With a heart for science and scholarship

Academia Borealis, The North-Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, has as its foremost purpose the furthering of all types of research activity in the Arctic region, as well as promoting the understanding of the importance of science and scholarship in our society. Our main activity is organizing meetings and lectures, including two memorial lectures a year.

The Academy was founded on 25 January 2001. There are at present 220 members, including scholars from academic institutions in Tromsø as well as members from universities and research institutions elsewhere in Norway and abroad.

Academia Borealis is a continuation of “The Committee for the scientific institutions in Tromsø” that was founded in 1928, a cooperation between Troms Museum (establ. 1872), The Meteorologial Institute of Northern Norway (establ. 1920) and the Northern Lights Observatory, which was transferred from Haldde in Alta and established in Tromsø in 1928. The “Committee” was unofficially named “The Comet” and administered several funds, with the explicit aim to work for a university in Northern Norway. These funds were substantially expanded in 2000 and in 2003 collected in “The North-Norwegian Scientific Fund, «The Comet»”.

The Academy is a proud co-founder of the Mohn Prize, first time awarded in January 2018. The prize amounts to 2 million NOK (approximately 200 000 €), and is awarded biennially.

Our logo is a copy of an ancient rock carving. This figure was found in one of the oldest parts of the rock carving area in Alta, and it was carved by hunting and fishing people around 4-5000 BC. We do not know what it portrays, but it may be an amulet of some kind, possibly depicting a sun or something designating someone’s identity. (Copied by Knut Helskog, Tromsø Museum)

The logo symbolizes the Academy’s belonging in Northern Norway, the solidarity of the scientific society, as well as the connection between the various academic fields

Upcoming events are listed in the Menu.

We are also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AcademiaBorealis/

Our sponsors: