Monthly Archives: August 2020

Employee interviews

It is time for the annual employee interviews. These are a part of targeted management and employee development. Therefore, the annual, systematic and mutually prepared personal conversations are between an employee and the immediate superior. All employees who have a main position at UiB must have employee interviews. This also includes fellows. For employees with a 10-20% position, the manager can agree with the employee that it is not necessary.

New this year is that it is not enough that the employee interviews are offered – they must also be carried out. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, I think a phone call or digital meeting can be fine in cases where for various reasons it can be difficult to complete the call with physical attendance.

Employee interviews are an important arena for clarifying expectations for performance, providing mutual feedback, and insight into each other’s work situation and addressing the work environment and conditions at the workplace. The conversation will be linked to K2’s strategic plans and be a real and results-oriented management tool for achieving set goals.

Elements related to life phase can be addressed as a theme. The conversation will also be used to uncover competence needs, change and development. The content of the employee interview must be focused on matters the manager and employee can do something about.

It is important to communicate what you want to achieve in the employee interview and facilitate the confidentiality needed for the interview to have added value for both parties. This can be a gradual process that can take some time to develop.

For foreign employees, it is important to be aware of their need to understand overall strategies and goals for the university, the importance of a good and inclusive work environment, and the individual’s opportunities for contribution to the community. Relevant topics can also be their social network, trust vis-à-vis the manager and colleagues, experience of belonging, and in some cases facilitation and integration also outside the workplace.

As a natural part of the performance appraisal and clarification of expectations, conversation about salary conditions is included as part of the employee interview. It is then important to remember that we have established systems for wage negotiations.

As Head of Department, I am responsible for ensuring that all employees conduct annual employee interviews and am responsible for ensuring that the results of the interviews are included in K2’s plans and budget. It is not possible to carry this out for all K2’s employees, hence the conduct of the interviews is delegated. I have employee interviews with the research group leaders, while they in turn are responsible for their group members. When it comes to administrative staff, head of administration Julie Stavnes is responsible.

Time is short and suddenly it’s Christmas. It is therefore a good idea to start the employee interviews as soon as possible. Good luck!

Norwegian: Informasjonsmøte om mottak BOTT økonomi 03.09.

Det medisinske fakultet er i gang med å forberede mottaket av nye økonomisystem knyttet til BOTT. Vi har nedsatt en styringsgruppe og en arbeidsgruppe som skal se hvordan vi arbeider med økonomi i dag og hvordan innføringen av nye systemer påvirker økonomitjenesten og økonomiarbeidet ved fakultetet.

I dette møtet presenterer vi arbeidet vårt så langt for alle interesserte ved fakultetet. Vi vil gå gjennom mandatet og tidsplanen for endringsarbeidet, og det vil være anledning til å stille spørsmål til arbeidsgruppen.

Les mer om prosjektet her: https://www.uib.no/med/137379/bott-økonomi-ved-det-medisinske-fakultet

Møtet arrangeres i Zoom. Påmeldte vil få tilsendt lenke dagen før møtet.

Påmelding her: https://www.uib.no/en/node/137918

This week`s employee – Anne Hammer Knudsen

I have been employed as a technician at UiB since December 1999, last century! I was employed in the research laboratory at the children’s clinic, with Lage Aksnes as my first boss. Among other things, there was analysis of vitamin A,D,E, celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, morbus crohn and Pancreas Elastase 1 in the faeces. And, some method development as well.
Before coming here, I worked in the laboratory at the Vinmonopolet. I took my education at the Statens Næringsmiddeltekniske skole, where I became a Næringsmiddelteknolog. So, I am neither a chemist nor a molecular biologist, but the lab work is much the same, although the quantities are different. At the Vinmonopolet it went in liters, here it goes in microliters.
I am currently employed at the Center for Diabetes Research. I have been here since 2014, when the research lab at the children’s clinic was closed. I have been given new, interesting assignments and had to learn new methods. A bit demanding at times, but very nice to learn new things. I also want to brag about my great colleagues, a joy to work with.
I am also a safety delegate, since 2010, and substitute representative for chief Safety delegate at MED-FAK since 2017. By saying yes to that position, I have become acquainted with new colleagues at all faculties, both at UiB and the rest of the country’s universities. Every fall, the Hovedverneombudskonferansen is organized, which all HVO and their substitute representative can attend. The conference goes on a tour of the universities.
As you may realize, I am doing well here at K2, varied work assignments and great colleagues! Have a nice weekend!

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 9 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 Oda Barth Vedøy.

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Hi everyone!

The semester is already well underway with some different teaching in the Corona era. I encourage all instructors to join the Teams group “K2 digital teaching” which contains a lot of useful information and is a platform for experience exchange.

Also this year, UiB has announced infrastructure funding with a framework of NOK 15 million. The Faculty of Medicine can submit 3 applications. It is the dean of research, Marit Bakke, and research leaders from the institutes who rank the applications and choose the 3 to be sent to the university. The guidelines can be found here (Veileder Forskningsinfrastruktur 2021). In short, the following applies:

  1. Each application can be a maximum of 4 MNOK
  2. Own financing of at least 20% (of application sum) is required
  3. The faculty has set aside 1 MNOK to cover parts of this
  4. If two faculties join together, the application sum can be 8 million. Note that the application must be among the three applications submitted by both faculties.

The application form can be found here (Søknadsskjema). Applications from K2 are sent to me (silke.appel@uib.no) and ranked by the leader group. Application deadline is 7/9.

Norwegian: Status som merittert underviser – 2020 – ny søknadsfrist

Som et ledd i arbeidet for studiekvalitet har fakultetsstyret opprettet en meritteringsordning for fremragende undervisere ved Det medisinske fakultet.

Fakultetet inviterer med dette sine undervisere til å søke om å bli tildelt merittert undervisningsstatus. Merittert status tildeles vitenskapelig ansatte som har vist betydningsfull innsats for å sikre utdanningskvalitet i bred forstand.

Søknadsfrist er 1. oktober 2020.

For mer informasjon om meritteringsordningen og søknadskravene se: Utlysning meritteringsordning 2020 og Krav til søknad om status som merittert underviser

Web based course CCBIO905 Methods in Cancer Biomarker Research, fall 2020

We are happy to invite you to CCBIO’s course CCBIO905 Methods in Cancer Biomarker Research, October 27-29, 2020. This will be run online through Zoom, so you can join from the comfort of your home, or your home universities. Although the course is mainly intended for PhD students and Master students, admission is open for others who find this course interesting.

CCBIO905 is a 5 ECTS course with focus on the full panel of advanced and standard methods with relevance for cancer biomarkers. The intention is a methodological course that also includes components of ethics and economy.

The thematic parts include methods ranging from basic techniques on nucleotides and proteins to more advanced approaches, as well as bioinformatics and bio-banking. The course will focus on methods to study tissue samples, blood samples, urine samples, and other biologic materials, like immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, PCR-techniques and sequencing, Western blot and ELISA, microarray methods, proteomics, circulating tumor cells and DNA, flow cytometry, bioinformatics and biobanks. Changes in nucleic acids and proteins in different settings will also be covered.

Program: See the preliminary scientific program here. Continue reading

Web based course CCBIO907 Cancer-related vascular biology, fall 2020

We have the pleasure of inviting you to a web based CCBIO course: CCBIO907 Cancer-related vascular biology, September 21 – October 2, 2020

The course will be held through a digital platform (Zoom), also the group assignments, so you can attend even from the comfort of your own home. Although the course is mainly intended for PhD students and Master students, admission is open for others who find this course interesting.

CCBIO907 is a 6 ECTS course that provides broad theoretical and practical understanding of basic aspects of vascular biology, cancer-related vascular biology, and other processes and diseases where vascular biology is relevant. The course presents knowledge about relationships between vascular biology, cancer progression, and diagnostic and treatment options directed towards the vasculature. Applied methods for studying vascular biology and biomarkers reflecting cancer-related vascular biology are taught. Also, the course aims to stimulate to scientific thinking, critical election and professional discussions.

CCBIO907 is part of the CCBIO-Harvard INTPART collaboration, and participants attending this course will have the rear opportunity to benefit from the knowledge of researchers who have been in the frontline of vascular biology research for decades, and who are experienced lecturers at Harvard Medical School. This year, you will get to meet Edward R. Smith, Joyce Bischoff and Hong Cheng in addition to Randy Watnick and Mike Rogers.

Program: See the preliminary scientific program here.

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This week`s employee – Monika Ringdal

I completed my education at NTNU in Trondheim in molecular cell biology. I moved to Bergen after my studies and was lucky to get a job in Pål Njølstad’s MODY group in 2016. Today, the organization has changed a bit, but I still belong to the MODY group and am affiliated with the Center for Diabetes Research. MODY (Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young) is still an important part of the work.
The group consists of both UIB and hospital employees. The close association with Haukeland University Hospital makes the work extra interesting and meaningful. I feel very lucky to get to work here with incredibly talented and very nice colleagues, which makes it very nice to be at work.

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 5 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 Oda Barth Vedøy.

Continue reading

Guidelines for this autumns dissertations

The faculty has made new guidelines for this autumns dissertations;

– Full digital disputations are still recommended. By fully digital we mean a solution where everyone involved, including the candidate, is disputing from their own home or office (with private or UiB equipment).
– The faculty allows for the use of suitable UiB premises by agreement with the relevant department. This is particularly relevant if the candidate only has access to the Helse-Bergen PC. If UiB premises are used, supervisors, as well as any committee chair and custos may be in the same room as the candidate. Opponents are not allowed to be physically present, even in cases where they are already in Bergen. Note that custos and committee chairmen must then have an opportunity to retire to attend the digital committee meeting, so that their own (brought) equipment is required for this. You can use a laptop, tablet or similar, but note that this must also be tested.
– PhD coordinator or other representatives from the administration can not be expected to be physically present, but will be available digitally and facilitate testing and implementation.
– Everyone who has an active role in the disputation must participate in testing in advance, with the equipment and in the room they will be staying at the disputation itself. Everyone who has an active role during the disputation must become well acquainted with the equipment through testing.
– IT assistant can be physically present as long as they do not work from home office. This is ordered via UiB help.
– Zoom webinar is the recommended solution from UiB Central. The IT department is working to get more licenses in place, probably from October. We will keep you updated on progress, but until further notice, UiBhjelp can be used to order the use of the license.
– The department will not provide food, tablecloths, cloaks or flowers to the room where the candidate is staying.
– It will not be possible to invite the public into the disputation room, even if the size of the room should indicate that it is possible.
– The faculty will offer administrative support to the departments on dates where one department has two disputations on the same day, but we will try as much as possible to avoid collisions.

Questions? Please contact Irene Hjelmaas

Welcome back to a new semester!

I hope everyone had a great holiday. Most people have probably vacationed here in Norway and perhaps seen with new eyes how beautiful and exciting our country is?

Corona virus
As you know, there is currently an increased spread of coronavirus and the government is now slowing down the reopening of our society. Dean Per Bakke has recently sent an email what this means for employees at the Faculty of Medicine. The use of home office is delegated to the department level (K2).

  • Who can have a home office?
    The main rule is that all employees must go to work. This especially applies to the laboratories.

Home office may be relevant for those who are in risk groups or to relieve public transport. This must be agreed with your closest leader (Research Group Leader or Julie Stavnes for administrative staff). It is assumed that the work tasks can actually be performed at home.
Risk groups: Elderly employees over the age of 65 years, employees with underlying chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, drug-induced immune deficiency, or chronic lung, liver, or kidney disease (https://www.fhi.no/en/id/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/).

  • How to behave when traveling in from abroad?
    Since we work in a hospital environment, we must follow Helse Bergen’s guidelines.

Red countries: You must be quarantined but testing for SARS-CoV-2 is not required. The exception is if special circumstances indicate that you must start work before the expiry of the quarantine period (then two negative tests are required at least 48 hours apart and the last test at least five days after income).

Yellow countries: If you have been in a yellow country for the last 10 days, you must test yourself. As a general rule, you should not go to work until a negative test result is obtained. If your closest leader still deems it necessary, you can – if you are healthy – go to work with a facemask until the test result is ready.

In both cases, you should inform your closest leader before returning to work.

  • Where can I test myself?
    Those who also have a position in Helse Bergen should test themselves in the parking garage at Haukeland hotel (open 08.30-11, tel. 55976160).

Those who only have a UiB affiliation are recommended using your GP (fastlege), the local emergency room (legevakt,) or contact Head of Administration Julie Savnes for information about UiB’s system (https://www.uib.no/en/ir/137267/testing-covid-19-employees-uib-coming-abroad).

The Olav Thon Foundation’s prizes and project funds in science and medicine 2021
The Olav Thon Foundation has announced up to three awards for outstanding teaching and a support scheme for student-active research projects in science and medicine for 2021

  • Award for excellent teaching
    The prize for outstanding teaching can be awarded to academic staff who teach at universities and colleges in Norway in combined positions. Persons with adjunct positions (bistilling) can also be proposed. The price is personal, and amounts to NOK 500,000. There is a requirement for student affiliation in the nomination.
  • Financial support for student-active research projects
    Support can be given to research projects in medicine and / or science that are actively brought into the education as an element in «student-active research. Amounts that can be awarded are up to NOK 830,000 per year for a maximum of three years.

Further information can be found in the appendix Thonpriser_undervisning_2020. Nominations must be sent to K2 by 19 August (mette.vesterhus@uib.no). We will pass on the nominations to the Faculty.

Life without an apprentice

During the summer our apprentice Tonje has decided to quit her job at K2 in order to pursue new opportunities in Oslo. Furthermore, she has already had her last day at K2 and the reception is therefore currently unmanned, as some of you may have noticed. For a period we will no longer have a dedicated person to handle important tasks such as being our public face, handling room bookings, answering enquiries over the phone, purchasing, post, meeting assistance et cetera et cetera.

Although I am looking into different solutions, from hiring a new apprentice to help from others, we must all prepare ourselves for doing more tasks ourselves. The administration will assist as best we can, but we must ask for both patience and understanding that some things will take longer time to undertake. We are grateful if you can assist us where you can, both by doing more things yourself and avoid urgent requests when possible.

All the best,

Julie

Norwegian: ARBEIDSMILJØPRISEN

Er DU opptatt av godt arbeidsmiljø? Kjenner du noen kollegaer eller miljø som gjør en god innsats for arbeidsmiljø og trivsel?

Det medisinske fakultet lyser ut ARBEIDSMILJØPRISEN til den eller de som har gjort en særlig innsats for arbeidsmiljøet i 2020.

Nominasjon eller søknad sendes her med frist 15.november 2020: https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=7253333

 

Prisen deles ut på fakultets første HMS-dag den 10.desember 2020, og vinneren tildeles:

  • Heder og ære!
  • Vandrepokal
  • Diplom
  • kr. 20.000, – til arbeidsmiljøet

Oversikt over fullstendige kriterier finner du her: http://ekstern.filer.uib.no/mofa/HMS/HMS%20pris-forslag%20til%20kriterier.pdf

Erasmus staff mobility 2020/21

See attached file for Erasmus staff mobility agreement.

Deadlines: 20. August, and 20, January.

Mobility agreement for teaching: Mobility Agreement for teaching

Mobility agreement for training: Mobility Agreement for training

Webpages with more information (Norwegian only):

Ansattmobilitet: https://www.uib.no/foransatte/92416/erasmus-tilsettmobilitet

Undervisningsmobilitet: https://www.uib.no/foransatte/92415/erasmus-undervisningsmobilitet

Nordic Nanopore-Seq Network Meeting in Bergen on 14.09.2020

We are pleased to announce that we will hold the Nordic Nanopore-Seq Network Meeting in Bergen on 14.09.2020 as planned. Norwegian regulations allow to hold conferences in person, and we continuously plan to do so!

We hope that you all have the chance to join this free one-day meeting in September. If you have any further questions regarding the conference, do not hesitate to contact us!

If you have not done so, check out our Nordic Nanopore-Seq Network website with great information about us and the ~60 scientists that joined the network already! https://nordicnanopore.net/

Please find attached the updated Advertisement poster: N3M – 2020

This week`s employee – Andre Sulen

What do you work with?

I am a trained biologist and work as a postdoc at the KG Jebsen Centre for autoimmune disorders and in the group Endocrine Medicine. Through the PhD period here at K2 and a three-year postdoctoral period at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, I have developed a fascination for how our immune cells affect our health. I worked on cell signalling in monocytes during the PhD period, and continued to characterise macrophages and their role in adipose tissue at Karolinska. The field of immunology is currently undergoing major advances due to technological advances, such as CyTOF and single-cell sequencing, that allow the study of large amounts of single-cell data. I have been fortunate to build expertise in these techniques, both in the lab and with data analysis, and I look forward to contributing with this at the K.G. Jebsen centre. We are researching disorders where the immune system attacks endocrine organs so that the hormone balance is perturbed. Certain gene variants are associated with the risk of developing such diseases, but just how the complex interaction between the immune system and these organs goes wrong early in the process is unknown. By combining «single-cell» techniques with clinical material and animal models, we aim to shed light on this.

Why do you want to work at K2.

The K.G. Jebsen centre for autoimmune disorders consists of a fine mix of clinicians and researchers who have a solid track record in immunology and endocrinology. The research ranges from GWAS to more functional studies, and it is a plus that there is a focus on «single-cell» at the centre. When I look back on the PhD period at the institute, it is especially the good working environment that I remember. With previous knowledge of this environment at K2, the choice to come back for me was very easy.

New publications

Here are recent publications with contributions from K2 based on the summer’s search on PubMed (and optionally articles that have not been included in previous lists). This time the list includes in total 77 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 Oda Barth Vedøy.

Continue reading