ERC Synergy Grant
On 26th October, 2023, I – together with Florent Sebbane (France), Philip Slavin (UK) and Ulf Büntgen (UK) – was awarded an ERC Synergy Grant funded by the Horizon Europe (HORIZON) programme. The grant, consisting of EUR 10 million over 6 years, was awarded to fund a study of plague through time in Eurasia.
The name of the project: Synergy-Plague
The full title of the project is "Reconstructing the environmental, biological, and societal drivers of plague outbreaks in Eurasia between 1300 and 1900 CE (Synergy-Plague)”.
We will within the Synergy-Plague project address these big questions
1. Why and how did human plague reactivate in the mid 14th century (the Black Death)?
2. From where came the many waves of human plague in Europe during the period covering several hundred years after Black Death? Did the bacterium circulate within Europe or did it die out and was reimported from outside Europe several times?
3. Why did the European pandemic spread very fast during the Second Pandemic (following the Black Death) and have very high human mortality; as compared to the much slower spread much lower human mortality during the Third Pandemic?
4. How and why did the clinical and demographic patterns of human plague infection differ across space and time during the Second and Third pandemics?
5. Why (and how) did human plague finally disappear from Europe in the 18th-19th centuries?
See here for a summary of the project.
The Synergy-Plague PIs and partners
I am the corresponding PI with the following three co-PIs:
• Florent Sebbane, INSERM, Lille, France
• Philip Slavin, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
• Ulf Büntgen, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge, UK
Several other partners will be involved together with several new PhD students and post docs who will be employed at the project. From UIO, Einar Wigen (Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages), will also participate be a partner.
ERC press release
A full list of the newly awarded ERC Synergy Grants can be found at the ERC webpage.
Background, ambition and motto
I am a curiosity-driven scientist combining theoretical and empirical approaches to study ecological and evolutionary processes. My motivation has always been to find out how nature works – be it the mystery of lemming cycles or macroevolutionary dynamics through deep time. Until the early 1990s, much of my work was purely theoretical in the form of mathematical modelling. Later, I adopted the research strategy of ‘asking’ available data what the underlying ecological or evolutionary process most likely is – all within a theoretically-informed statistical perspective.
I am convinced that I have made – and continue to make – a strong and long-lasting contribution to science by breaking down interdisciplinary barriers, supporting and mentoring promising young scientists, increasing our basic knowledge of nature and opening new avenues of research into the interactions between organisms in changing environments.
My motto is “Biology is one discipline”, and I continuously strive towards unifying the many subdiciplines of biology. Above all I work on merging ecological and evolutionary thinking as well as better understanding the feedback-loop between ecology and evolution: Ecology causes evolution through ecologically-based selective pressures, and when evolution occurs, the ecological interactions within ecosystems may change – potentially leading to modified ecologically-based selective pressures.
Being a scientist is not just about knowledge and discoveries, however, but also about standing up for the importance of solid science and discussing its wide-ranging societal implications – something I pursue in a broad spectrum of media, both nationally and internationally.
Current major research topics of mine include
- Integrating ecology and evolution (including coevolution in multispecies communities)
- Infectious diseases with a wildlife reservoir (including plague)
- Marine biology (focusing on linking physics and biology)
My current main positions
I am currently having the following two academic homes:
- Professor of Ecology and Evolution & Advisor to the Dean of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
- Honorary Professor of Public Health at Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
A selection of my...
- ...recent publications
- ...publications on the integration of ecology and evolution (including coevolution and biotic interactions within multispecies communities)
- ...publications on how climate variation affect ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes
- ...publications on zoonotic diseases and/or infections (including plague)
- ...publications on COVID-19
- ...publications within the field of marine biology
- ...publications on lemmings and other mammals
See also "Complete publication list", "Publication databases" and “Publications” further down with links to an updated list of my publications as well as citations-reports.
Building teams and a Centre of Excellence
I love interacting with colleagues, and find great pleasure in building and maintaining teams. This led me to spend much of the past two decades developing the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES) at UiO, which was awarded status as Centre of Excellence by the Research Council of Norway (2007–2017). I chaired CEES until 2018 – a job I enjoyed tremendously and look back at with great pleasure. (See "Norwegian evolutionary biologists pushed the frontiers in international science" in Titan.uio.no).
I am currently heading an international and interdisciplinary research group on plague – both as a wildlife disease and a human disease.
Mentoring and supporting younger colleagues
I have always done my best to support – and indeed help – younger colleagues. I find working with younger colleagues very stimulating and I learn a lot from them – not the least as they often have different points of views on a lot of issues. Over the years I have trained a large number of students at various levels (more than 50 PhDs and more than 70 post docs) – most of them on highly interdisciplinary topics, but with solid anchoring in their own chosen field. My students over the years have come from all over the world, and I have dedicated much effort to supporting excellence in science in Africa (see the comment "Build science in Africa" in Nature).
Over the years several of my previous students and post docs have developed their own strong careers.
Current and past positions include
Since 1980 I have been a Professor at the University of Oslo – first as Associate Professor, then from 1990 as full Professor: first of Zoology and Population dynamics, then (from 2004) of Ecology and Evolution. In addition, in the early 1980s I worked for a few years as Associate Professor of Population Dynamics at the University of Lund, Sweden, and I have had longer visiting stays in Brighton (UK), Laurence, Kansas (US) and Berkeley, California (US). Since September 2018 I have been a Professor at The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Oslo in addition to being a strategic and scientific adviser to the Dean of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Staring August 1, 2021 this position was reduced to a 50 percent position. In my capacity as adviser to the Dean, I am promoting the development of top-level research units within the Faculty: in this part of my work I focus on helping young talented people to further develop their career, including making them believe in themselves and in their ideas. I was a Professor II at the University of Agder until July 31, 2021, when I became an ordinary professor in 50 percent position: At the University of Agder I work with colleagues at the Centre for Coastal Research (CCR) as well as chairing the CCR Board – doing pretty much the same as in Oslo though focusing on marine biology.
I am associated with Vanke School of Public Health at Tsinghua University (Beijing) where I am the Honorary Adviser of the Plague Research Group.
I have done editorial work for several journals, including as an Editor for Proceedings of the Royal Society of London; Series B (UK; 2005–2008) and earlier as a Board Member (Associate Editor) of same journal from 1998–2003; Editor-/in-Chief of the environmental journal Climate Research (Germany; since 2005); and Editorial Board Member of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS; since 2017).
Part of my scientific history
- 1978: Dr. Philos, University of Oslo, Norway. Thesis title: “Theoretical studies on fluctuating populations”. Thesis defended on March 4th, 1978. Part of my doctoral period was under the supervision of John Maynard Smith in Brighton, UK.
- 1972: Cand. Mag., University of Oslo, Norway. (Biology, Zoology, Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science and Chemistry).
My research interests span a broad spectrum of ecological and evolutionary topics, most of which are rooted in population biology, including a career-long love-affair with small rodents and lemmings in particular. I strongly favour comparative studies – by comparing similar features between different (but comparable) systems, we typically learn more than we otherwise would have done. Variations in population densities in time and space – and the underlying demographic processes – have been a main interest of mine over the years. An important example is the interdependent relationship between density-dependent and density-independent processes, where the ecological effect of climate is an important example of the latter. I am convinced that it is helpful to try to understand what has happened in the past, in preparing for what might happen in the future, e.g., ecological and evolutionary effects of climate change. For this reason, I value the existence of long-term time series – and the analysis of them.
Although most of my work relates to basic issues, I find great pleasure in working on more applied issues as well. (I have never claimed that my research is of any immediate use, although it never embarrasses me if it turns out to be of practical use here and now). These applied interests have brought me into work on pest control (e.g., rodents in Africa), harvesting (marine and terrestrial), bio-economics (e.g., the ecological dynamics of dry-land pastoral systems) and epidemiology (Plague).
My complete publication list (pdf)
Popularizing science and academic issues
I do quite a bit of science communication – covering my research, the process of science and other issues. (Newspaper articles, open lectures, etc.). See a Powerpoint presentation (10 MB) briefly summarizing my contribution regarding science communication.
Awards, honors, fellowships and commissions of trust include
2024. Named Distinguished Visiting Professor at Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing
2024–. Contributor to Ukraine Global Faculty
2023. Elected Fellow of The International Science Council (ISC)
2023–. Member of the Lancet-University of Oslo Commission on the political determinants of health: global governance for health in a time of polycrisis
2023–. Member of the CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) group on “Preparedness and Surge Financing – Phase 2 Technical Expert Group
2023. Elected Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
2023. Awarded the Grand Medal Prince Albert 1st, Prince of Monaco - section Science. Awarded by HSH Prince Albert Il of Monaco
2023. Honorary Member of the American Society of Mammalogists, US
2023. Elected member of EMBO – The European Molecular Biology Organization
2023. Elected International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
2022–2025. Chair of the Board of the Norwegian Marine University Consortium
2021–2025. President of the International Society of Zoological Sciences; headquarters in Beijing, China
2021. Elected foreign member of Royal Society of Canada
2021. Appointed a Science Ambassador of the Alliance of International Science Organizations-ANSO
2020. Awarded the Chinese President’s (Xi Jinping) International Science and Technology Cooperation Award for 2019
2019–2023. Advisor to the Eötvös Loránd Research Network of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
2019. The Chinese Premier’s/Prime Minister’s (Li Keqiang) Friendship Award for 2019
2019. Awarded the 2019 ECI prize in marine sciences
2019. Foreign member of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences
2019. Honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Science
2019. Honorary Professor of Beijing Normal University, China
2019. Awarded the Chinese Academy of Science’s medal for International Scientific Cooperation for 2018
2018–2022. Lead author of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group II, Chapter 1
2018. Honorary Professor of Tsinghua University, China
2018. Elected member of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)
2018. Honorary Doctor of Åbo Akademi University, Finland
2017–2023. Chair, Milner Centre for Evolution Advisory Bord, University of Bath, UK
2016. Foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
2016. Member of the External Advisory Board of the Centre for Ecological Research, Hungary
2015. International member of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, US
2015. Member of Agder Academy of Sciences and Letters, Norway
2014–2017. Member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC)
2013–. Professor II (honorary adjunct) Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
2012–2015. President of the International Biological Union (IUBS)
2012. Awarded the Research Council of Norway's Excellence in Communication of Science Award
2011. Chevalier (Knight) in the French National Order of the Legion of Honour
2011. Honorary Doctor (Doctor Honoris Causa) of the École Normale Supéreure, Lyon, France
2011. Awarded the University of Oslo’s Inspiration Award for Marine Biology, Norway
2010. Awarded the Bonnevie Prize for carrying out excellent work within the field of biology and to promote public understanding about biology through targeted and focused communication about the discipline
2009–2014. Elected Vice-president/President (alternating years) of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, DNVA
2008. Member of the Executive Committee of the International Society of Zool. Sciences
2007. Elected fellow of the Swedish Royal Physiographic Society in Lund: an academy for natural science, medicine and engineering
2006. Named Einstein Professor of the Chinese Academy of Science
2006. Member of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters
2005. Fellow of the French Académie des Sciences
2005. Fellow of Academia Europaea
2002. Member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Science and Letters
2001. Honorary Doctor (doctor honoris causa) of the University of Antwerpen, Belgium
2000. Awarded the Research Council of Norway Award for Outstanding Research
1999–2003. President of the Forth European Mammal Congress
1997–2006. President of the International Theriological/Mammalogical Congresses (ITC/IMC)
1996–1997. Elected fellow of the Centre for Advanced Study (and appointed as its Chair) for studying the “lemming problem”
1996. Awarded the University of Oslo Award for Outstanding Performance in Science (Class of Natural Sciences and Medicine) (the associated grant covers the years 1996–1999)
1986. Elected member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, DNVA
1984. Awarded the Nansen Medal for Outstanding Research for work on Evolutionary Biology (Background on the Nansen medal.)
Publication databases
- Web of Science (ISI) search
- Google Scholar
- Researchgate
- Cristin (A Norwegian national database. The list shown under Publications below is from this database. Note that this list is not complete; for a complete list of my publications see my Complete publications list (pdf)).