Monthly Archives: October 2020

This week’s editorial

With increased Covid-19 infection, we are back to recommending home office for those who may have it. Everyone else should talk to their leader about flexible working hours to avoid too many at the same time in rush hour traffic. All teaching that requires physical presence is carried out as usual, but I recommend that we switch to digital teaching wherever possible.

That brings me to side line jobs, and our duty to update them twice a year.

By side line jobs is meant job placement, job acquisition, assignments and assignments that an employee at UiB has outside his / her position at UiB, regardless of whether the work or job is paid or not. Work carried out for an enterprise or company wholly or partly owned by the employee is also regarded as a side line job.

The principles for side line jobs can be found in UiB’s Regelsamling (Norwegian only) and apply to all UiB employees, irrespective of the category of job and the number of positions. They must protect our reputation and the trust and integrity of the employees. There should be openness about side line jobs that may have an impact on the work of the university. Everyone must report on their own side assignment on their own initiative.

The following need not be registered: Membership in external review committees, referee for professional journals, assignments as external examiner, professional assignments that accompany main position or individual minor assignments in teaching or dissemination at other institutions, or unpaid appointments of limited scope for non-profit institutions.

The following must be reported: Side line jobs that may be in competition with the University’s activities, are of a long or extensive nature, and may cast doubt on the employee’s loyalty, willingness or ability to carry out his work at the University in the manner indicated by the position and the University’s purpose, and persistently use of the university’s resources and infrastructure.

Applications for side line jobs are evaluated according to the University’s principles for side line jobs, see above. Both registration of page tasks that require approval, and those that are only to be registered, are done in Pagaweb. Information about the side line jobs is stored there and will be made publicly available.

The Department Head approves or rejects applications. Rejection of an application can be appealed to the Faculty Board or the University Director. Violation of the principles of side-tasks can lead to personnel consequences under the Civil Service Act and other reactions under the rules of default in the civil service.

As Pål wrote last year, this may seem negative but side assignments are actual positive as long as it does not hamper or slow down our regular work, can damage the university’s reputation, or mix its own and the university’s resources.

Have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!

Course in HSE risk assessment and Safe Job Analysis (SJA) for employees

The course will take place digitally in Zoom.

The course consists of:

Part 1 – Theory

  • What is risk assessment?
  • HSE risk assessment
  • Safe Job Analysis (SJA)
  • Tools: use of the different templates

Part 2 – Working with cases and discussion.

The participants are divided into groups (in Zoom) and will carry out an HSE risk assessment and an SJA based on a case.

We discuss the results together.

Target group: English speaking employees who carry out risk assessments and SJA related to HSE for the local work environment and work tasks.

Maximum number of participants per course: 18 participants, you will be invited to the Zoom meeting before the course starts.

Link to registration (Registration deadline 09.11.2020, at 15:00)

Course time: Monday november 16 at 09:00 – 15:00

Language: English

Norwegian: Søknadsdatabase for fond og legater

Søknadsdatabasen for fond og legater er nå åpen. I tillegg til de som er listet opp under er også følgende fond og legater ved vårt fakultet åpen for søknader:

  • Det alminnelige medisinske forskningsfond ved Universitetet i Bergen
  • Legat for forskning av kreftsykdommer ved Universitetet i Bergen
  • Dagfinn Aarskogs vitenskapelige fond til Barneklinikken, Haukeland sykehus

Se her for oversikt over aktive utlysninger (Vær oppmerksom på at utlysninger blir kunngjort fortløpende).

Se her for mer informasjon om fond og legater.

Continue reading

Norwegian: OSKE-seminar 12.11.

Som tidligere annonsert blir det OSKE-seminar i høst. MERK: datoen for seminaret er endret til torsdag 12. november.

Påmeldingsskjema: https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=8990434
Seminaret blir holdt digitalt i Zoom.

Frist for påmelding er 5. november. Vi sender ut link til Zoom etter at påmeldingsfristen er ute.

Bakgrunn
Det er et stort behov for flere OSKE-oppgaver. Våren 2020 arrangerte vi derfor et arbeidsseminar for å få inn nye OSKE-oppgaver. Dette ble vellykket, og vi ser at dette er en god måte å gjøre det på videre. Hovedformålet med seminaret er å sørge for å få laget et bredt repertoar av OSKE-oppgaver. Det forventes at alle fagene på medisinstudiet er representert på seminaret. Alle kliniske fag må være representert. Vi trenger til enhver tid flere oppgaver i alle fag til både OSKE 6. semester og OSKE 12. semester.

I arbeidsseminaret i februar kom det inn flest oppgaver til MED12. I MED6 ble det ikke avholdt OSKE denne våren, men våren 2021 planlegges det MED6-OSKE både i februar og i juni. På grunn av dette er det spesielt stort behov for flere oppgaver for OSKE i MED6.

ERC reading day and writing course

Are you curious to find out what a successful ERC application looks like? You now have the opportunity to read granted ERC proposals. ERC projects are also highly relevant for FRIPRO applicants, so this reading day is relevant for those of you who plan to apply for FRIPRO in February.

ERC 2021 (tentative deadline dates):
– Starting Grant: 9 March
Consolidator Grant: 20 April
– Advanced Grant: 31 August

The reading days are open for researchers at all career stages and all research fields. Please note that this is an individual reading session only, and it does not include tutorials about the ERC. Courses on how to write an ERC Grant proposal, and other courses organized by the Research Council of Norway, are announced at the events page.

Online registration to ERC Proposal Reading Day in Bergen:
– Thursday November 19th 2020 at 09:00 to 12:00
– Thursday November 19th 2020 at 13:00 to 16:00

Please note the digital course on how to write ERC proposals arranged by UiB, again, also relevant for FRIPRO applicants. You can register for the course on the event webpage.

NorDoc Summer School 2021

The NorDoc Summer School takes place in Copenhagen on 16-20 August 2021 and this year the topic is:

Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Career Development 

The annual NorDoc Summer School brings together PhD students from the Nordic countries for a week of interaction and discussions. The summer School is open to PhD students, faculty and administrators.

Sign up soon! There are only 250 seats available for the conference.

See here for more information and here: Nordoc Summerschool Programme for programme for the upcoming NorDoc Summer School 2021.

Proposal to Research Council of Norway 2021

In the newsletter a couple of weeks ago we present changes in RCN’s (known as NFR) announcement for 2021. The early deadline combined with coming changes in UiB’s budgeting processes urges us to gain an overview of potential applicants as soon as possible. We fully understand that it is not easy to know if you will apply while still waiting for feedback from this years’ submission. We therefore give you an option to sign off for this. In addition, you are of course free to change your mind.

The form is very simple and we truly appreciate if you could cross of your choices in the few fields. The deadline is Monday 2 November: https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=9075970

Amra

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 10 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

Innovation consulting

Foto: UiB

You have probably noticed the construction at the top of the Laboratory building. The new building – whether it is called the Incubator or the Innovation Center – is UiB and MED’s most visible and concrete investment in innovation and commercialization of research results. Buildings are good, but activity is better: working with researchers who want to see their good ideas realized and making a difference. So in parallel with the physical construction we are also building a better support system with specialist competence. MED has – as the first faculty – a dedicated innovation advisor, and from 2021 we will get a second one. Together with the department Innovation leader (Emmet McCormack), we are the first helpers on the path towards sustainable company, IP license agreement or transformative social innovation.

But what does an Innovation advisor actually do? The short answer is that we try to help with whatever is needed. I have 12 years of experience from nanomaterial start-up and been through everything from EU applications (and reporting) to product development (and certification) to patent writing (and Office actions) to investor pitching (and business cases) to drafting cooperation agreements, navigating new EU directives and handling random audits from the tax authorities – but that last one I will not help you with.

Specifically I can help with focusing proposals (especially impact and exploitation), focusing and pitching business ideas, first assessment of patentability (including simple searches) and commercial potential/value proposition, submitting DOFIs, or advising on agreements (IPR, secrecy and exit clauses). I am also involved in teaching Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and am the faculty contact towards VIS (the TTO) and also a contact person towards UiB central research and innovation section (FIA) and the hospital innovation section.

Most of what I do is about evaluating ideas from more perspectives than the scientific one – most importantly user perspective and investor perspective, but also the ‘European perspective’ in Horizon Europe (launching 26.october!) and the strategic thoughts behind the increased focus on innovation/impact and cooperation in national and EU funding calls.

Do you have a good idea you want to grow to something? I’d love to talk with you about ways to make it happen.

Andreas Westermoen

Andreas.westermoen@uib.no

Norwegian: Minneord – Gustav Pedersen

Foto: UiB

Gustav Pedersen, sjef for karkirurgisk avdeling, gikk bort den første oktober, etter halvannet års sykdom.

Jeg minnes Gustav som en ung, kunnskapshungrig kollega når jeg kom til Bergen høsten 2002. Han var nysgjerrig, og ville lære seg nye metoder innen faget. Interessen for klinisk forskning resulterte i en PhD i 2007. Samtidig hadde han energi til å være leder for Norsk Karkirurgisk forening 2006-2008. I 2009 reiste Gustav med familien til Malawi og arbeidet der som kirurg. Arbeidet i Malawi gjorde stort inntrykk på ham, og ga en bred forståelse for mennesker; noe han delte med sine kolleger når han kom hjem. I 2012 ble Gustav Pedersen sjef for Karkirurgisk avdeling, Haukeland Universitetssykehus. For ham var det å kombinere forskning og klinikk en selvsagt måte å drive avdelingen på. Gustav var ansatt som førsteamanuensis ved K2. Som foreleser var han opptatt av enkel og tydelig formidling. De siste årene ledet karkirurgisk avdelingen et forskningsprosjekt som inkluderte alle karkirurgiske avdelinger i Norge. Som veileder var han tilgjengelig og positiv, med et smittende engasjement. Gustav var hovedveileder for Lydia Johnsen som nylig leverte inn sitt PhD arbeid – det fikk ikke Gustav oppleve.

Vår varmeste medfølelse går til hans familie i denne vanskelige tiden.

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 11 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

No OSKE12

Hei everyone!

The corona pandemic continues, and we must learn to adapt to the new everyday life. This also has consequences for our students. OSKE12 will not be carried out this autumn, but the faculty has now decided that it will be an oral-practical exam instead. For this, more questions are needed. Everyone involved in the teaching of medical students is therefore encouraged to post more multiple choice questions in the MCQ database(https://mcq.medisin.ntnu.no/).).

Finally, I want to remind everyone that the Faculty Day is on October 21st and will be conducted digitally (https://www.uib.no/med/138844/fakultetets-dag-2020).

Have a nice week-end!

Silke

Open access week 2020, October 19.-23.

Do you wonder…

…what the open science policies are?
…how to publish openly?
…how you can improve the openess and replicability of your research?
…what the FAIR-principles are and how you can comply with them?
…how you can manage and store your research data?
…how you can retain your intellectual property?

These and more questions will be answered during the Open Access Week taking place 19th-23rd of October. See here for program and registration for the individual workshops.

 

Pasteurlegatet & Thjøtta’s legat

Pasteurlegatet and Professor Th. Thjøttas legat will award a grant on the 27th of December this year to young Norwegian scientists who intends to study a topic regarding infectious agents, chemistry or fermentation industry.

The grant is preferably given to young, active and promising researchers, under the doctoral level. Emphasis is placed on documentation of preliminary results and evaluations of their efforts. Priority is given to specific operational and equipment-related needs, rather than traveling, accommodation, general study support and publication expenses.

It is usually not granted support more than twice to the same person. However there is the possibility of exceptions in special cases.

Any award will ordinarily not exceed 15.000, – NOK.

The application must include a short project description with a budget (up to 3 pages) and curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages).

The application should be submitted by December 1, 2020 to Pasteurlegatet’s secretary Mari Støen, Department of Microbiology, University of Oslo, Oslo University Hospital to email: mari.stoen@medisin.uio.no

See also Pasteurlegatet’s website.

Norwegian: Fakultetets dag 21. oktober

Husk å få med deg Fakultetets dag som arrangeres onsdag 21. oktober kl. 09.00-11.40!

På programmet står presentasjoner og prisutdelinger. Du kan lese mer om årets prisvinnere her: https://www.uib.no/med/139375/fakultetets-dag-2020-–-bli-bedre-kjent-med-prisvinnerne

Møtet blir heldigitalt, og kan følges via Zoom.

Mer informasjon finner du her: https://www.uib.no/med/138844/fakultetets-dag-2020/

Norwegian: Nytt om navn: Thea Midtun

Jeg heter Thea Midtun, og er ny semesterkoordinator for MED9.

Jeg er 27 år og kommer fra en liten bygd i Hardanger, men har bodd i Bergen de siste 7 årene. Siden 2018 har jeg jobbet på UiB i Studieavdelingen og ved det samfunnsvitenskapelige fakultet. På SA arbeidet jeg med studentinformasjon og studentmobilitet inn, og på SV var jeg fast ansatt i informasjonssenteret og var gruppekoordinator for studentmottaket høsten 2020.

Jeg har aldri jobbet på institutt før, så jeg gleder meg veldig til å komme ordentlig inn i det og ikke minst bli kjent med mange nye kollegaer!

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 17 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

«The show must go on!”

COVID-19 struck back just as we were starting to relax: The start of the semester coincided with a surge in the number of infected people, leading to justified worries and frustration. The order from the faculty was clear: teaching and learning activities were to be carried through in line with what was planned as far as possible, including clinical teaching. Samarbeidsutvalget for UoB and the hospitals agree that education must be prioritized, we cannot afford to lose a generation of students!

For those of us who engage in teaching or organizing of teaching and learning activities, the challenges have been plenty – but luckily so have the victories! Once again numerous lecturers and administrative staff have rolled up their sleeves and solved the task.

Julie has got hold of UoB laptops to lend out and upgrading of more rooms for zoom lectures is ongoing. We have managed to transform quite a lot of auditorium lectures to digital ones – often interactive and in real time using zoom, which is the preferred alternative. A substantial part of the group learning activities has been provided following adjustment of rooms and group sizes. Not least, we have been able to offer our students the clinical learning activities which is essential in order to turn them into good clinicians, despite all the worries springing from an ongoing pandemic.

In particular, I would like to thank the heads of teaching groups, UGLE, the heads of semester boards and semester coordinators, who are putting down a lot of work in evaluations regarding infectious control and adjustments, changes to the organizing of teaching and learning activities, and in answering a considerable amount of questions from students and staff. I would also like to thank all of the lecturers and clinicinans who read the information which is sent out and manage to implement the necessary adjustments and perhaps also find some good solutions. Some have even managed to produce research based on this – K2’s Geriatrics Group by Marit Stordal Bakken and Katinka Alme will present two posters on teaching in a European geriatrics congress: «The show must go on: Teaching Geriatric Medicine during Covid-19 lock-down».

From several angels, there is intense, ongoing activity to secure that exams, OSCE 12 in particular, can be carried through if at all possible given the state of the pandemic at the given time. OSCE general Rune Nielsen is making a tremendous effort in preparing solutions that are feasible given the need for infectious control – a difficult but important task. The show must go on!

National Security Awareness Month

October is National Security Awareness Month. The University of Bergen (UiB) therefore plans to have an extra special focus on information security in October.

UiB aims to be a safe and secure place to study and work, whether you are based at home or on campus. We therefore want all students and employees to be fully aware of security.

Many employees and students have already completed the e-learning course in Data protection and Information security on Mitt UiB in order to improve their knowledge of security. If you have not yet had the time to take the course, please do so now https://mitt.uib.no/enroll/MDW74H.

We also recommend following the internal news channel På høyden this month https://pahoyden.no (NO), which will highlight relevant subjects, such as challenges relating to working from home, where to find help and, not least, how to report a breach of IT security.

Click here to read more about National Security Awareness Month at UiB https://www.uib.no/en/foremployees/120461/october-security-awareness-month.

Sikresiden.no also provides a lot of helpful information about information security and data protection  https://www.sikresiden.no/en?locality=196

A big thank you to Bergithe Oftedal for being our “frontrunner”

Bergithe was K2’s “frontrunner” in the Corona era and was our primary contact for questions regarding digital teaching. Now the faculty has decided to stop the frontrunner project. From now on, the study administration is first-line contact (studie@kliniskmedisin.uib.no). Moreover, there are many useful online resources available, this website (https://www.uib.no/med/136919/undervisning-h%C3%B8sten-2020-ved-det-medisinske-fakultet) is, for example, a good starting point for help with self-help. The learning lab also has many useful suggestions (uib.no/learning lab). On Teams, “K2 digital undervisning” is recommended for all lecturers. We have also purchased several PCs to borrow for teaching, contact Julie (julie.stavnes@uib.no).).