The Nansen Center in Bergen has taken the initiative to establish and coordinate an international network of independent research centers, named the Nansen Group. The group has been initiated by Prof. Ola M. Johannessen and includes:

• The research foundation Nansen International Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NIERSC) in St. Petersburg, Russia established in 1992.
• The Nansen Environmental Research Center – India (NERCI) in Cochin in Kerala, India established in 1998.
• The Nansen–Zhu International Research Centre (NZC) in Beijing, China at the “Institute of Atmospheric Physics – Chinese Academy of Sciences” established in 2003.
• The Nansen-Tutu Centre for Marine Environmental Research (NTC) located at the University of Cape Town in South Africa established in 2010.
• The Nansen‐Bangladesh International Centre for Coastal, Ocean and Climate Studies (NABIC) located at Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies in Dhaka, Bangladesh established in 2012.

Altogether the network comprises 200 members including 75 PhD and Master students at the end of 2015, and it has opened up for joint projects, frequent scientific exchange visits, affiliated positions and Nansen fellowship awards. The sharing of creative ideas, research tools, experiments and data have also mutually strengthened our expertise and skills and made us an attractive network for research collaboration. 

The commercial company Terra Orbit AS, established in Bergen in 1987, is also part of the Nansen Group. The aim of Terra Orbit is to commercialize the research results from the Nansen Group and offer these to the market.

Dr. Fridtjof Nansen

The Nansen Group is inspired by the life of Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), a renowned Norwegian biologist, oceanographer, polar explorer, diplomat and humanist. The FRAM expedition, conceived and led by Nansen to chart Arctic waters by freezing a ship into the pack ice and allowing it to drift for 3 years was completed in 1896.  His pioneering work  expeditions laid the foundation for research in the Arctic Ocean, which is today known to be a key component of the global climate system.

Fridtjof Nansen

Nansen was empowered by 52 nations to issue the Nansen Passport to millions of war prisoners and refugees in the aftermath of the First World War and the Russian Revolution and organised their feeding and repatriation. In 1922, Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work. He played a key role in Norways separation from Sweden in 1905 and also served as Norways representative to Great Britain and to the League of Nations. The Nansen Center has made the slideshow Eventyrlyst (A Sense of Adventure) about the life and achievements of Dr. Fridtjof Nansen.