About us

Ruralis is an independent research institute within rural studies.
We are one of Europe's leading research environments in the field.

Purpose

Ruralis has a national responsibility for developing and maintaining a theoretical and methodological research competence in rural sociology.

The staff

Ruralis has a highly competent and multidisciplinary staff. The staff includes about 28 researchers with backgrounds in sociology, geography, history, business economics, social anthropology, political science, agronomy and fisheries.

Co-operation

Ruralis aims to maintain and develop extensive co-operation with other national and international research establishments. We have close co-operation with various departments at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Ruralis has an agreement with the Faculty of Social Science and Technology Management regarding education at the doctorate level.

Internationalisation

Ruralis aims at being one of the leading research groups within rural sociology in Europe. We have extensive international research co-operation through participation in research networks and comparative projects in the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe. This international co-operation is enhanced by foreign visiting professors. Participation at conferences and international publications are given high priority.

Financial sources

The Research Council of Norway is our main financial source, but we also apply to various regional boards to be assigned strategic programs and to finance our research projects, and to industry to co-finance. We also work to obtain financing for comparative research via Nordic sources, various international programs and in particular the European Union’s research programs. Ruralis is currently taking part in three Horizon2020-funded projects.

Gender Equality Plan (GEP)

Ruralis’ GEP English version