Researcher
Heidi Østbø Haugen
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Heidi Østbø Haugen is a human geographer and Professor of China Studies at the Department of Culture, Religion, and Asia and Middle East Studies at the University of Oslo (UiO). Her research focuses on economy and migration, with a particular interest in how formal and informal systems of production, trade, logistics, and remittance are intertwined in export flows from southern China to West Africa.
Since 2003, Haugen has conducted fieldwork in southern China, as well as in Nigeria, The Gambia, Ghana, and Cape Verde. From 2006 to 2008, she worked at the West Africa regional office of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Dakar. In 2025, she concluded a project on intermediaries and brokerage in China’s globalization, funded by the European Research Council's (ERC) Starting Grant-program.
Guangzhou is the geographical focal point of Haugen’s research in China, and she has been a visiting scholar at Sun Yat-sen University in the city on two occasions: in 2014 and again from 2018 to 2019. From 2021 to 2025, she has served as Chair of the Norwegian National Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and Humanities (NESH).
Expertise
Education
2013 PhD (Doctor Polit.) - Department of Sociology and Human Geography - University of Oslo - Norway. Disputation date: 01.03.2013. Supervisors: Prof Hege Knutsen, University of Oslo & Prof Ian Taylor, University of St Andrews
2003 Cand. Polit. Department of Sociology and Human Geography - University of Oslo - Norway
2001-2003 Princeton in Beijing Program - Beijing Normal University - China. Chinese language studies
2000 Cand. Mag. - Faculty of Social Sciences - University of Oslo - Norway. Student exchange at the National University of Singapore (1999)
1996 International Baccalaureate - Lester B. Pearson United World College - Canada
Work Experience
2020- Full Professor - University of Oslo, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages - Norway
2018-2020 Associate Professor - University of Oslo, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages - Norway
2013-2018 FRIPRO Postdoctoral Research Fellow (4 years, 25% teaching) - University of Oslo, Department of Sociology and Human Geography - Norway
2008-2013 PhD Research Fellow (4 years, 25% teaching) - University of Oslo, Department of Sociology and Human Geography - Norway
2006-2008 Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping Officer/Results Based Management Officer - World Food Programme, West Africa Regional Bureau - Senegal/Italy
2004-2006 Higher Executive Officer - Department of Research, Ministry of Education and Research - Norway
2002-2003 Network assistant (50%) - Network for Asia Studies, Centre for Development and the Environment - Norway
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