On this shortest day of the year, take the opportunity to lower the pace a little, sit back and think about the year soon ending. All in all, the K2 year 2018 has been good. A lot of good research and teaching has been performed and we have achieved the goals we set at the start of the year. We have also been able to present out work to the public on numerous occasions, not least through the program Norge nå shown on NRK last week.

Next year will be as busy as 2018, but before that, you can all take a well-deserved Christmas break. I hope everyone will have time to connect with family and friends and have a good and relaxing time.

The management at K2 wishes all employees and partners a happy Christmas and Happy New Year.

Eystein
Acting Head of Department

This fall has seen a lot of work related to this Wednesday’s department day, both for the administration and the organizing committee, and finally, this week, the day arrived.
I have been looking very much forward to our day together, partly also due to this year’s dinner afterwards. I like to believe that many of you became better acquainted with your colleagues, both on and off the stage. I myself have many memories and impressions from the day, and one of the most lasting impression is the song and music from Ehsan, by which I was most impressed. His music has inspired many of the staff to practice snapping their fingers during lunch hours.

We have all much to gain from a day like this, with both professional and social refill. I am therefore glad that the waiting time until our next gathering is not too long. The K2 conference 2019 is being held 28.-29. March at Solstrand. The conference will incorporate both the department day and the annual strategic seminar which is usually held in January. The conference will be from lunch to lunch, and also includes dinner in the evening and accommodation, meaning we will soon have a new opportunity to get even better acquainted with fellow K2s. Please save the date, more information will come early next year.

Finally, I would like to once again thank the organizing committee for their work with this year ‘s department day. Without your contribution , we would not have had this great day together. Thank you Ola, Sonja, Irene, Marius, Bente og Siv Lise.

Best,
Julie

For all businesses it is important that the cash flow is good and predictable. For K2’s part, it is important to be successful in applications for external funding, especially from sources which cover indirect project costs. As the end of the year is approaching, it is time to summarize what we have achieved in 2018.

Yesterday we received the news that Per Eystein Lønning and Stian Knappskog got a FRIMEDBIO grant each – this is truly very impressive when we know how low the success rate is. Earlier this week Karl-Henning Kalland and Eystein Husebye each received a NFR’s BEHANDLING grant. Earlier this fall, Rebecca Cox succeeded in the GLOBVAC program. I do not know if K2 is Norwegian champions in NFR, but we must be close.

In the case of EU applications, we have received an ERC Starting Grant (Randi Bertelsen), a partner application for Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI, Name), a partnership in Era-Net for Personalized Medicine, a JPI in Antimicrobial Resistance (Nina Langeland) and an ERAPerMed project (Steinar Skrede). Piotr ​​Mydel has come through the needle eye and received a project from National Institutes of Health – impressive!

Furthermore, we have received funding from the NovoNordisk Foundation (Eystein Husebye), and the Directorate for Internationalization and Quality Development in Higher Education in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Svein Haavik). Last but not least, we have (almost as a tradition) received a big share of Helse Vest research funds including 6 new research projects (open project support, Eva Gerdts, Kristin Aakre, Nina Langeland, Per Eystein Wage, Stian Knappskog, Pål Njølstad) and a good share of the Ph.d. .- and postdoc positions from both the Helse Vest and UiB.

With regards to the larger programs for research centers, K.G. Jebsensenter for translational cancer research started this year with Per Eystein Lønning as leader. Unfortunately, we have not been successful with the career scholar program from Bergen Research Foundation.

All in all, the leadership at K2 is very pleased with 2018. At the same time, we see the opportunity to increase the portfolio, especially of EU projects. It would also be desirable to have a wider range of K2 researchers among those who are awarded grants. That means that those who succeed must help the others to success.

In light of the changes at NFR, including new templates and assessment criteria from 2019 on, Amra and the other counsellors at the faculty will arrange workshops to inform. NFR will release the final information sometimes in late January or early February.

Before that, a webinar is given on 14 December.

UiB has also selected Sean McCarthy to give information on the impact part of projects, which will be given significant weight in the new NFR template. He is coming to Bergen on 10 January, so please sign up. This also applies to researchers early in their career.

Last but not least, a big thanks to all who have helped with advice and budgeting grant application – very important factors in our success. To those who did not succeed, do not give up, but keep working to improve your projects and applications!

Best wishes

Eystein, Amra and Julie