The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) hosts six research projects funded by prestigious grants for Europe’s most groundbreaking research. The projects examine specific aspects of armed conflict, development, migration, and climate change. They offer opportunities for examining deeper questions behind the flurry of news related to these topics.
All the projects engage with theoretically or methodologically challenging dimensions of time: understanding the past, anticipating the future, or disentangling social transformations.
As part of our effort to disseminate insights from our groundbreaking research, the institute has joined the FRONTIERS Science Journalism Residency Program (unrelated to the publisher Frontiers). Journalists worldwide can apply for a residency of 3-5 months at PRIO.
Applications must be received by the program by 5 March 2024 and applicants must contact PRIO well in advance to prepare a detailed project proposal.
The programme accepts applications from professionals across various media formats, with a track record of producing independent journalistic content.
The funding for the research projects is awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) with scientific excellence as the sole criterion. PRIO has a higher number of such grants per researcher than any other research institution in Norway. The institute conducts research on the conditions for peaceful relations between states, groups and people. Research excellence lies at the heart of the institute’s identity.
The current ERC projects at PRIO are listed below. Interested journalists should follow the links to relevant projects in order to develop ideas for a residency project proposal.
ANTICIPATE: Anticipating the impact of armed conflict on human development
ERC Advanced Grant, 2022-2027, led by Håvard Hegre
The interdisciplinary team of ANTICIPATE studies how armed conflict impacts various aspects of human development, taking local vulnerabilities into account, and expands the VIEWS early-warning system to also alert to the humanitarian impact of war.
AWAR: Adapted to War
ERC Starting Grant, 2021-2026, led by Henrikas Bartusevičius
Was war a common feature of life during human evolution? To address this question AWAR draws on multiple disciplines, including anthropology, cognitive science, and psychology, and conducts online psychophysiological experiments in 40 countries.
FUMI: Future Migration as Present Fact
ERC Consolidator Grant, 2018-2025, led by Jørgen Carling
FUMI addresses the research question How does migration that has not yet taken place shape the lives of individuals and the development of societies? The project is based on multiple forms of data collection among young adults in three West African cities.
MigrationRhythms: Migration rhythms in trajectories of upward social mobility in Asia
ERC Starting Grant, 2021-2026, led by Marta Bivand Erdal
What is driving the tremendous middle-class expansion in Asia and how is it related to the unprecedented levels of migration there? To answer this, the project will apply rhythmanalysis and use a mixed-methods research design, including family history interviews and survey data from four Asian cities.
POLIMPACT: Enabling politically sensitive climate change impact assessments for the 21st century
ERC Advanced Grant, 2022-2027), led by Halvard Buhaug
Scenarios used by the IPCC to assess climate change impacts by design assume that there will be no conflict or instability in the future. POLIMPACT will develop and use new political scenarios and thus foster more realistic risk assessments.
ViEWS PoC: Violence Early-Warning System
ERC Proof of Concept Grant, 2022-2024, led by Håvard Hegre
This Proof of Concept allows the political Violence Early-Warning System (ViEWS) research group to explore the societal potential of their work.
Residencies can be linked to one or more projects, some of which are related to each other. The projects ANTICIPATE and POLIMPACT have partly overlapping staff. The two migration projects are both affiliated with the PRIO Migration Centre.
About PRIO and the residency
PRIO is located in attractive premises in central Oslo, Europe’s fastest-growing capital city. The science journalist will have full access to the premises during working hours, a dedicated individual desk, access to in-house events and will be able to use the library, canteen, weekly physiotherapy exercise and various social events.
The institute has an international research staff of approximately 100 people in full and part-time positions, in addition to administrative and support staff. The institute staff is expected to work from the office every day, unless otherwise specified. The working language at the institute is English.
The Communication team will be available to support the journalist during the residency. The science journalist will be in direct contact with various researchers according to their journalism project.
Application procedure
The applications are received and evaluated by the FRONTIERS Science Journalism Residency Program.
- First, visit the programme website, review the criteria, and consider your potential for developing a competitive proposal.
- Second, review the specific research projects by following the links above and developing ideas for the journalism project.
- Third, contact the relevant researcher(s) directly or get in touch with PRIO's Communication Director to share your idea. The proposal must be deemed feasible by PRIO, and PRIO must issue a commitment letter to accompany the application.
Please ensure ample time for developing the proposal and compiling all necessary attachments well in advance of the 5 March 2024 deadline.
