Sigrun Gjerløw Aasland

Sigrun Gjerløw Aasland (born 11 February 1978) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She has been Minister of Research and Higher Education since February 2025.

Career From 2021 to 2024 Aasland chaired the environmental organisation ZERO. She was also involved with the think tank Agenda, where she served as its deputy leader. She was appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of Climate and Environment in 2024.

2025 A month into her tenure, Aasland met with representatives of the research sector to discuss and address budget cuts in the sector in the United States. Aasland expressed that the concerns were widespread in particular in the health and climate sectors, citing leading scientists and researchers in the US and that the Norwegian sector also was concerned about fat access and collaboration between the two countries. On the other hand, she couldn't pledge more allocated budget from the government focused on data and science.

Later in March, she announced the establishment of a commission which will look into how artificial intelligence can be better utilised in the higher education sector. In announcing the commission, she stated that she expressed hopes that the commission could provide new rules for how AI could and should be better utilised in the sector. The commission is scheduled to deliver their report by 1 October 2026. The commission delivered their first report in December and notably recommended the removal of home exams in higher education as a measure to counter the usage of AI in the sector. Aasland expressed that it would be up to higher education institutions to implement changes based on the commission's recommendations.

She expressed concerns for the limitation of freedom of expression in the United States in early April and warned Norwegian students of the risk of studying abroad generally speaking, can come with different types of risks compared to studying in Norway. She also expressed that it should be an individual consideration to do so, and further recommended listening to travel advice from Norwegian authorities.

With the government allocating 1.2 billion NOK to artificial intelligence research in June, Aasland hailed the importance of the research, strengthening the sector in the long term and how the government would be aiming to breech the topic offensively.

Weeks before the 2025 parliamentary election, Aasland visited Kristiansand and announced that the government would be setting of budget to open 30 slots for psychology studies at the University of Agder, with the plan for it to come into effect at the 2026 autumn semester.

Aasland announced in October that the government would be putting down a commission whose mission it will be to look into the loan and stipends Norwegian students receive and the economic support for students as a whole, with a report scheduled for 2027. There has long been calls for the economic support scheme for students to be reviewed again and the move was welcomed by the Norwegian Union of Students, who stated that the move was long overdue.

2026 In January 2026, Aasland expressed concerns about the increasing number of students caught cheating on exams with the use of artificial intelligence. She emphasised the importance of such actions receiving consequences, but also noted that the vast majority of students don't cheat on exams. Furthermore, she added that institutions in higher education should follow the recommendations of the Ministry of Education's commission on AI in higher education regarding the matter and that they would work to establish tolerable usage of artificial intelligence in lectures.

In May, she expressed that rectors of universities and university colleges around the country should do more to make campus life more enjoyable for students in order to reduce the burden of digital courses. The Norwegian Student Organisation argued that students are preoccupied with part-time jobs which prevents them from going to campuses, further arguing that the Storting should ensure that students don't lose further purchasing power.

While visiting London in June, Aasland and the UK Minister of State for Skills Jacqui Smith signed a memorandum of understanding aiming to strengthen exchange and research within higher education. Aasland emphasised the importance to increase the mobility from Norway to the UK. While the move was welcomed by the Association of Norwegian Students Abroad, they argued there should also be better conditions for Norwegian students choosing to study in the UK, most significantly regarding students' personal economic hardships.

Personal life Born on 11 February 1978, Aasland hails from Grimstad Municipality. She graduated in international economics and conflict management from Johns Hopkins University in 2003. She had also studied at the University of Bergen and the University of Perpignan.

She is the niece of former minister of research and higher education Tora Aasland, who held the position between 2007 and 2012.