History, purpose and organisation

The Holberg Prize is an international prize awarded for outstanding contributions to research in the humanities, social sciences, law or theology.

Main objective

The aim of the Holberg Prize is to recognize path-breaking scientific work in the humanities, social sciences, law and theology. The Prize may be awarded both for work within a particular academic discipline and for work of a cross-disciplinary nature. The Prize shall, in addition, contribute to raising the status of these fields and to stimulate interest in research among young people.

In addition to the main prize, the Nils Klim Prize is awarded to a scholar under the age of 35 from or in the Nordic countries. Another important part of our activity is the Holberg School Programme, a national research competition for young students.

History

The Holberg Prize was established by the Norwegian Parliament 1 July 2003, and was awarded for the first time in 2004, 250 years after the death of Ludvig Holberg.

The University of Bergen has since the Prize’s establishment administered the Prize on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research

The Holberg Prize is named after Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), and was originally named Ludvig Holberg’s Memorial Prize. Holberg was born and grew up in Bergen before moving to Copenhagen, where he became a professor of Metaphysics and Logic, Latin, Rhetoric and History at the University of Copenhagen. He also laid the foundation for international law as an academic subject in Denmark-Norway. Holberg played a crucial role in bringing the Enlightenment to the Nordic countries and in the modernisation of several academic disciplines and teaching methods. Furthermore, he is well-known as a playwright and author.

The Nils Klim Prize is named after the hero of Ludvig Holberg’s novel Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum (Niels Klim’s Subterranean Journey) from 1741. The novel is about Nils Klim who, while exploring a cave in Bergen, falls down into a subterranean world where he comes across many different societies and creatures. In the tradition of other fictional travelogues of the period, including Thomas More’s Utopia and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Holberg informs us in the true spirit of the Enlightenment, that the world is a much bigger place than was previously assumed and that it is home to a myriad of highly disparate natural conditions and societies, customs and traditions.

The Holberg Prize is worth NOK 6,000,000 and the Nils Klim Prize is worth NOK 500,000.

The Holberg School Programme awards each year three student research projects with NOK 30,000, NOK 20, 000 and NOK 10,000 respectively, and the Teacher’s Prize with NOK 20,000.

Organisation of the Holberg Prize

The organisation and activitites of the Holberg Prize are regulated in its statutes.

The Holberg Prize is funded by the Norwegian Government Budget through a direct allocation from the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research to the University of Bergen, who administers the Prize on behalf of the ministry.

The Board of the Holberg Prize is appointet by the University of Bergen and is responsible for all activities and events related to the Holberg Prize, Nils Klim Prize and the Holberg School Programme. The Board awards the prizes at the recommendation of the Academic Committees.

The Holberg Committee and the Nils Klim Committee are appointed by the Board of the Holberg Prize. Each committee consists of five internationally renowned scholars in the academic fields covered by the prizes and are responsible for the scholarly assessment of the nominations. The members are appointed for an initial period of three years, with the possibility of reappointment for one additional period.

The Board of the Holberg Prize also appoints the Holberg School Programme Jury. The Jury decides who is to receive first, second and third prize in the competition, as well as the winner of the Teacher’s Prize. The Jury consists of scholars from the Norwegian higher education sector, as well as a teacher representative.

The Holberg Prize Secretariat is responsible for the practical administration on a daily basis. This includes management of the nomination process, facilitating the work of the academic committees and hosting public events such as the Award Ceremony, the Holberg Week and the Holberg Debates.  The Secretariat reports to the Board and is situated as part of the university administration.

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