Academic background

• Bachelor, Political Science, University of Oslo (2014)
• Master of Science, International Affairs, Sciences Po, Paris (2016)
• Master of Research, Political Science, European University Institute, Firenze (2017)
• Ph.D., Political Science, European University Institute, Firenze (2021)

Professional experience

• Senior researcher – Fridtjof Nansen Institute (2025-)
• Researcher (20%) – Department of Political Science, University of Oslo (2024-)
• Senior Adviser – Parliamentary Research Service, Norwegian Parliament (2024-2025)
• Postdoctoral Fellow – Department of Political Science, University of Oslo (2022-2024)
• Postdoctoral Fellow – Department of Law and Governance, BI Norwegian Business School (2021-2022)
• Lecturer – Department of Political Science, University of Oslo (2015-2020)
• Lecturer – Norwegian Environmental Agency (2015)
• Research Consultant – DNV-GL and United Nations (2015)
• Research Assistant – Department of Political Science, University of Oslo (2015)
• Research Assistant – CICERO Center for Climate Research (2014)

Major Publications

Tørstad, Vegard, Jon Hovi, Manjana Milkoreit, Håkon Sælen and Andreas Kokkvoll Tveit (2025): "The Ambition Trap: Why Overpromising on Climate Action Could Undermine the Paris Agreement.” Global Environmental Politics

Tørstad, Vegard and Vegard Wiborg (2024): "Commitment Ambiguity and Ambition in Climate Pledges." The Review of International Organizations.

Tørstad, Vegard (2024): "Can Transparency Strengthen the Legitimacy of International Institutions? Evidence from the UN Security Council." Journal of Peace Research 61(2): 228-245.

Tørstad, Vegard, Håkon Sælen, and Live S. Bøyum (2020): "The domestic politics of international climate commitments: which factors explain cross-country variation in NDC ambition?" Environmental Research Letters 15(2): 024021.

Tørstad, Vegard (2020): "Participation, ambition and compliance: can the Paris Agreement solve the effectiveness trilemma?" Environmental Politics 29(5): 761-780.