6. Gravitational fields

A strong innovation district cannot be built from scratch. It must stand on the shoulders of strong and leading expert communities that already have a presence in the district. In the area from Majorstua to Gaustad, we currently find more than 10,000 researchers, teachers, entrepreneurs, business developers, business managers, investors and people working in public administration. They all have cuttingedge expertise within their disciplines.

From the broad and varied knowledge base in Oslo Science City, four strong thematic fields clearly stand out. They can all point to broad and internationally leading expertise related to research and innovation. These are broad thematic fields that span a wide range of professional disciplines. We call them «gravitational fields of expertise».

  • Health and life sciences

  • Digitalization and computational sciences

  • Climate, energy and the environment

  • Democracy and inclusion

The four thematic gravitational fields demonstrate particular strengths in today’s Oslo Science City. Here, we find solid and well-established alliances. The fields also cover the thematic structure of the EU’s new framework program for research and are at the center of the national policy approach to solving major societal challenges locally, nationally and globally. The fields attract and collaborate with national and international institutions within civil society and the business sector, speeding up innovation and value creation.

Consequently, it is particularly relevant to build an innovation district around these fields. Notice though, that there is also world-leading expertise in the district that does not neatly fit into these wide thematic fields. Oslo Science City should be organized in a way that ensures that innovations within all disciplines are supported.

Health and life science

The need for health services is growing rapidly, due to increasing life expectancy, changes in the composition of the population and greater expectations with regards to access to new technology and treatments. The health industry is now experiencing the highest growth rate of all mainland industries in Norway (estimated at approx. 6.5% per year). The health industry is the industry with the largest share of entrepreneurs in Norway (Menon, 2021) and currently exports for NOK 60 billion. It is a small industry in international comparison, but with a huge potential for increased exports. There is broad political agreement in Norway on promoting the further development of the health industry and on the importance of realizing the potential for increased value creation, exports and employment through the facilitation of the production of critically important medicines in Norway.

THE LARGEST GRAVITATIONAL FIELD OF EXPERTISE IN OSLO

Health and life sciences today represents the greatest thematic gravitational field in Oslo Science City, with the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital functioning as engines for research and innovation. With 1500 academic staff and 1300 PhD students, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo is a national knowledge hub with strong links to academic communities in the rest of the country and to leading environments in the rest of the world. The faculty is inextricably linked with Oslo University Hospital (OUS) with its 24,000 employees. Most of the research at the University of Oslo is performed at the hospital. Oslo University Hospital is the largest hospital in the Nordic region (with 1.2 million patient treatments per year) and world-leading expertise in a wide range of fields. The research communities in this district of the city are primarily located at Radiumhospitalet, Rikshospitalet and Ullevål hospital. From 2026, the Life Science Building will enable close integration of the laboratory environments of Oslo University Hospital and similar environments from UiO, and from 2031, the centre of gravity for research activities will be concentrated to an even larger extent around Nye Rikshospitalet.

A holistic approach to urban planning and regulation will link the Life Science Building and Nye Rikshospitalet in Gaustad together into an even stronger environment for translational research. Many of the commercial successes within life sciences originate from the proximity between basic research and the clinical environments. At present it is this axis between the university and the hospital that creates the greatest value and is most attractive for the major industrial players that need to find their place in Oslo Science City.

CLOSE LINKS TO OTHER FIELDS OF EXPERTISE AND THE INSTITUTE SECTOR

Close links have been established with other faculties at the University of Oslo and the research institutes in Oslo. SINTEF, the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) and the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) are of crucial importance in this interdisciplinary collaboration. Experts in computational science, physics, biology, technological subjects and informatics work closely with medical personnel on the development of new technologies, medicines and medical services. The research institutes contribute greatly to connecting the scientific communities to the outside world through applied research. SINTEF is a particularly important player within health innovation in Oslo as well as the rest of the country, with a special focus on new technology and diagnostics, and with close connections to the health industry.

SOME WORLD-LEADING FIELDS OF RESEARCH

The academic environments within the life sciences in Oslo Science City are numerous and cover a wide range of topics. We have picked out some of them here to illustrate the strengths, but many more can be mentioned. Within basic medical disciplines and clinical research, there is interdisciplinary cooperation and large opportunities for innovation and close interaction with the business community. This is where we see the densest flora of research centres with focus on innovation:

  • Centres of Excellence (CanCell, NORMENT, HTH)

  • Centres for Research-Driven Innovation (BigInsight, Visual Intelligence, ProCardio and C3)

  • Medical centres funded by Stiftelsen K.G. Jebsen, where UiO and OUS have 10 of 22 centres nationally.

In addition, we find strong teams on within research methodology such as Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology (OCBE), Centre for Bioinformatics, dScience, the Norwegian Consortium for Sequencing and Personalized Medicine (norseq.org) and EU-Openscreen / NorOpenScreen. The full list is much longer. It shows that there is extensive activity in the interface between the University of Oslo, Oslo University Hospital and other environments. Here we find for instance the development of ultrasound technologies, and research within biomechanics, robotics, machine learning (AI) and digital twins, contrast agents and nanotechnology with development of microsensors (synthetic cells).

Within precision medicine, Oslo Science City has through Oslo University Hospital developed a leading ecosystem for research and innovation. The hospital has taken a leading role in the Nordic region by heading the Nordic Alliance for Clinical Genomics. Oslo University Hospital is now also establishing a new national Centre for Advanced Cell Therapy that will provide cell therapy products for clinical trials. There will also be established a new national proton centre with its own preclinical research unit. The teams at Oslo University Hospital and the University of Oslo within radiopharmaceuticals and photomedicine hold globally leading competence and display an impressive will to innovate From here you find entrepreneurial companies such as Algeta, Nordic Nanovector, OncoInvent, Photocure and PCI Biotech.

At the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, there are also strong research units within vaccine research, infectious diseases and cancer. Here we also find strong research groups in the field of autoimmune diseases and other diseases of the immune system. In addition, there are strong environments in the field of antibiotic resistance (such as SCARABEE), and leading researchers within neuroscience (CINPLAN, Human Brain Project) and mental health (NORMENT).

THE HEALTH INDUSTRY IS A DRIVER OF INNOVATION

The Norwegian health industry is growing fast, but it is small compared with the industry in our neighbouring countries. More than 80% of value added from the Norwegian health industry comes from companies located in Oslo and Viken. Many of them build on research at the University of Oslo and from other actors in the area, such as Thermo Fisher, GE Healthcare (Nycomed), Bayer (Algeta) and Photocure. Globally, 60% of all research in health and life sciences is carried out by private companies. In innovation districts in other countries such as Stockholm Science City (Hagastaden) and the innovation district in Basel, the pharmaceutical companies have taken a leading role in the development of the district. For Oslo and Norway, the future potential is large with respect to cooperation with larger private actors.

BOOM IN THE NUMBER OF START-UPS

The number of new young companies within medtech, pharma and diagnostics in Oslo has almost exploded in recent years, and the link to the knowledge institutions is strong. Incubators such as Oslo Cancer Cluster, Aleap, Spark Norway and Startup Lab aim to provide a favourable environment for this type of enterprises. So do the Technology Transfer Offices by SINTEF and Inven2, which have specifically targeted their activity towards health and life sciences. Companies like Vaccibody, Ultimovax, Nordic Nanovector and Epiguard all grew stronger under the umbrella of such incubators. They have all received extensive international attention.

ACTIVE ROLE TO PROMOTE INNOVATION

The University of Oslo is now establishing the innovation unit Life Science Growth House, which aims to promote a stronger culture of innovation, stimulate ideas and provide students and researchers with tools, incentives and knowledge to further develop their innovative ideas. The unit is meant to be an open door for those who want help to further develop their ideas in an ”incubator” before applying for a patent through the TTOs. Oslo University Hospital has also established a new clinic for technology and innovation, TIK. The cluster organizations Oslo Cancer Cluster, Norway Health Tech and the Life Science Cluster are helping to build networks and facilitate innovation projects. These are strong and broad-based networks.

A FAST-GROWING INVESTOR ENVIRONMENT

Seed and venture investors are playing an increasingly important role in this region. The investment companies Hadean, Investinor, Founders Fund, Radforsk and Sarsia together with private players have invested large sums into start-up companies in Oslo Science City in recent years with particular emphasis on life sciences. SINTEF has succeeded in establishing a new early-stage fund with an investment capital of NOK 500 million. The European Investment Fund and a number of private Norwegian investors participate in the fund. Health2B is a new arena for public-private health collaboration in Oslo Science Park. Norway Health Tech, Oslo Science Park and Oslo University Hospital are developing a completely new concept for public-private partnership, to develop and test new forms of operation and solutions. Health2B is based on open innovation where Oslo University Hospital and Norway Health Tech invite to dialogue with industry, academia, patients, caregivers and other health services for discussion and innovation of tomorrow’s health solutions.

MORE INNOVATION THROUGH NEW MULTI-FUNCTIONAL BUILDINGS

The new Life Science Building with appr. 100,000 m2 of state-of-the-art premises as well as the development of SINTEF’s properties in Oslo Science City and the expansion of Oslo Cancer Cluster create the basis for one of the most successful areas for biomedical activity in the Nordic countries. One example is the introduction of more shared laboratories, such as today’s Sharelab in Oslo Science Park, offering space for companies in biology and life sciences. The Life Science Building can become a powerhouse that will draw international expertise and investments to Oslo. New extensions of areas for the Oslo Cancer Cluster will further strengthen the potential for a community that is often referred to as an international leader in the commercialization of cancer research with a special focus on immunotherapy. The close connection to Radforsk has made this success possible.