The Risk Analysis Science:  Foundation and Challenges

​​Professor Terje Aven, Professor University of Stavanger (Norway) and President Society for Risk Analysis
In this talk Aven will address some fundamental issues related to risk analysis as a  field and science: Is risk analysis a science in itself or just a set of approaches and methods for supporting knowledge generation to  solve real life problems – such as those related to technology, health, security or climate change?  Aven argues that risk analysis is indeed a science per se, although it is not yet broadly acknowledged as such. In the talk Aven will outline the main pillars of this science, and discuss why the topic is important for the further development of risk analysis.  Examples of issues addressed include: the risk concept, risk characterisations, uncertainties, risk management strategies, robustness and resilience based approaches, and risk governance. Also the role of SRA will be discussed.
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Terje Aven, Ph.D., is Professor in Risk Analysis and Risk Management at the University of Stavanger, Norway. He is also a Principal Researcher at the International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS). Previously he was also adjunct Professor in Risk Analysis at the University of Oslo and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has many years of experience as a risk analyst and consultant in industry. He is the author of many books and papers in the field, covering both fundamental issues as well as practical risk analysis methods. He served as the President of the European Safety and Reliability Association (ESRA) in the period 2014-2018 (June), and he is the current President of Society for Risk Analysis worldwide.  He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Risk and Reliability and Associate editor for several journals including Risk Analysis.