This document gives a short overview of the different research themes I have worked on and the relation between them. The main scientific problems and their scientific and technological relevance will be briefly described. My broad scientific background in terms of both topics and techniques will be demonstrated. The document will provide the context for the publication list and the scientific works provided with this application.

I have worked on a series of different topics since I started on my master thesis. There are, however some common themes in the topics. I consider almost all topics to be within condensed matter physics. Most of the work attempts to describe the phenomena from both microscopic and macroscopic viewpoints and statistical physics has therefore always been central to me. All the work I've done concerns processes and non-equilibrium properties of the systems studied. It should also be noted that I have employed both experiments and numerical simulation or theory on most topics. There is a certain evolution in the types of systems I have studied: Starting from dilute gases going through dense fluids to fluids confined by solids. For the last few years I have stayed at the interface between solids and interfaces between solids and liquids. I have studied the interface control on deformation of solids, mostly concentrating on the fluid--solid interface, but also on friction and fracturing at solid-solid interfaces. Fluid driven fracturing is at the heart of the geologically motivated topic of fluid intrusions in cohesive granular materials. My interest in the stress driven dissolution--precipitation at interfaces has also an offspring into compaction of granular media as a complex process regardless of deformation mechanism. Many of the processes I have studied turned out to contain instabilities causing patterns to emerge and this has continued into the pattern forming process of calcite precipitation from flowing water responsible for beautiful travertine terraces around the world.

All my research has been fundamental in the sense that I have studied fundamental processes and developed methods to study them. My work on molecular dynamics methods to study transport properties of hydrocarbon mixtures was funded by Total and seems to have found application in prediction of viscosity of real hydrocarbon mixtures transported in pipelines and in hydrocarbon processing. The more recent topics are, in the way they have been published, further from immediate technological application. The research plan I present is an attempt to bring my insights built up through fundamental studies to materials where they may have real societal and technological impact.

The first large theme -- ``transport properties of fluids'' -- is in many ways an established science in the crossroads of old theories: statistical mechanics, kinetic theory of gases, thermodynamics and hydrodynamics. The themes of the last 13 years (reaction in mechanically stressed solids, compaction and extrusion) are more uncharted ground. Still at the crossing points of old theories, but due to lack of fundamental work or lack of interaction between experiments and theory it is still unclear which are the fundamentally important mechanisms and how to describe them. Due to struggle with more fundamental questions the publication rate has been lower but I will myself judge the results to be more novel and original. The two reviewer's comment on one article~\cite{Dysthe2003a} was: ``The experiments required substantial effort and demonstrate extreme skill'' and ``[the article]\ldots reports a great wealth of new and interesting physics.''

During my years at the centre of excellence PGP I have been the only permanent researcher responsible for the experimental activities. At any time up to 10 people have been working in the labs on very diverse topics that have changed rapidly with the varying interests of field-, theory- and numerical based scientists. We have actively used rough, thought-provoking experiments to get ideas in a large team. Many experiments have therefore never been published, but have contributed to the creative flow of ideas in PGP. I have never asked to be co-author on papers where I was once involved in the early stages of the work unless direct results were used. I have also profited greatly from the ideas of my colleagues. I regard the contribution to free flow of ideas in a team as the obligation of a real scientist.

During the evaluation of Norwegian basic physics research in 2010 I was one of 4 professors in the physics part of PGP that received the overall assessment: ``The scientific quality of the work is excellent, of a unique groundbreaking character [not only literally speaking] with considerable publications in leading journals.''...''Overall grade: 5'' (top grade). The same report recommended that the Complex national network ``... join the physicists at PGP in Oslo'', a recognition that the type of research I and my colleagues have performed is considered a part of complex matter/phenomena research in physics. (We have this year joined forces in a Centre of Excellence application.)