburg City Museum, Technical Museum and the National Heritage Board. The project builds on the Thingenes method, which The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology led from 2015-2018. The goal is to contribute to museum development by establishing a research-based language and practices for knowledge-generating processes in museums in connection with the establishment or renewal of basic exhibitions. The results of the project will be published in the form of an anthology, which will be published by Museumsforlaget in the course of 2023. The book will consist of practice-oriented texts that, through various examples and theoretical contributions, discuss how museums can combine the desire to be open and engaging while at the same time maintaining an authority as knowledge institutions. The project is supported by the Arts Council's museum development program Research in Museums.

Norwegian fabrics - design and industrial history

The project Norwegian fabrics – design and industrial history deals with the large and nationwide textile industry that spanned more than a hundred years from its beginnings, around 1850, to its closures at the end of the 20th century. What was produced in the factories? Who were the designers, and how were the drugs marketed and distributed? The book project is based on collections in museums and archives that have been little discussed. The downsizing of the broad textile and clothing industry in the 1960s and 1970s has in 2022 been a theme in collaboration with the Nordic design history project Nordic Design Cultures in Transformation 1960-80 under the auspices of, among others, the University of Oslo, IFIKK, which resulted in the text collection Nordic Design Culture in Transformation, 1960-1980 (see publication list) The article on fabric printing at Hjula Veveri is also part of the project. The book project continues in 2023.

Norwegian photo history 1940 to 2011

The Norwegian Photo History 1940 to 2011 book project is a collaboration with the Norwegian Folk Museum, the Prussian Museum and the National Library on a broad photo history book on post-war photo history. The book is based on the research project Norwegian Photo History 1940 to 2011, which was supported by the Culture Council and was completed in 2021. The book sheds light on the role and function of photography in the post-war period, both from the perspective of the photography industry and the photography field itself, and from a perspective of use in the span between public administration and family albums in the home. The aim is to highlight photography's ever-increasing presence in society and everyday life and how it has contributed to shaping post-war visual culture. 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 in 2024.

Reduce

The museum is involved in the research project REDUCE – less plastic in everyday life. The interdisciplinary project aims to reduce plastic in everyday life. Plastic is a widely used material that can be used for almost anything, but creates major problems with littering and leaks of toxins into nature. The project's three main areas of hygiene, leisure and childhood are fields with a high consumption of plastic. The museum will look at how the role of plastic has developed historically and what it means for consumption today.

Prosjektet ledes av Statens Institutt for Forbruksforskning (SIFO) ved OsloMet og er finansiert av Forskningsrådet. https://www.oslomet.no/forskning/forskningsprosjekter/reduce

MaILHoC – Museums and Industry: Long Histories of Collaboration

In 2022, the research project MaILHoC was granted an application for support of EUR 600,000 for the period 2023-2025, through a European research program on cultural heritage, society and ethics run by the French Research Council. The project is led by the Science Museum in London, the University of Barcelona and the University of Aix-Marseille, while The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology participates as an associated partner. With us, the project is linked to Sustainable Energy Narratives. MaILHoC addresses questions about the relationship between technical museums and industry, historically and today. This is examined in light of ethical aspects, current challenges (such as the climate crisis) and broad involvement.

DOCTORAL STUDIES

Research project in museology: Science, Identity and belonging (SIB) - Co-designing with young people at a Science museum, a qualitative study of process

SIB sheds light on how a museum can connect with young people outside of school and, through this, take a closer look at how museums think about their educational role in society. Furthermore, the thesis highlights how co-creative design processes provide opportunities for young people to work closely with the museum's professionals and engage in conversations about topics that are difficult, complex and sensitive. With a group of young people from Grorud Youth Council and an interdisciplinary team, we have designed the digital installation Lyden av FOLK, linked to the exhibition FOLK (2018-19). One year after opening FOLK, we collaborated again with two of the young people and organized a workshop with children where we designed a museum activity. The research project was completed at the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester in 2022.

Research project in ICT history: PhD project at NTNU - The Hofgaard machine - an early Norwegian computer?

The project is based on Rolf Hofgaard's prototype computer from 1955. It is an object in the museum's collection that can shed new light on early computer history. In 2022, the research has been focused on Hofgaard's first attempt to achieve mass production in the USA at the end of the 1920s, in collaboration with the investor Ove Collett. The research project is affiliated with the Department of Historical Studies at NTNU in Trondheim. It started in autumn 2019 and is part of the museum's ICT exhibition project.

Research project in industrial and food history: PhD project at NTNU - Between experience and science - the creation of modern beer in Norway 1860-1890.

The project deals with brewery history and is based on the museum's historical archive of Ringnes Brewery. In order to establish a market, the breweries depended on a stable, durable and recognizable beer that could be mass-produced. The research project examines how enabling technologies such as refrigeration (natural ice and refrigeration machines) and microbiology (yeast and pasteurization) become central to stabilization and how experiences and knowledge transfer from exports become important for the production of the standardized beer in Norway in the period 1860-1890. The research project is affiliated with the Department of Historical Studies at NTNU in Trondheim. It started in autumn 2019.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Network and collaboration

The museum emphasizes networking and national collaboration and is responsible for the coordination and development of the Network for Technology and Industrial History and the National Museum Network for the History of Health and Medicine. In addition, the museum participates in these national networks: Network for knowledge centres, Network for worker culture and history of working life, Network for photography, Network for music and musical instruments, The Contemporary Network and Network for Women's History.

The Network for Technology and Industrial History aims to strengthen cooperation and professional exchange between Norwegian museums and other institutions working with technology and industrial history. This year, the network received support from the Arts Council for the project Sustainable Energy Narratives (BEN). This project is part of the Arts Council's program; Museums as Social Actors - Diversity, Relevance and Sustainability and will take place in the period 2022-2024. Sustainable Energy Narratives focuses on the museums' historical and contemporary mandate 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 are actively involved in creating it. The goal is to increase understanding of how energy and industry have been organized, communicated and made into general knowledge through the museums' narratives. In addition to workshops with the project group in BEN, the network has organized two network seminars in 2022. The first seminar was organized at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology on May 4-5 and focused on climate in museums and various industrial documentation projects taking place in the network. As part of the BEN project, the network has also conducted a survey among the museums; Mapping the place of climate change in the Network for Technology and Industrial History. The network ended the year with a presentation of the results of the survey at the autumn seminar held on November 29.
The National Medical Museum is primarily responsible for the National Museum Network for the History of Health and Medicine (NMHM). An overall aim is to convey historical and recent knowledge about health and medicine in Norway, and how the field has changed over time. Through this, NMHM wants to contribute to critical thinking and the development of new knowledge and reflections on the history of health and medicine. NMHM works to contribute to the exchange of professional expertise, to the public conversation about issues related to health and medicine and to strengthen the participants' role in society, as well as active engagement with society and the visitors/users. The network consists of around 30 museums, many of which are institutional museums affiliated with hospitals. It has developed a framework note and selected a working group that works to support the museum's role as the main responsible for the network. The network has its own website http://helseogmedisinhistorie.no. In 2022, the annual network seminar was organized 12-14 June by Anno Glomdalsmuseet and the committee behind the two medical exhibitions at Glomdalsmuseet, "The Old Doctor" and "Apoteket". A total of 54 people attended this seminar.
The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology er med i Museumsnettverk for kvinnehistorie, drevet av Kvinnemuseet ved Anno museum. Metodeprosjektet Kjønnets verdi i et museumshierarki. Et prosjekt om representasjon av kvinner, mangfold og kjønn på museum, handler om kvinnehistoriske perspektiver i samlinger og utstillinger, og er en fortsettelse av det tidligere prosjektet Nå begynner ‘a med det der igjen! (2018-2021). Prosjektet er støttet av Norsk Kulturråd 2022-2024 som en del av samfunnsrolleprogrammet. Nettverket har egen nettside https://kvinnemuseet.no/nettverk

Nine institutions are collaborating on three work packages that contain the following: The gender-aware museum: Training and implementation in museum tools. Women – a diverse category: Participation and practical testing of tools on various cases. Research and dissemination: Results from the project published as a special issue in a scientific journal. In addition to The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology and the Women's Museum, the following institutions are involved: Oslo Museum, Stiklestad National Cultural Center, Maihaugen, Nord-Troms Museum, Østfold Museums, Akershus Museums and Kilden gender research. In 2022, the museum participated in two collections under the auspices of the project. Internally at the museum, in the summer of 2022, there was a separate series of guided tours of the exhibitions with the theme Hidden Women. Afterwards, a workshop was held with the guides on how to understand gender in the dissemination of objects in the exhibitions. The goal was to raise awareness of this topic and to bring up new and interesting stories to renew knowledge about these.

International cooperation

The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology participates in the international museum network Artefacts, whose goal is to promote the use of objects and material culture in technology and science history studies. Annual seminars are held and a separate book series is published. This year's seminar was held at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, and two of the museum's employees participated with presentations.
The National Medical Museum is a member of the steering committee of the International Association of Medical Museums (IAMM), a worldwide forum for medical museums and collections, which organizes conferences every two years. The IAMM took a break during the pandemic, but is planning a conference at the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in Leiden, the Netherlands, in September 2023.
The National Medical Museum collaborates with the network European Association for the History of Medicine and Health (EAHMH), an international forum for historians and others working with the history of health and medicine, which initiates joint projects within the field and organizes conferences and courses. A conference is planned at the University of Oslo in August 2023, and an event in collaboration with the National Medical Museum.

Publications

Andreassen, Dag. «En radio fra Oslo» s. 48-55, i Byminner nr 2 2022.
Langleite, Arne og Thale Sørlie. “18% grå – en samtale om institusjonsfotografi”, i Arr- Idéhistorisk tidsskrift nr 3-4 2022.
Manshaus, Ann Tove og Nina Bratland. “Vestfos Cellulosefabrikk. Arkiv, samarbeid og kunst”, s. 119-134, i “Formidling og forskning i arkivsektoren”. Norsk Arkivforum 2022 (28).
Rasch, Tone and Trine Brun Petersen. "Between Craft and Commerce: Norwegian and Danish Textile Design in a Time of Change", pp. 178-191, in Nordic Design Cultures in Transformation, 1960–1980: "Revolt and Resilience", ed. Kjetil Fallan, Christina Zetterlund and Anders V. Munch, New York: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Nordic-Design-Cultures-in-Transformation-19601980-Revolt-and-Resilience/Fallan-Zetterlund-Munch/p/book/9781032290423
Rasch, Tone. “Stofftrykk fra Hjula”, s. 34-45, i Byminner nr 2 2022.
Rasch, Tone. "How can clothes date old images?" pp. 20-25, in Genealogy and data no. 2 2022.12.19
Sørlie, Thale. “Det tilfeldiges klamme grep: fotografisk kjønn i Camilla Colletts Det smukkeste Billede”, i Arr- Idéhistorisk tidsskrift nr 3-4 2022.