About TFSR
About TFSR
Trondheim Foundation for Scientific Research (TFSR) was established in 2008 and has provided support for brain research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) every year since.
The foundation was founded personally by Fred Kavli on 4 July, 2008. The background of the foundation was that May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser's Center for the Biology of Memory became a Kavli Institute in 2007, the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience.

Fred Kavli and The Kavli Foundation
Fred Kavli from Eresfjord in Romsdal was a civil engineer, entrepreneur, and a man with big dreams and a big heart. His contribution to research through The Kavli Foundation is extensive and very important. Not only as financial support, but also through his vision of supporting long-term research. He chose three scientific focus areas; the largest (astrophysics), the smallest (nanoscience) and the most complicated (brain research).
Fred Kavli was born in 1927, but moved to Trondheim to study at the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH). Immediately after his civil engineering degree in 1956, he traveled to Canada and then to the United States in 1958 to establish Kavlico Corporation, one of the world's largest suppliers of sensor technology for the automotive and aerospace industry. Kavli was also a member of the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. When Fred Kavli sold Kavlico Corporation in 2000, he chose to invest in what he believed in. He was keen to contribute to the long-term development of basic knowledge, to make the world a better place to live. In 2000, The Kavli Foundation was founded with the purpose of supporting highly advanced research in astrophysics, theoretical physics, nanoscience and neuroscience.
The Kavli Foundation has an extensive business and the most important is the support of the 20 Kavli Institutes established in three continents at some of the world's best universities. There are a total of seven Kavli institutes in neuroscience, the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience at NTNU in Trondheim, and six other at universities in the United States. In Europe there are four Kavli institutes in total.
Board of Directors
Jan Morten Dyrstad, Chairman of the Board
Jan Morten has a PhD in Economics from the University of Bergen, and is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, NTNU. He is experienced from various management tasks, boards, councils and committees at NTNU and elsewhere in the university sector. In the years 1999-2013 he was dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management at NTNU.
Rune Haglund
Rune is a lawyer and partner in the law firm Arntzen de Besche AS, where he is associated with the business area Banking, Finance and Insolvency. He holds several board positions in various companies and foundations, including positions as board member of Stiftelsesforeningen.
Janicke Udbye Løvaas
Janicke is Director of Private Wealth Management at Danske Bank Norge. She has more than 30 years of experience from the financial sector within Markets, Asset Management and Private Banking. She is a graduate of NTNU, formerly Trondheim University College of Economics.
Gunnar K. Nilsen
Gunnar is a board member of the Kavli Foundation and an advisor for start-up companies with special fields in sensor technology. He has experience both from Norway and USA in investment activities, technology development and entrepreneurship. He holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from NTNU and an MBA from Pepperdine University.
Anne Lise Ryel
Anne Lise has been general secretary of the Norwegian Cancer Society for 18 years. She has in-depth knowledge of the research’s crucial importance for progress in health, fundraising, user participation and implementation of research results. Anne Lise is a lawyer, and was the Equality and anti-discrimination Ombud in Norway 1994-2000 and State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice in the first Stoltenberg government. She has almost 40 years of experience from board positions nationally and globally.
Photos: Thor Nielsen and Elin Iversen
SUPPORT THE BRAIN RESEARCH
Donate by Vipps
The Kavli Institute’s Vipps: 696680 (UNIFOR)
Donate by bank
The foundation’s bank account:
4202 17 13168
More information:
Support the brain research
Contact
Please contact Jan Morten Dyrstad, Chairman of the board for dialogue or questions regarding supporting the brain research.
Financial statements and reports
Secretariat and audit
UNIFOR is a non-profit foundation which also performs administrative functions for foundations supporting research and higher education.
Since the summer 2016, UNIFOR has been a secretariat for TFSR, which among other tasks includes accounting, archive function, contact with public authorities and the Norwegian Gaming and Foundation Authority.
Through UNIFOR, TFSR is a member of "Stiftelsesforeningen" and the Norwegian Forum for Responsible and Sustainable Investment.
The audit company BDO examine TFSR's accounts.