The Work Research Institute (WRI) ( no, Arbeidsforskningsinstituttet, AFI), formerly known as the Institute of Work Psychology, is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

government-owned

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. Its purpose is to "produce systematic knowledge on working life" based on

industrial and organizational psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology), an applied discipline within psychology, is the science of human behavior in the workplace. Depending on the country or region of the world, I-O psychology is also known as occupational ...

and other social sciences. It is part of

Oslo Metropolitan University Oslo Metropolitan University (Oslomet; no, Oslomet – storbyuniversitetet)"Skrivemåten av universitetsnamnet Oslomet – storbyuniversitetet," Language Council of Norway, 17/677-4/DGI, 18 January 2018 is a state university in Oslo and Akersh ...

and was formerly an independent

state-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...

research institute from its establishment in 1964 until 2014.

History

The institute was founded in 1964, originally named the Institute of Work Psychology (''Arbeidspsykologisk institutt''), as one of several institutes which together made up the ''Work Research Institutes''. In 1986, the Institute of Work Psychology became a fully independent institute and renamed the Work Research Institute, and the other institutes shortly after became the

National Institute of Occupational Health National Institute of Occupational Health, also known as Statens arbeidsmiljøinstitutt or STAMI is a government body organised by the Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion. The institute deals with a range of occupational health areas, ...

. The institute was organized as a

government agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...

under the Ministry of Labour and Government Administration until 2002, when it became a wholly owned governmental limited company, since 2005 administered by the Ministry of Education and Research. In 2014, it merged with

Oslo and Akershus University College Oslo and Akershus University College ( no, Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus, abbr. HiOA) was the largest state university college in Norway from its establishment in 2011 until 2018, when it was transformed into Oslo Metropolitan University, the young ...

, while maintaining its separate identity and autonomy; in 2018 Oslo and Akershus University College became

. It is currently part of the Centre for Welfare and Labour Research at Oslo Metropolitan University, together with the sister institutes

Norwegian Social Research Norwegian Social Research ( no, Norsk institutt for forskning om oppvekst, velferd og aldring, NOVA) is a state social science research institute based in Oslo, Norway. It is part of Oslo Metropolitan University, and was formerly an independent st ...

, the

Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research The Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research ( no, Norsk institutt for by- og regionforskning, NIBR) is a social science research institute based in Oslo, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, ...

and the

National Institute for Consumer Research The National Institute for Consumer Research ( no, Statens institutt for forbruksforskning, SIFO) is a consumer affairs research institute based in Oslo, Norway. It has researchers in both social and natural science Natural science is one of th ...

. The current director of WRI is Elisabeth Nørgaard. The institute publishes series of reports, occasional papers and monographs. The institute's history is linked to the

action research Action research is a philosophy and methodology of research generally applied in the social sciences. It seeks transformative change through the simultaneous process of taking action and doing research, which are linked together by critical refle ...

tradition where partaking in development work is central.

Academics

* Jorun Solheim * Bjørg Aase Sørensen *

Bjørn Gustavsen Bjørn Gustavsen (born April 3, 1938) is a Norwegian academic and working life researcher. He has been Director of the Work Research Institute (1972–1983) and Professor at the Arbetslivscentrum in Stockholm (1986–1999), the University of Oslo ...

* Olav Eikeland * Einar Thorsrud *

Øystein Gullvåg Holter Øystein Gullvåg Holter (born 7 February 1952) is a Norwegian sociologist and expert on men's studies. Son of Harriet Holter. He is Professor of men's studies at the University of Oslo, the first to be appointed to such a chair in Norway. He work ...

Margunn Bjørnholt Margunn Bjørnholt (born 9 October 1958 in Bø, Telemark) is a Norwegian sociologist and economist. She is a research professor at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS) and a professor of sociology at the Univers ...

I. H. Monrad Aas Inge Harald Monrad Aas (born October 21, 1948) is a Norwegian researcher. Born in Steinkjer, he was educated in odontology at the University of Oslo (1973) and has his doctoral degree (1983) from the same institution. He started in research in 19 ...

Torild Skard Torild Skard (born 29 November 1936) is a Norwegian psychologist, politician for the Socialist Left Party, a former Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a former Chairman of UNICEF. She served as a Member of Parliame ...

* Jon Frode Blichfeldt

References

External links

Official website
Research institutes in Norway Independent research institutes Social science institutes Government-owned companies of Norway Industrial and organizational psychology Psychology organisations based in Norway {{Norway-org-stub