Bruno Oliveira Martins
Senior Researcher
Email: brumar@prio.org
Research Interests
My main research interests lie on the intersection between technological developments, security practices, and societal change. In 2022 / 2023 I work on different projects on emerging security technologies. These include RegulAir (a large, multi-annual research project on the integration of drones in the civilian airspace, that I lead), TRANSCEND (a Horizon Europe project dealing with societal impacts of EU security research, where I am WP leader), and Disruptive Security Technologies: Challenges to Norway’s Total Defence Concept (dealing with with how new technologies generate vulnerabilities and pose challenges to the total defence concept, a project that I lead).
I am interested in several issues within the wider security studies agenda, and I've researched, taught and published on EU's security and defence policies, including counter-terrorism, EU-Israel-Palestine relations, and the politics of security and defence research and innovation.
I am a senior researcher at PRIO, where I am coordinator of the Security Research Group and a member of the Law & Ethics Research Group, the PRIO Middle East Centre, and the PRIO Migration Centre.
Professional background:
- 2017-19: Postdoctoral Fellow, Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity and Welfare (MIM), Malmö University
- 2017: Guest researcher, ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo
- 2013-2016: Postdoc / Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University
- 2013-14: External Lecturer, Department of Political Science, University of Southern Denmark
- 2010-14: Researcher, University of Minho, Project Strategic Partnerships in EU's Foreign Policy
- 2011: Visiting Fellow, European University Institute, Florence
- 2010: Visiting Fellow, Egmont Institute, Brussels
- 2008: Political Analyst, Delegation of the European Commission in Israel.
- 2008: EuroMeSCo Exchange Researcher, Ben-Gurion University, Israel. Research Project Undocumented Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Israel
- 2006-08: Researcher, Institute for Strategic and international Studies (IEEI), Lisbon
Education
- 2014: PhD in Political Science, University of Minho, Portugal.
- 2008: MA in European Studies, University of Minho, Portugal
- 2003: Licenciatura (5 year graduation) in Law, Portuguese Catholic University.
Languages
- Fluent: Portuguese (mother tongue), English, Spanish
- Intermediate: Norwegian, Italian
- Basic: Danish, French
Latest publications
All publications
Segurança e Geoestratégia
Book Chapter in O Essencial da Política Portuguesa
Turkish Drones as a Foreign Policy Tool: A Technology-Mediated Search for Autonomy
MidEast Policy Brief
Security and Geostrategy
Book Chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Portuguese Politics
Digital Peacebuilding: A Framework for Critical–Reflexive Engagement
Journal Article in International Studies Perspectives
Norges sårbarhet for droner var velkjent. Russlands krig har gjort sårbarheten farligere og synligere.
Popular Article in Aftenposten
Drones over Norway: A Security and Regulatory Analysis
Popular Article in PRIO Blogs
Border security and the digitalisation of sovereignty: insights from EU borderwork
Journal Article in European Security
Tecnologia, segurança e sociedade: desafios para o futuro estratégico de Portugal
Book Chapter in Janus 2022
Norway’s Policy on Emerging Military Technologies: Widening the Debate on AI and Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems
PRIO Policy Brief
Public address to the UNOCT on UAS threats against vulnerable targets, including soft targets and critical infrastructure
Conference Paper
Latest news
All news
PRIO Contributions to Arendalsuka 2022
Arendalsuka concluded on Friday and PRIO Director Henrik Urdal sums up PRIO's contributions.
PRIO at Arendalsuka 2022
PRIO participated at this year's Arendalsuka with three events, and with our researchers on several debate panels.
New Horizon Europe Project at PRIO on Security Research
A collaborative project in which PRIO participates has been awarded a large grant from the European Union's Horizon Europe programme.
PRIO Researchers Join New UN Network on Protection of Vulnerable Targets
We are proud to announce that PRIO researchers Bruno Oliveira Martins and Ilaria Carrozza are joining a new UN network as expert members.
Bruno Oliveira Martins Speaks at UN Office of Counter-Terrorism Expert Group Meeting
On 6 October, Senior Researcher Bruno Oliveira Martins presented PRIO research at the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) Expert Group Meeting on Vulnerable Targets and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). In his address on UAS threats against vulnerable targets, Bruno focused on the nature of the threat posed by non-cooperative drones, the technological means to respond to it, and the societal, human rights and regulatory problems that persist today.
RegulAIR Project Team Makes an Address at INTERPOL Drone Incursion Exercise
On 28-30 September 2021, the RegulAIR project team attended the first-ever international drone incursion exercise at a fully operational airport. Organized by INTERPOL, the Norwegian Police, Avinor, and UAS Norway, the event gathered C-UAS technology vendors, police officers, officials from government agencies, and experts from around the world, with the aim of testing C-UAS technology, and of discussing the challenges and opportunities for detecting, tracking, and intercepting unmanned aircrafts. The exercise was a culmination of eighteen months of planning and served not only as an opportunity to test cutting-edge technology in an operational setting, but also as a forum for discussions on practical, societal, and legal aspects of the threat posed by non-cooperative drones.
New Project: Preparing the EU’s Drone Strategy 2.0
PRIO has received funding from the European Commission to contribute to a fact-finding study preparing a Drone Strategy 2.0. The PRIO team, composed by Bruno Oliveira Martins and Nora Stai, will contribute to different components of the study, in particular by providing a Norwegian case study on technology testing and development in the field of law enforcement. Through interviews, field research and literature reviews, PRIO will assess the opportunities for, and barriers to, drone use in this sector, in addition to outlining its current and potential impact on civil-military relations and technological development.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: From Sheikh Jarrah to Gaza
In a series of brief blog posts, researchers of the PRIO Middle East Centre offer their reflections on the unfolding Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The reflections cover historical and political background as well as current dynamics and future prospects.
Call for Applications: Three New PhD Positions at PRIO
PRIO invites applications for three Doctoral Researcher positions.
Border Security ‘Problems’ and ‘Solutions’: What’s the relationship?
In a new article recently published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Bruno Oliveira Martins and Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert analyze the dynamics surrounding the adoption of technologies for EU border control. The article is part of a forthcoming special issue on The Spiralling of the Securitization of Migration in the European Union, edited by Valeria Bello and Sarah Léonard.
Latest events
All events
Turkish Drones as a Foreign Policy Tool - MidEast Breakfast Seminar
Breakfast seminar: Drones over Norway: Opportunities, Threats, and Vulnerabilities
Drones in Civilian Airspaces: Security, Regulation, and Imagination
Biometric Borders, Body Politics and Digital Governance
Forces for Good and Bad: Emerging Technologies and the Future of Humankind
European Governance of Emerging Technologies: Concepts, Challenges and Practices
Drones, Robotics, and New Military Technologies: Debating the Norwegian Position
Drones, inteligência artificial e as novas tecnologias militares: contributos para uma posição portuguesa
Tech-Based States of Emergency: Public Responses and Societal implications
Countering the Drone Threat: C-UAS technology and implications for Norway in an EU and NATO context
Current projects
All projects
TRANSCEND: Transdisciplinary methods for societal impact assessment and impact creation for security research technologies
Autonomy Framework for Safe and Secure Integration of Civillian Drones in European Airspace
RegulAIR: The integration of drones in the Norwegian and European Airspaces
Peace, Security and Global Digital Politics: ePOLITICS Initiative
Latest blog posts
Drones over Norway: A Security and Regulatory Analysis
Drones in the Ukraine War: An Initial Strategic and Sociological Assessment
Humanitarian Biometrics in Yemen: The complex politics of humanitarian technology
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Short notes on military technologies
Drones in the Time of Pandemic: Caution Behind the Hype
“Drone technology has democratized”: An Interview with Bruno Oliveira Martins and Andrea Silkoset
A Venezuelan Incident: Maduro and the Politics of Latin American Drones
