If you are interested in collaborating with researchers in INTRANSIT, please contact Professor Taran Thune (taranmt@tik.uio.no).
Some suggested master thesis topics
The role of the finance sector in green industry transformations: What roles and strategies may the finance sector play in supporting greening of industry in Norway? A master thesis could address the role of regulations, standards, valuation practices and investment decisions to promote transformation. The role and strategies of specific firms may also be relevant to study.
Hydrogen hubs/valleys have emerged as a concept to accelerate hydrogen innovation. However, there are yet few empirical assessments of the impact of hydrogen valleys to the development and uptake of hydrogen solutions. The master thesis could select a Nordic frontrunner hydrogen valley and evaluate such questions.
Electric planes: Norway has some of the most travelled passenger air routes in Europe. The master thesis could analyze the development of the electric plane innovation using Norwegian short route network as a niche market, or how Norwegian companies (e.g. diversifiers from charging and electrical solutions for land- and maritime transport) may contribute to electric plane innovation.
Sectors differ in their adaptive capacity in the face of technological innovation with transformative potential (e.g. digitalization, new energy solutions). A master thesis could explore how new technology, such as for instance 3D printing that has significant potential both for production of original components and spare parts, has different conditions to be implemented in different sectors, for example petroleum compared with the maritime sector.
Intermediation is thought to provide an important role in sector-wide transformation towards sustainability, and potentially also concerning digitalization. Intermediation typically relates to creating linkages across actors, contribute to development of joint expectations and visions, collective learning processes etc. A master thesis can study how cluster organisations, industry associations or other actors take on such roles, and the types of transformative change (or not) they strive to facilitate.
Minerals and other natural resources are a key component in the green shift but have so far been largely overlooked in innovation and transition studies although they constitute critical upstream inputs for cleantechs. This also has an important geopolitical dimension in that many important material inputs currently rely on mining and processing in countries such as China. In the Nordics, and especially in Norway and Sweden, actors are attempting to develop new mining and processing activities, yet are faced with barriers related to land use, access to energy etc. A master thesis could study such attempts to developing new primary (and secondary) sector activity, for instance with attention to legitimation narratives and/or multi-sectoral couplings.