Month: January 2026

Leader of the week - Silke Appel

Dear everyone,
This was an extraordinary week: On Monday I received the joyful news that Lars Herfindal, head of the Center for Pharmacy, has won the Olav Thon Foundation Prize for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education (Read more for links) Then it was announced on Wednesday that K2 will get a new KG Jebsen Center for Medical Research (Epimutations in Cancer), led by Stian Knappskog ((Read more for links) I am incredibly proud and congratulate you! The awards came just in time before the visit of the university management on Thursday where I took the opportunity to brag about both outstanding teachers and researchers at K2.

And when it comes to awards: The faculty has, as every year, announced the faculty's awards. For the research awards, K2 can nominate one candidate per category (except PhD work, in which case we can nominate 2 candidates). For the teaching award, the candidates must be nominated by an environment (e.g. departments, programme committees, subject groups, semester boards, research groups, networks and student organisations/cohorts. An environment can also nominate itself.)

The nominations must include a description of the initiatives in question, refer to the results achieved and discuss the transfer value and further plans for the initiatives.
The following may be grounds for nomination:
Quality-enhancing initiatives in education, including practical training
Initiatives to promote good learning environments
Work to facilitate increased internationalisation
Testing of new forms of teaching and assessment, including digital innovations
Extended use of student-active learning

Reasoning Publication of the Year
The departments are asked to provide a justification that includes arguments for quality, originality and innovation. Where relevant, the institute should also account for the consequences for further knowledge acquisition, clinical application or innovation. Nominations for publication of the year should reflect the department's own research.

Reasoning for this year's PhD work
The departments are asked to provide a brief justification that includes arguments for quality, originality and innovation. Where relevant, the institute should also account for possible consequences for further knowledge acquisition, clinical application or innovation. In addition, the candidate's own contribution and independence must be described.

Reasoning Research Environment of the Year
The institutes are asked to provide a justification that includes arguments based on research production, scientific quality or ability to innovate. The working environment, recruitment, gender balance and the ability to develop young researchers will also be emphasised and must be presented in the justification. The environment that is nominated should have close cooperation and not have the character of being a loosely linked network. In addition, contributions to national and international research collaboration, networking and contributions to the education of students and PhD candidates should be commented on.

Reasoning for the Dissemination Award
The institutes are asked to provide a brief justification that includes arguments for how a researcher or a research group has been able to communicate recent research in an outstanding way to a broad audience. Research dissemination shall be of high quality with regard to academic content, design and execution. It should engage, arouse curiosity, provide inspiration and new knowledge. The dissemination shall respond to society's need for information and knowledge about research and higher education.

Reasoning for the Innovation Award
The OECD defines innovation as the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), or process, a new marketing method, or a new organizational method in business practice, workplace organization, or external relations. Innovation also includes innovation activities in education.

The Innovation Award at the Faculty of Medicine is awarded to a person, a group or an innovation environment that meets one or more of the following criteria:
1) Has worked proactively, creatively and research-based to produce health-promoting solutions to solve current societal challenges. This includes, but is not limited to, products, services, educational tools, etc.
2) Has worked to promote innovation culture and talent development within the field of innovation at MED.
3) Has worked to promote innovation activities in the field of education at MED.

Therefore, I ask to nominate candidates via the following links by February 2:
• (Read more for links)

Have a really good weekend!
Silke

Technician's Day 2026 – well done!

On Thursday, January 22, the technicians at the Faculty of Medicine gathered in the Great Hall for a rich and inspiring Technicians' Day 2026. The day offered a varied program with professional presentations, reflection, good conversations and useful perspectives on both working life, competence and future challenges.

UiB is the environmental lighthouse of the year for 2025

The University of Bergen has been awarded the Environmental Lighthouse of the Year 2025 award in the group and large enterprises category. The jury's justification highlights that UiB "has demonstrated targeted and comprehensive environmental management over time", and that the university's climate and environmental work is firmly anchored in top management and produces documentable results.

Funds for collaborative projects within Global Societal Challenges 2026

Global Societal Challenges (GSU) is one of three priority areas at the University of Bergen. Funding is allocated to various activities such as events, visiting scholar stays, seminars, and other initiatives that can help develop cross faculty research projects related to the theme of “inequality” in a broad sense. Applications should include concrete plans for continued research collaboration and the submission of proposals to external funding sources. Application deadline: 1 March 2026.

UiB project receives over five million euros to reduce child mortality

UiB has received 5.3 million euros from the EU for the PRoRota project, which will investigate whether probiotics, better hygiene education and mathematical models can reduce child mortality related to diarrhea in low- and middle-income countries. The project tests whether probiotics can improve the effect of the rotavirus vaccine in a large study with 4,000 newborns in Tanzania, Malawi and Ivory Coast. In addition, a warning system for rotavirus outbreaks is being developed and research is being conducted on how WASH routines can work better in practice.

Welcome to CancerREHAB 2026 in Tromsø!

On April 13–14, 2026, professional communities from all over the country will gather at Scandic Ishavshotell when the national professional conference KreftREHAB is held in Tromsø for the first time. The conference is the year's most important meeting place for everyone working with cancer rehabilitation, and offers two days of professional in-depth study, inspiration and networking.

Leader of the week – Eystein Husebye

The institute is concerned that the number of applications to the Research Council is decreasing and that grants have become smaller. This coincides with new application routines with ongoing calls for proposals and quarantine schemes. The Research Council reports that they are receiving about half as many applications as before, which also means that the grant percentage is increasing. This provides room for opportunity for K2's researchers to receive funding.
The table (available by clicking "read more") below lists schemes that have ongoing calls for proposals where applications can be expected within 1-5 months. This opens up opportunities for innovative research, radical ideas and, not least, good opportunities for stays abroad. This is an underutilized opportunity that can have enormous significance for a future research career.
In addition, the Research Council has calls for longterm funding through SFF and SFI. For the most ambitious environments, there are Centers of Excellence (SFF), with up to 10 years of funding (6+4 years). For the most recent call, the deadline was in November 2025 and K2 researchers are eagerly waiting to see if they have progressed to round 2.
In addition, the Centers for Research-Driven Innovation (SFI) and the Research Center for Clinical Treatment (FKB) provide opportunities for 8-year projects with strong industrial and clinical roots. Here, our friends at K1 just received funding for the Innovation Center for Neuroresilience. New initiatives for these programs have not yet been announced.
The Research Council will launch a new application system with a simpler format, better calculation tools and clearer assessment criteria in 2026. Project funding from the Research Council is particularly important for K2's finances as indirect costs are also covered.
I hope this inspires –
Eystein Husebye, deputy director at K2

Do you need help with communication?

On February 3, we will open the doors of the Communications Department for a new drop-in offer aimed at academic staff.

Here you can get low-threshold help with everything from media work and communication to social media and visual profile.

Read more and see the details here: Drop-in for communication help.

NVA reporting of scientific articles

This is a reminder that all researchers must check that their publications are registered in NVA (Christin), that the scientific articles are uploaded as full text and that the project number is included in publications where required, such as the Norwegian Research Council and the EU.