News

About half of the world’s languages use grammatical gender to sort nouns into different categories. Marit Westergaard, professor of English Linguistics at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, seeks to improve our understanding of this linguistic phenomenon with her CAS project.

How did the introduction of legislation as an instrument of governance affect politics, law and society in the High Middle Ages? Researchers at the Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) aim to give us the answers.

‘Basic research often leads us in unpredictable directions and to results we could not have guessed long in advance,’ said Bjørn Jamtveit, former CAS project leader and recently appointed member of CAS’ Board of Directors.

New technology that enables DNA analysis of ancient material has sparked new discussions about prehistoric migration. Researchers at the Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) aim to dissect the current debates and to improve the interdisciplinary collaboration between archaeologists and natural scientists.

Former CAS project leader and professor of China studies at the University of Oslo, Mette Halskov Hansen, has this autumn been appointed Vice-Rector for Climate, the Environment and Interdisciplinarity at the University of Oslo (UiO).

The microbial community that lives inside the gut, the gut microbiome, is a key factor guiding human health and disease. Veronika K. Pettersen’s Young CAS Fellow project will give us new knowledge about how the maternal microbiome contributes to the founding of the infant microbiome.

Most of our theories of language are based on spoken languages. Vadim Kimmelman’s Young CAS Fellow project within the field of sign linguistics will help change that.

This month’s alumna is none other than our own Camilla Serck-Hanssen, professor of philosophy at the University of Oslo (UiO), former project leader at the Centre, and now director of CAS.

Espen Ytreberg, professor of media studies at the University of Oslo (UiO), studies how we can live in sync with one another in complex, contemporary societies and the role of media in synchronisation. Ytreberg is now out with a new article on this idea based on his research at CAS.

What is good policy, and what is the role of morality, democracy and experts in policymaking? Scholars at the Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) have pursued these and other important questions as part of a multidisciplinary research project.