The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (Norwegian: Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. The academy was inaugurated on 3 May 1857 under the name ‘Videnskabsselskabet i Christiania’, simply ‘Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi’ from 1924 onwards. The economic support from the state was minimal during its first fifty years: as such the academy led a humble existence, its purpose remaining to advance science and scholarship in general through meetings, seminars and support of research and publications. An entirely new source of funding was found: the surplus from a state-owned, national lottery, and the establishment of Norsk Tipping took place in 1947. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters wished to administer this income through a council of its own, but the Government of Norway refused and created the research council NAVF (Norges allmennvitenskapelige forskningsråd, the Norwegian Council of General Research). The academy could merely suggest representatives for this council. Ever since then, the state-driven research councils have been more important than the academy, economically. NAVF and other bodies were merged in 1993 to become the ‘Research Council of Norway’. The Board of Directors of the Academy is elected annually. The President of the Academy for 2022 is microbiologist Lise Øvreås, while King Harald V of Norway is honorary president. The General Meeting is the supreme body of the Academy. The board of the Academy consists of its President, Secretary General and Vice-President together with the chairman, vice-chairman and secretary of the two divisions, Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Humanities and Social Sciences. The Academy aims to fulfill its mission by initiating and supporting research, organizing meetings and international conferences, publishing scientific writings and appointing representatives to national and international bodies. Each year, the Academy organizes at least 12 open meetings with topics covering a wide range of academic disciplines. As of 1 April 2021, the Academy had 946 members, of which 535 Norwegian and 411 foreign. The members are divided into the mathematics and science class, and the humanities and social sciences class. The academy is responsible for awarding the ‘Abel Prize‘ in mathematics and the ‘Kavli Prize’ in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience. It also represents Norway in the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Union Académique Internationale (UAI), the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the All European Academies (ALLEA). The academy is also part of the European Science Academies Advisory Council (EASAC) and one representative from the academy is stationed at the headquarters in Brussels. Its aim is to promote science based governing. Read more on Dnva.no