Daily Archives: Friday September 29th, 2017

New study plan in medicine introduces the OSCE exam

In the new curriculum for the medical students at our faculty, Medicine 2015, it has been decided that what is referred to as OSCE examinations (O = objective; S = structured; C = clinical; E = examination) should be introduced and included. One of the main arguments for this is to secure a fairer evaluation and grading compared to the current clinical examinations. There are arguments both pro and con. However, we all must relate to this decision and make sure that these examinations are performed in a proper manner. The first ordinary OSCE examination will be on June 20th, 2018 for 160 medical students. The OSCE exam is a station-based exam (“circle exercise”), and all students are examined at all stations.

As announced since April/May, the fourth and last pilot-OSCE examination will be on Wednesday November 8th (in about one month). The pilot medical students to be examined this time are from Class 14-B. They have been medical students for about 3½ years by now. Altogether, 39 examiners are needed to run three parallel circles with 13 different active stations. Examiners from Departments of Biomedicine, Clinical Medcine, Clinical Science and Global Public Health and Primary Care will be more or less involved as examiners. There will be electronic and online assessment with laptop at each station.

This is an example of the checklist for the examination in one of the stations used in the pilot examination in May this year:

This example is related to the teaching in neurophysiology at the Departments of Biomedicine. The “objectivity” is secured by evaluating all candidates and issuing points on each single question/element in the checklist. A global score (totalvurdering) is the examiner’s overall and general judgement and impression of the candidate’s performance, independent of points actually obtained.

By a Single borderline score regression analysis, the global evaluation (Not passed, Borderline, Sufficient, Good, Excellent) is plotted on the x-axis vs. the points scored for every student (in this example 68) on the y-axis. If a score of > 40% of the points is preset as the limit for passing this station, 6 students have failed. In this example, the regression analysis will adjust the limit to ~ 60%, and 12 students will fail. The borderline regression analysis corrects for an easy station where many students obtain high scores and a more difficult task/station where many students obtain a low score.

This pilot OSCE examination will commence at. 08:00 a.m. on November 8th, and is finished by lunchtime.

Ketil Grong

HSE corner: Pension and insurance for foreign employees

It is easy to think that the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund is “only” involved in what you will live off when you become a pensioner. In reality, it is involved in much more. The Fund is involved in what you will live off if you are injured or become ill, and it is about providing security for your family.

UiB arrange an information meeting about this and related issues for international researchers and other foreign employees.

Time: 2 October at. 16:30–19:30.
Location: Student Centre or Christies gate 12 (depending on the number of participants).

More information and link to a registration form can be found here.

Information security courses

To all employees at UiB.

IT security is a challenge both at work and private. Attempts to obtain unauthorized access to, manipulation and damage to our data and systems are becoming more advanced and increasing in scope. Security and trust in our systems and our data is important in everyday life, and it is in everyone’s interest that we together contribute to protecting our values. We are all responsible for protecting and preserving our student and research data, as well as administrative data. One of the best measures UiB can implement is better knowledge and competence.

In connection with the National Security Month, which is organized in October each year, we will offer all employees a course in information security. The course consists of a series of 2–3 minute modules that you will receive by email from 3 October. The sender is National Security Month 2017 (course@nanolearning.com).

I hope you want to participate in the course, thus helping us to increase our shared expertise in this important area. We wish to register those who complete this course in Information Security in My Folder in the HR Portal to document that you have completed the course.

If you wish to attend this course, you can register here.

The registration deadline is Friday 29 September at. 12:00.

We also remind you of the Digital Day for employees on 4 October, where IT security will have its own stand.

Best regards,
Tore Burheim

Reminder about deadlines | Financial support for stays abroad

The Faculty of Medicine offers grants for research stays abroad for scientific staff. The purpose of the grant is to cover initial and additional expenditures in connection with research-related stays abroad. It is also possible to apply for travel expenses to be covered.

Three types of UiB employees are eligible for the grants:

1) Scientific staff in permanent positions. The position must be funded by the University, and an application for research sabbatical including a stay abroad must have been submitted by the deadline for sabbaticals (1 May). Deadline: 1 October.

2) Postdoctoral fellows with UiB funding. Deadlines 1 March and 1 October.

3) PhD candidates with UiB funding/UiB research fellow (PhD) positions: PhD candidates funded by the Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, can apply for research grant limited to NOK 25.000. Application deadline are 1 March and 1 October.

More information is available here.

Research project on special sensory experiences

This is a request to participate in a research project to investigate particular sensory experiences. Both individuals with and without such experiences are invited to participate by answering a questionnaire about this. It will take about 15–30 minutes, with the possibility of breaks along the way. A week later, participants will be invited to answer only part of the questions again. All information will be anonymous.

The project is supported by the University of Bergen (Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology) and the Bergen Research Foundation. The project is approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics [REK (2017/69)].

More information about the study can be found here. (Link in Norwegian.)

With best regards,

Frank Larøi
Professor, Department of Biological and Medical Psychology
Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen

Master’s theses year 18/19 and bachelor’s theses spring 18 for nutrition students

As students in the master’s programs in clinical and human nutrition shall write a master’s thesis, the Program Committee in Nutrition (Programutvalget for ernæring) requests proposals for new master projects in nutrition during the year 2018–19.

In the spring of 2018, students in the bachelor program in human nutrition shall also write a bachelor’s thesis. Here, the Program Committee in Nutrition also requests input to nutrition-related topics for bachelor assignments.

More information about master’s and bachelor’s thesis can be found here.

Templates for thesis descriptions:

Deadline: 20 October.

Interest organization for all PhD students and postdocs at UiB

In cooperation with The Association of Doctoral Organizations in Norway (SiN) and their local affiliations, UiB wish to establish a local interest organization for all PhD students and postdocs (including young researchers with temporary positions) at the university.

The main aims with this organization will be to:

develop a common forum for PhD candidates and postdocs at UiB, for both scientific/academic and social interaction.
help PhD coordinators to serve as a link between the University Management and Administration on one side, and PhD candidates and postdocs on the other side.
contribute to the scientific and academic development of PhD candidates and postdocs at UiB, through seminars and courses.

As a PhD candidate or postdoctoral fellow at UiB,

are you missing a forum to discuss with other PhDs and postdocs across faculties?
are you missing social activities to meet other PhDs/postdocs?
are you aware of your rights and responsibilities as a temporary employee?
do you know whom to contact with questions regarding your contract?
would you like to attend seminars and courses to further develop academically and scientifically (topics such as career development, open access and open science, PhD with kids, equality policies)?

If so, a local interest organization for all PhD students and postdocs at UiB may help you.

You can show your interest for the existence of such an organization by becoming a member of the Facebook group PhD students and Post-Docs at UiB. If you do not have a Facebook account, or you do not wish to join this group, but you are still interested in learning more, please contact Ronja Hesthammer, and she will forward you information by email.

You may also join the information meeting on 9 October, where representatives from SiN and the other local organizations will share information about how they work at other universities, and what we can do here at UiB.

Time: 9 October at. 17.
Venue: Auditorium 128, Bjørn Christiansens hus, Christies gate 12.

Best regards,
Ronja Hesthammer
SiN contact at UiB

New seminar from the Centre for Nutrition | Bergen Nutrition Seminar | Iodine status in Norway

For years, we did not worry about the status of iodine in Norway. The general perception was that most people consumed enough of this important trace element through the diet. Recent studies indicate that this picture does not match reality, and in the spring of 2016, an expert group proposed to implement measures to improve the iodine status of the Norwegian population.

The Centre for Nutrition at UiB therefore invites to the second in the series of Bergen Nutrition Seminar focusing on iodine status in Norway and the research in this area.

Time: Wednesday 18 October at. 10–14.
Venue: Bikuben, Haukeland University Hospital.

Send your registration to Asta Optun.

Deadline for registration: 10 October.

The seminar is free and includes lunch, but there are limited seats.

NORBIS | Annual national conference | 8–10 November

NORBIS would like to invite everyone with an interest in bioinformatics, biostatistics and/or systems biology to take part in their third national conference, which takes place at Sommarøy Arctic Hotel outside Tromsø 8–10 November.

Join them there for inspiring keynote lectures and student talks, as well as the opportunity to meet current and future collaborators; and of course, for a chance of seeing the northern lights and the stunning arctic nature.

The conference is open for everyone, and will cover travel and accommodation costs for PhD students. Post docs and experienced Master students may also apply for support.

Supervisors and other researchers are encouraged to join the meeting, both to facilitate discussion across several levels of experience, to inspire the students, to increase their supervisor skills, and to increase their own national network.

Information and registration.

Deadline for registration: 1 October.

Course in SurveyXact | 6 October

There are still available places on the course in SurveyXact on 6 October. SurveyXact is the UiB program used for questionnaires, such as employee reviews and course evaluation, etc.

The course gives an introduction to how questionnaires should be created in SurveyXact, how the questionnaire can be distributed, and how the results can be downloaded and analyzed. In this course, there will be a special focus on how to analyze the results.

Time: 6 October at. 09–15.
Venue: Stein Rokkans hus (Nygårdsgaten 5), PC-room 1211.

Information and registration.

Best regards,
Grete Birkenes
Senior consultant, HR department
University of Bergen

NorDoc | Helsinki Life Science Day | 9 November 2017

The faculty participates in a Nordic network for research education in medicine and health science, called NorDoc. The purpose of this network is to establish a joint platform and collaborate on activities and courses.

Fellow NorDoc Graduate Students are invited to the first ever Helsinki Life Science Day, organized by graduate students of Doctoral School in Health Sciences at the University of Helsinki.

Time: 9 November 2017.
Venue: Viikki Campus, University of Helsinki.

Information and registration.
Deadline for registration: 27 October 2017.
Facebook.

Due to limited capacity, a maximum of five students from each NorDoc university may participate.

Research night at the University Museum | 29 September

What is the value of collections and research? Why are our collections so valuable, and what values does our research and new knowledge create?

This is the theme when the University Museum invites you to a research night Friday 29 September at. 20–24.

Here, you will be invited to a vibrant evening of knowledge experiences, activities, dining, music and lighted museum and Muséhagen. There is free access for everyone.

At the Historical Museum and in Muséhagen there are various stations where you can meet researchers

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Course in academic writing in English for PhD-students | 23–24 October

UiB invites PhD-students to a course in academic writing in English on 23–24 October. This is a two-day workshop in academic writing where the focus is on how to produce academic English (not the writing process). The course is suitable for both Norwegian and international PhD-students who are producing academic papers in English. The course will be conducted in English.

Information and registration.

Deadlines

Here, you find this week’s deadlines.

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New publications

Here are recent publications with contributions from K2 based on last week’s search on PubMed (and optionally articles that have not been included in previous lists). This time the list includes in total 21 recent publications. The entries appear in the order they were received from NCBI. If you have publications that are not included in this or previous lists, please send the references to Johnny Laupsa-Borge.

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PhD Comics