A Nordic Collaboration

Nordita is the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, and its purpose is to carry out research and strengthen the Nordic collaboration within the basic areas of theoretical physics. Reflecting the Nordic background, the institute has an official name in each of the five Nordic languages:

• Nordisk institut for teoretisk fysik (in Danish)
• Teoreettisen fysiikan pohjoismainen laitos (in Finnish)
• Norræna stofnunin í kennilegri eðlisfræði (in Icelandic)
• Nordisk institutt for teoretisk fysikk (in Norwegian)
• Nordiska institutet för teoretisk fysik (in Swedish)

History

Nordita was founded as the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Atomic Physics in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 1 October, 1957, under the ownership of the Nordic Council of Ministers and located at the premises of the Niels Bohr Institute. After the move to Stockholm, Sweden, in 2007, Nordita is hosted jointly by KTH (the Royal Institute of Technology) and Stockholm University.

Read more on the purpose and history of Nordita.

NORDITA 50 år - article by Christofer Cronström published in 2008 in Reflexer, the journal of Fysikersamfundet i Finland.

The on-line biography of Professor James Hamilton, who was a Nordita Professor of Theoretical Particle Physics from 1964 to 1986, includes chapters on his years at Nordita in Copenhagen.

Funding

Until 2006, Nordita was funded by the five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden through the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Currently Nordita funding is shared between the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Swedish Research Council, and the two host universities KTH and Stockholm University.