Membership in The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters is election based. The Academy has Norwegian and foreign members.

Foreign members residing permanently in Norway also count as Norwegian members.

The members are divided into two divisions:

The Natural Sciences Division

•     Group 1 Mathematics
•     Group 2 Physics (including Astronomy and Geophysics)
•     Group 3 Geological sciences
•     Group 4 Chemistry
•     Group 5 Biology
•     Group 6 Cellular and Molecular Biology
•     Group 7 Medical sciences
•     Group 8 Technological sciences

The Humanities and Social Sciences Division

•     Group 1 History
•     Group 2 Culture and Aesthetics (including Archeology, Anthropology and Art History)
•     Group 3 Philosophy and Psychology
•     Group 4 Literary studies
•     Group 5 Philology and Linguistics
•     Group 6 Law
•     Group 7 Social sciences (including Sociology, Political Science and Economics)
•     Group 8 History of Religion and Theology

The Natural Sciences Division may have up to 140 Norwegian and 100 foreign members under the age of 70. The Humanities and Social Sciences Division may have up to 120 Norwegian and 60 foreign members under the age of 70.

The two divisions are subdivided into groups based on fields or disciplines.

A seat becomes available when a member passes away or turns 70 years of age. Members who have passed the 70 year age limit remain full members and keep the right to vote. 

The Academy may also have up to ten honorary members, who are exempt from the class- and group division.

The membership numbers of the Academy are as follows in March 2025:

The Natural Sciences Division:

• Norwegian members: 281
• Foreign members: 268

The Humanities and Social Sciences Division:

• Norwegian members: 257
• Foreign members: 149

The Natural Sciences Division 2025
New Norwegian members:

Kenneth Aksel Hvistendahl Karlsen, Universitetet i Oslo.
Bjørn Hallvard Samset, CICERO og Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet.
Jørn Harald Hurum, Naturhistorisk museum ved Universitetet i Oslo.
Trude Storelvmo, Universitetet i Oslo.
Abhik Ghosh, UiT—Norges arktiske universitet.
Hugo de Boer, Naturhistorisk museum ved Universitetet i Oslo.
Evandro Fei Fang-Stavem, Universitetet i Oslo og Akershus universitetssykehus.
Eystein Sverre Husebye jr., Universitetet i Bergen.
Kristin Ytterstad Pettersen, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet.

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New foreign members:
Herwig Leirs, University of Antwerp, Antwerpen, Belgium.
Kristian G. Andersen, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA.

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The Humanities and Social Sciences Division 2025
New Norwegian members

Kari Aga Myklebost, UiT—Norges arktiske universitet.
Hans Jacob Orning, Universitetet i Oslo.
Mari Hvattum, Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo.
Jill Walker Rettberg, Universitetet i Bergen.
Reidar Kiljan Maliks, Universitetet i Oslo.
Pia Lane, Universitetet i Oslo.
Linda Gröning, Universitetet i Bergen.
Ragnar Torvik, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet.
Toril Aalberg, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet.

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New foreign member

• Finnur Ulf Dellsén, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland-
  Jason Rothman, Lancaster University, Lancaster, Great Britain.
  Henrik Palmer Olsen, Københavns universitet, København, Denmark.

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