| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Research |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Headquarters | Trondheim, Norway |
| Products | Research projects |
| Employees | 2100 (2010) |
| Parent | NTNU (NTH) |
| Website | www.sintef.no |
SINTEF (Norwegian: Stiftelsen for industriell og teknisk forskning), headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, is the largest independent research organisation in Scandinavia. Every year, SINTEF supports research and development at 2,000 or so Norwegian and overseas companies via its research and development activity.
The acronym SINTEF means "The Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research". SINTEF was established at the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) in Trondheim in 1950 and expanded rapidly in the following years. The largest expansion came in 1993 when the "Centre for Industrial Research" in Oslo merged with SINTEF and created the SINTEF Oslo campus.
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SINTEF has approximately 2100 (2010) employees, most of whom are located in Trondheim, and approximately 350 of whom are in Oslo. There are also offices in Bergen, Stavanger, Tromsø, Raufoss and Ålesund, in addition to overseas offices in Houston, Texas (USA); Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; and Hirtshals, Denmark (the Hirtshals location being a laboratory installation).
SINTEF works in close cooperation with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim and with the University of Oslo (UiO). The cooperation with NTNU involves personnel from NTNU working on SINTEF projects while SINTEF staff teaches at NTNU. In addition, there is extensive use of shared laboratories and equipment. More than 500 persons are employed both by NTNU and SINTEF.
In 2010, 16 per cent of SINTEF's turnover came from commissions outside of Norway. Approximately 40 percent of the international turnover comes from research programmes in the EU. These projects have a high priority as SINTEF recognize the necessity of participating in multi-national knowledge development, and because the projects provide access to important networks.
The SINTEF Group consists of the SINTEF Foundation and limited companies. The newest research division, SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, became a part of SINTEF on 1 January 2007 when the Norwegian Building Research Institute formally merged with SINTEF.
The limited company SINTEF Holding was established to separate SINTEF's commercial activity from the core activities of research and development. SINTEF Holding is a taxable entity, which comprises strategic ownership and newly established companies.
SINTEF considers the development of new enterprises as a part of its social responsibility, and promote the commercialization of technology and ideas developed in SINTEF. Over the years, a large number of spin-offs, patents and licencees have originated at SINTEF.