Location

Nestled along the slopes of several wooded hills, adjacent to a breathtaking fjord, Oslo is a city of historic and contemporary significance. As the capital of Norway, Oslo has become an international center of peace brokering and conflict resolution (such as the Oslo Accords). Each year, the Nobel Institute in Oslo awards the coveted Nobel Peace Prize, and half a dozen other similar centers and institutions (such as the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights) call Oslo their home.

A coastal city in a strategic location, Oslo has long been an important center of trade and culture in northern Europe. Viking chieftains, medieval monarchs, and modern multinationals have all made it their base. Oslo was founded around 1000 and became the working capital of Norway in 1299, when King Håkon V made it his seat of power. After Norway and Denmark merged into a single kingdom, Oslo was more of a provincial capital, and the royals resided in Copenhagen. In 1814, the Norwegian-Danish union dissolved, and Oslo once again became the official Norwegian capital (although Norway remained in a peaceful union with Sweden until 1905). At the time, it was called Christiania (and, later, Kristiania), but the original name of Oslo was restored in 1925.

With a population of around 500,000, Oslo is large enough to have an urban texture and small enough to feel like a charming home-away-from-home. The seat of both the contemporary royalty and the Storting, or Norwegian Parliament, Oslo is the capital of a constitutional monarchy (like the UK system). Political power rests mainly with the Storting and the Prime Minister. In addition to the Royal Palace and the Storting, other sites of interest include: Akerhus Fortress, the Norwegian Folk Park, Oslo Cathedral, the Holmenkollen ski jump, and more. Each year, Oslo’s City Hall hosts the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies.

The University of Oslo (UiO) is Norway’s oldest and largest university. From its modern beginnings with 17 students in 1815, it has grown into a complex public university of approximately 32,000 students. The main campus, Blindern, is located at the northwestern edge of Oslo and offers a wide range of student activities, facilities and services. The university has faculties of law, medicine, humanities, theology (Lutheran), mathematics and natural sciences, dentistry, social sciences, and education. Five UiO researchers have won Nobel Prizes, in fields such as peace, economics, chemistry, and physics. The university has eight “centers of excellence,” representing the highest research standards: molecular biology and neuroscience; physics of geological processes; mathematics for applications; equality, social organization and performance; the study of mind in nature; ecology and evolutionary synthesis; cancer biomedicine; and immune regulation.

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