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Researcher

Niels Nagelhus Schia

Research Professor, Head of the Research group on security and defense, Head of NUPI's Research Centere on New Technology
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Contactinfo and files

nns@nupi.no
(+47) 90 40 12 01
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Summary

Niels Nagelhus Schia is a research professor specializing in the intersection of new technology and international relations. He leads the Research group on security and defense at NUPI, and co-manages the institute’s Research Centre for New Technology. With a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Oslo and a fellowship from the New School for Social Research (NSSR), Schia combines deep academic insight with practical experience in global policymaking.

Schia has chaired prominent initiatives such as the Norwegian government's expert group on AI, democracy, and elections (2024–2025), he served as co-coordinator for the reference group on Norway's role in the UN Security Council (2021–2022), and he has been the project leader of several larger research projects. A former Fulbright scholar and board member of the Fulbright Association in Norway, he is also a longstanding contributor to international conferences, United Nations discussions, and working groups.

Beyond his research, Schia is deeply engaged in shaping the global academic and policy landscape. He was co-editor of Internasjonal Politikk, the leading Scandinavian journal on international relations, for nearly a decade (2017–2025). He serves as a member of the Holberg Debate working group, the advisory council of the United Nations Association of Norway, and other forums dedicated to advancing knowledge and dialogue in his field.

Expertise

  • Cyber
  • Development policy
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • International organizations
  • United Nations

Education

2015 PhD, Social Antropology, University of Oslo

2004 Cand.polit., Social anthropology, University of Oslo

Work Experience

2022- Head of NUPI's Research group on security and defence

2017- Co-editor of the leading Scandinavian-language International Relations-journal Internasjonal Politikk

2015- Head, NUPI's Cyber Security Centre. 2010 Advisor, Civil Affairs, Policy Best Practices Services (PBPS), UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, New York HQ

2009 Visiting scholar at The New School for Social Research, New York, Leiv Eiriksson mobility programme (The Research Council of Norway) and Fulbright Scholar

2003- Research Assistant / Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow/Research Professor, NUPI

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2012-2016 Board member Fulbright Alumni Association of Norway

2013-2016 Head of Scientific Committee for Fulbright annual research award

Aktivitet

NUPI-podden #17: Hva har Norge å gjøre i FNs sikkerhetsråd?
Podcast

NUPI-podden #17: Hva har Norge å gjøre i FNs sikkerhetsråd?

17. juni faller dommen. Får Norge en av de 10 midlertidige plassene i sikkerhetsrådet? Hvorfor er det så viktig for oss? Er det verdt alle million...

  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Governance
  • United Nations
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Governance
  • United Nations
Har Putin satt Sikkerhetsrådet sjakkmatt?
Podcast

Har Putin satt Sikkerhetsrådet sjakkmatt?

Har krigen i Ukraina dyttet sikkerhetsrådet ut i en eksistensiell krise? Spørsmålet har kommet til uttrykk i flere debatter, både i Norge og inter...

  • Europe
  • Russia and Eurasia
  • Governance
  • International organizations
  • United Nations
  • Europe
  • Russia and Eurasia
  • Governance
  • International organizations
  • United Nations
Den digitale slagmarken og krigen i Ukraina
Podcast

Den digitale slagmarken og krigen i Ukraina

Visste du at det første skuddet i Russlands storoffensiv mot Ukraina var digitale koder? I denne episoden av Utenrikshospitalet får du høre om den...

  • Cyber
  • Conflict
  • Cyber
  • Conflict
Angst i Athen: En forskerspires frykt for å feile
Podcast

Angst i Athen: En forskerspires frykt for å feile

Møt Claudia Aanonsen, doktorgradsstipendiat ved NUPI, som for første gang skal delta på en internasjonal forskerkonferanse. Hun gruer seg, og er e...

Guardians of the Algorithm: Why AI Needs Global Oversight
Podcast

Guardians of the Algorithm: Why AI Needs Global Oversight

In this episode of The World Stage, join us for an insightful conversation with AI expert Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, recently recognized on The Times l...

  • Security policy
  • Cyber
  • Security policy
  • Cyber
AI, God and Ethics
Podcast

AI, God and Ethics

In this episode of The World Stage, we meet Dr. Paolo Benanti. Benanti, who is known for coining the term algorethics, is a professor in ethics of...

  • Security policy
  • Cyber
  • Intelligence
  • Security policy
  • Cyber
  • Intelligence
Hva gjør Norge i Sikkerhetsrådet?
Podcast

Hva gjør Norge i Sikkerhetsrådet?

Norge er med på å forme internasjonal fred og sikkerhet som valgt medlem i FNs sikkerhetsråd. Og i januar 2022 hadde Norge presidentskapet i rådet...

  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Governance
  • International organizations
  • United Nations
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Governance
  • International organizations
  • United Nations
Articles
News
Articles
News

PODCAST: AI, God and Ethics

The World Stage takes a dive in the world of ethics and technology – and the pope's white puffer coat.
  • Cyber
  • Governance
Articles
News
Articles
News

PODCAST: Guardians of the Algorithm

The World Stage looks closer on the need for global oversight of artificial intelligence with Dr. Rumman Chowdhury.
  • Cyber
  • International organizations
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Digital Supply Chain Dependency and Resilience

While a growing body of literature addresses how states increasingly aim to secure their digital domains and mitigate dependencies, less attention has been paid to how infrastructural and architectural configurations shape their ability to do so. This paper provides a novel approach to studying cyber security and digital dependencies, paying attention to how the everyday business decisions by private companies affect states’ ability to ensure security. Every mobile application relies on a multitude of microservices, many of which are provided by independent vendors and service providers operating through various infrastructural configurations across borders in an a-territorial global network. In this paper, we unpack such digital supply chains to examine the technical cross-border services, infrastructural configurations, and locations of various microservices on which popular mobile applications depend. We argue that these dependencies have differing effects on the resilience of digital technologies at the national level but that addressing these dependencies requires different and sometimes contradictory interventions. To study this phenomenon, we develop a methodology for exploring this phenomenon empirically by tracing and examining the dispersed and frequently implicit dependencies in some of the most widely used mobile applications. To analyse these dependencies, we record raw traffic streams at a point in time seen across various mobile applications. Subsequently locating these microservices geographically and to privately owned networks, our study maps dependencies in the case studies of Oslo, Barcelona, Paris, Zagreb, Mexico City, and Dublin.

  • Cyber
cycon.PNG
  • Cyber
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