Susanne Therese Hansen

Susanne Therese Hansen is a political scientist and a Senior Researcher at Studio Apertura, NTNU Samfunnsforskning AS. She holds a PhD in political science (2016) from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Hansen has a broad interest in institutions, organisations, governance, regulation, implementation of norms and rules, risk, security and societal safety and security. She conducts research both within international relations and public policy, and often focuses on dynamics between policy levels and between sectors.

Hansen's research spans across three broad empirical areas: First, Hansen has conducted extensive research on European states' norm development and implementation of risk-based regulations in arms export control. This was the focus of her PhD, and although this is not currently her primary area of research, she has continued her research on arms export control also after her PhD. Second, she has conducted research on the political dynamics of the Norwegian renewable energy transition, focusing inter alia on resource nationalist discourse in renewable energy export questions. Third, since 2021 her main focus of research has circled around how geopolitical tension and hybrid threats affect public and private organisations, and society as a whole. Since December 2023, Hansen has been the leader of the research project INTERSECT, that focuses on multi-level and cross-sectoral security governance and corporate adaptation in the face of hybrid threats towards critical maritime energy infrastructures.

Before joining Studio Apertura and NTNU Samfunnsforskning AS in 2021, Hansen worked fulltime at NTNU from 2009. At NTNU, she taught at the study programmes in Political Science and European Studies.

Hansen supervises three PhD students, and regularly contributes to panel discussions, external courses and committees.