PRIO researchers have recently been awarded grants for exciting new projects, from the Research Council of Norway (RCN) and the European Research Council (ERC).
These projects strengthen PRIO’s research agenda across a broad set of themes, ranging from digital authoritarianism and biodiversity governance to reconciliation, preparedness, and the reintegration of ex-combatants.
RCN-funded projects
PRIO has been awarded funding from the Research Council of Norway for four new projects.
- Understanding and Countering the Advance of AI-enabled Digital Authoritarianism in Asia (AsiaTech) Led by Senior Researcher Ilaria Carrozza, AsiaTech examines how artificial intelligence technologies are deployed to consolidate political power and control. The project will study the diffusion of AI-driven authoritarian models, the role of private and state actors, and the ways in which civil society, journalists and activists respond.
- Integrating Land and Biodiversity Protection in Sustainable Funding for People and Planet (BIO-FUND) Under the leadership of Research Professor Simon Reid-Henry, this project investigates how biodiversity financing is shaping the Colombian Amazon. In collaboration with Norad and Etnollano, the project focuses on how to better measure and capture the public value of multilateral funding mechanisms for global public goods such as biodiversity.
- The Ethics of Preparedness: Questioning Priorities in Norwegian Policies of Preparedness (PrepEthics)
Senior Researcher and Research Director Kristoffer Lidén heads the PrepEthics project in collaboration with Utsyn and Langsikt. The project will assess how Norway allocates limited resources between civil and military preparedness, exploring the ethical frameworks that should guide decisions about risks ranging from pandemics to armed conflict and natural disasters.
- Knowledge for Reconciliation: Truth and Contestation in the Aftermath of the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (RECON). Led by Inger Skjelsbæk, with PRIO’s Helga Malmin Binningsbø as part of the team, this project focuses on the South Saami region, how knowledge about historical injustices is disseminated, contested and received, and how these processes shape reconciliation efforts.
ERC-funded project
Alongside these national awards, PRIO has also secured prestigious European funding. Senior Researcher Júlia Palik has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant for the project Com2Civ: Rituals in Combatant-to-Civilian Transformation.
This project will investigate the role of rituals in the social reintegration of former combatants, focusing on the cases of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The project will employ life-history interviews, surveys and social cartography to understand how rituals foster – or hinder – mutual trust and belonging between ex-combatants and community members.
This award joins a strong portfolio of ERC-funded projects at PRIO, further consolidating the institute’s role at the forefront of international peace and conflict research.
Looking Ahead
Together, these funding achievements provide PRIO with important new opportunities to advance knowledge on pressing global challenges. From questions of governance and biodiversity to reconciliation and reintegration, the projects demonstrate PRIO’s commitment to producing research that is academically innovative and societally relevant.
