News

In recent weeks, researchers at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute have been widely cited in Norwegian and international media in coverage of Greenland, the Arctic, and great-power politics.

On Monday 19 January 2026, FNI Researcher Eivind Hjort Matthiasen will defend his PhD thesis at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo.

FNI researcher Serafima Andreeva has launched a new podcast, Arctic Geopolitics: What’s New? The podcast brings together leading voices in Arctic geopolitics for timely and in-depth conversations. The first three episodes are already available, and new episodes will be released weekly.

In October 2026, Armenia will host COP17, the UN’s biodiversity summit. Here, countries from around the world will negotiate how to reduce nature loss, strengthen conservation efforts and implement the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Armenia has set ambitious goals for the meeting, and the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) will support the preparations through a multi-year project funded by Norad and led by Senior Researcher Pål Wilter Skedsmo.

Researchers from across the Nordic region met at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute on 9–10 December 2025 for an all-member workshop in the NordForsk-funded project Critical minerals in the Arctic: Challenges and perspectives for the Nordic countries (CRIMINA), following a series of preparatory project meetings held earlier this year.

We are pleased to welcome five new master’s students to Polhøgda this semester. Their topics range from China’s Arctic engagement and the role of non-Arctic observers in the Arctic Council to Russian sanctions evasion, seed preparedness in Norway and international seabed governance.