The prize is awarded to one employee or a professional community that through research, education and/or dissemination has distinguished itself and contributed to promoting USN's strategy "Knowledge for the present and for the future".
One prize is awarded each year, with one of these themes given particular emphasis:
- Society and working life (2024)
- Sustainability (2025)
- Innovation (2026)
The prize is 100,000 NOK. The amount may be used for professional activities and development.
Nominate a colleague or your lecturer
Employees and students may nominate a colleague/lecturer or a professional community they believe deserves the award. By professional community is meant research groups or smaller units and research collaborations, not the strategic research areas, centres or institutes.
You cannot nominate yourself or your own professional community.
Here there will be a link to the nomination form, when we open for nomination.
The nomination deadline for the Innovation Prize 2026 is Tuesday 1 December.
The nomination must be justified and documented.
The person(s) you nominate must be aware of the nomination and accept it. For research groups, it is sufficient that the leader is informed. The nominees will be published on the intranet page.
The assessment committee may contact the nominator and the nominee(s) to request additional information.
Assessment criteria
The assessment criteria depend on which theme is the theme for the prize in the relevant year. The criteria are described in detail in each year's nomination form, but you will find an overview here:
Society and working life
The award goes to an employee or a professional community that has achieved one or more of the following:
- Can demonstrate results and effects of measures that have strengthened interaction between students and working life.
- Has carried out research in collaboration with the public and/or private sector that has promoted innovation and new solutions in society and working life.
- Has strengthened USN's reputation and visibility through good dissemination and/or active participation in public debate in a way that helps realise USN's ambition to be a university closely connected to society and working life.
Sustainability
The prize is awarded to an employee or a professional community that has:
- Developed or revised study programmes and learning activities that give students relevant and practical knowledge, skills and competence to contribute to sustainable social development.
- Carried out research that contributes to a holistic understanding and long-term solutions to one or more of the major societal challenges described in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
- Achieved results within innovation and entrepreneurship that have contributed to sustainable social development.
Innovation
The prize is awarded to an employee or a professional community that has done one or more of the following:
- developed new or improved learning, teaching or working methods that strengthen learning, inclusion, flexibility or access to higher education
- developed entrepreneurial or innovative solutions in collaboration with students, employees or external actors
- developed new forms of interdisciplinary research, education or co-creation across disciplines, sectors or national borders
- translated research, education or artistic development work into new or improved products, services, methods, processes or practices
Process
The nominations will be assessed by a committee consisting of:
- Vice-Rector Heidi Ormstad
- Director of Communications Reidun Mangrud
- one of the student board representatives
- one of the external board representatives
The USN Award for 2026 will be presented on 29 April 2027.