Monthly Archives: October 2022

Editorial

The medical students have decentralized teaching at Helse Stavanger, Helse Fonna and Helse Førde. This arrangement is necessary to cope with such large student groups as we have now. It is also very good for the students in that the teaching is more practical than what we can offer in Bergen. Lecturers in Stavanger, Haugesund and Førde are also involved in research as an important part of their work.

It is a challenge to ensure a good and efficient connection to Bergen, and my impression is that this could be better.

All employees at K2 must belong to a research group and a teaching group. The administrative lines run through the research and teaching group leaders. It is therefore important to know which research and teaching groups the individual belongs to so that all employees ger the information sent through the research and teaching groups. If it is unclear which research and teaching group you belong to, contact Silke Appel (research) or Mette Vesterhus (teaching)

We have educational meetings with the decentral hospitals twice a year. My impression is that this is not enough for the decentral hospitals to feel they are involved in the activities here in Bergen, especially when it comes to research.

We have involved personnel at the decentral hospitals at K2 Retreat, but due to the cost, we have only had these meetings every two years. Would an extension of the teaching meetings with a block for research presentations be a possibility? We could have thematic meetings where there are presentations from both parties.

It is also possible to imagine digital meeting places with thematic presentations. In any case, we in Bergen should be better at remembering you at the decentral hospitals so that there is always a Teams link at the meetings here in Bergen that are relevant to you, and that you are invited – to the right email address! (we will arrange this).

Last year, K2 had 40 dissertations. This year, it looks like there will be at least the same number. One way to get in touch with the communities in Bergen, is for the academic staff to act as custos at defenses. I would like to take this opportunity to thank personnel in Stavanger in particular for volunteering several times!

I would also like to encourage the research and teaching group leaders to be more active regarding to think about and involve personnel from the decentral hospitals.

I think we have a lot to gain from a closer collaboration between the parent department and the decentral hospitals! Feel free to make suggestions!

Have a great weekend.
Pål

Lecture by Anna Blom: Cytoprotective roles of cytosolic forms of C3

Cytoprotective roles of cytosolic forms of C3

9th November 2022
BBB, Auditorium 4, 12:00

About prof. Blom’s research

Anna Blom received basic education in biochemistry and molecular biology from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Her PhD studies in medical and physiological chemistry were focused on bikunin-containing proteins, plasma protease inhibitors also involved in organisation of extracellular matrix. After defending PhD thesis in Uppsala in 1997 she moved to Lund University for a postdoctoral training with Prof. Dahlbäck who is expert translational coagulation researcher. Supported by long-term funding for salary from Swedish Research Council she established independent research group focused on studies of the complement system, a crucial part of innate immunity. In 2005 she was appointed a full professor of medical protein chemistry at Lund University. She has contributed significantly to understanding the role of complement in various pathologies such as infections, rheumatic diseases, cancer and immune deficiencies. Most recently she showed a role of complement in diabetes and contributed to discovery of a novel field of intracellular complement. Her research was recognized by award of large grants such as Wallenberg Scholar from the Wallenberg Foundation (Sweden) and Distinguished Investigator within Endocrinology from the Novonordisk Foundation (Denmark).

Please see attachment

Plastic and plastic additives – impacts on human and environmental health

A kind reminder about the meeting “Plastic and plastic additives – impacts on human and environmental health” at Marineholmen Friday 11 November.

Registration deadline 1 November.

Programme and registration https://www.uib.no/en/plastics/157342/plastic-and-plastic-additives-–-impacts-human-and-environmental-health

Day Zero 2023: Call for workshop abstracts

SDG Conference Bergen invites you to submit an application to host an event as part of Day Zero of the SDG Conference Bergen, 8 February 2023. Apply by 18 November.

Day Zero is a free, all-digital day of events on the day before the SDG Conference Bergen. It is an opportunity to organise creative spaces (workshops, debates, exhibitions, etc.) presenting work of relevance to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). We invite a diverse audience to participate, whether you are a student or work in academia or research, civil society, non-profit, start-up company, corporation, or small business.

The topic of the SDG Conference Bergen 2023 is A just transformation to a sustainable future. Focusing on a sustainable transformation of societies to become safe and just for all entails thinking about the grand challenges of our time. These challenges have been put under pressure by recent and unprecedented events with impacts on a global scale, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, war, an energy- and food crisis, and several ecological disasters. How can we ensure that this transformation is a just transition leaving no one behind?

https://www.uib.no/en/sdgconference/157278/day-zero-2023-call-workshop-abstracts

International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Mid-Career Research Fellowships (scientific exchange)

IUBMB´s Mid-Career Research Fellowships facilitate scientific exchange by supporting faculty biochemists and molecular biologists to visit another laboratory for specific training purposes. The applicant must be from one of the IUBMB´s member countries (see full list of countries). The Fellowships provide funding of up to 5,000 USD for visits of 1-2 months in duration. There are two application closing dates per year: April 1 and October 1. The next application closes on April 1, 2023.

https://iubmb.org/about/standing-orders-and-statutes/standing-orders/iubmb-mid-career-research-fellowships/

Study program in Data Science

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences is working with the Faculty of Medicine to set up a new and exciting study program in Data Science with a specialization in Medical Data Science. If you are interested in participating e.g. with  teaching or supervision of students, please do not hesitate to get in touch!

Marit Øilo: Marit.Oilo@uib.no
Anagha Madhusudan Joshi-Michoel: Anagha.Joshi@uib.no
Ellen Christine Røyrvik: Ellen.Royrvik@uib.no
Marc Vaudel: marc.vaudel@uib.no

Editorial

Dear all!

The area committee is in the process of mapping the area use in the laboratory building. All research group leaders who are housed there have been sent an excel file and asked to fill in the forms for their groups so that the committee can begin the job of preparing suggestions for better utilization. Everyone is welcome to give your input!

And then I want to remind everyone that autumn is the time for personal development interviews. Mia is responsible for the employees in the administration. As Pål wrote a few weeks ago, he has the interviews with the research group leaders, while the research group leaders have been delegated the responsibility to have the personal development interviews with the members of their research groups. It is therefore important that all academic and technical employees belong to a research group! Let us know if you don’t know which group you belong to and we’ll figure it out.

Have a great weekend!

Can we make better use of our areas?

The areas in the lab building are used in much the same way as when we moved in in 2009. Both the research and the need for wet labs have changed significantly since then. The department management has for a long time discussed the research and economic benefits of making better use of the areas. Therefore, head of department Pål Njølstad has appointed an area committee consisting of Silke Appel (chair), Eystein Husebye, Siv Lise Bedringaas, Simon Dankel, Helena Harris and Silje Skrede who will prepare suggestions for better utilization.

We therefore want to have input for better area use and we will soon send out a questionnaire to the research group leaders to get an updated overview of the areas we use. So if you see us wandering around the house, you know why. Feel free to stop us in the corridor if you have any good suggestions to share with us.

Best regards on behalf of the area committee

Silke

Energy saving measures at UiB

The University of Bergen is facing very high electricity bills in the current, next and coming years. UiB has already implemented a number of measures to reduce energy consumption in order to make the university climate neutral by 2030. This has been done by focusing on targeted measures such as seawater systems, solar panels and development and upgrading of buildings.

The university management informed the university board about the increased energy costs in a meeting on 15/9. The board authorized the university management to implement cost-saving measures to manage energy costs in the short and long term. UiB has also received a letter from the Ministry of Education and Science about implementing measures that have an effect in the short and long term.

The measures being implemented have been presented to the shop stewards and safety representatives in the Negotiation Committee, the students and have as a prerequisite that they should not go beyond the core business or a proper working environment.

Example of measures implemented by all units in dialogue with local management:
-Inform and motivate our own employees to contribute so that we can reduce energy consumption together.
– Respect the operating hours and that the building is closed for operations at weekends, in the evenings and during holidays.
-Use less hot water, fill dishwashers and autoclaves completely before starting.
-Close doors and windows, switch off lights, projectors, screens etc when not in use.
-Optimizes the use of space.

Example of measures implemented:
-Reduce operating times for ventilation in the buildings by around 10%.
-Lower the indoor temperature (NB: not below the recommended limit).
-Close technical facilities in buildings operationally during holidays, especially important in the cold season.
-Reduce water temperature in the swimming pool to the lowest recommended (26°C) and ventilation in the swimming hall accordingly.

Sincerely, university director Robert Rastad and rector Margareth Hagen

Invitation to Attend Peder Sather Center 10 Year Anniversary Seminar

Time: 26 October, 18.00 – 21.00 (Norway time)
Place: Digital / UC Berkeley

The seminar program may be found here

Link to the digital version.

In 2012 eight Norwegian institutions joined forces and collaborated with UC Berkeley in establishing the Peder Sather Center for Advanced Studies. The primary mission of the center is to strengthen ongoing research collaborations and foster the development of new research collaborations between faculty at UC Berkeley and the participating Norwegian institutions.

Each year a Peder Sather Grant is awarded to promising collaborative projects between faculty at UC Berkeley and Norway – across all disciplines. The celebrations will consist of a series of presentations from researchers at the Center, followed by a joint lunch and dinner for our guests in Berkeley. This is a great opportunity to learn more about how to use the Peder Sather grants and get to know some of the researchers from UC Berkeley from various disciplines.

More information

Open Science Workshop

Collaborative reproducible science using version control

We are organizing a practical workshop focusing on Open Science and reproducibility in science projects.

This light-hearted workshop will cover practical exercises on:

  • Basics of version control (Git/GitHub)
  • Collaboration using branches and forks

Come and join us on a journey to become a scientist of the 21st century!

Aimed at: PhD students (but everyone is welcome)
When: 24. November (13 – 16h) and 25. November (9 – 12h)
Where: Biologen Blokk A K1+K2
Please sign up here: https://bit.ly/OSW-survey ! Deadline is 20. November 2022

How to prepare: You need to have R (v 4.0. or higher), RStudio (v 1.4 or higher), Git installed on your computer and a GitHub account. In addition, you need to link your GitHub repo to RStudio.
Tutorial for linking Github and RStudio: https://bit.ly/OSW_setup_tutorial
Troubleshooting: https://bit.ly/OSW_git_troubleshooting

For questions contact: Aud (aud.halbritter@uib.no) or Ondřej (ondrej.mottl@uib.no)

Lecture by Prof. Vivianne Malmström: Current understanding of T cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) – antigen specificities, repretoires, and effector functions

The Bergen Research School in Inflammation has the pleasure to invite you to a lecture by

Prof. Vivianne Malmström
Department of Medicine, Solna
Karolinska Institute

Current understanding of T cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) – antigen specificities, repretoires, and effector functions

26th October 2022
BBB, Auditorium 4, 12:00

More information here.

OPEN ACCESS WEEK 2022, 24.-28. October

As part of this year’s International Open Access Week, several Norwegian academic libraries present a number of events with topics related to open publishing, open science and data sharing. All events are digital and open to anyone interested.

As part of this year’s International Open Access Week, several Norwegian academic libraries present a number of events with topics related to open publishing, open science and data sharing. All events are digital and open to anyone interested.

Please follow the links for more information and connection details for each webinar.

https://www.uib.no/en/ub/155421/open-access-week-2022-24-28-october