Author Archives: hbe012

This week’s employee – Hege F. Berg

What do you work with?
I am a PhD student in Bergen Gynecologic Cancer Group at Kvinnekinikken under supervision of Camilla Krakstad and Erling Høivik. I work with preclinical models in endometrial cancer. First part of my project has been to establish patient-derived organoids (“mini-tumors”) and organoid-based PDX mouse models as, respectively, in vitro and in vivo model systems for endometrial cancer. I will now use these model systems to study the underlying biology of endometrial tumors (e.g. heterogeneity at single cell level) and to test relevant targeted drugs. This work is performed in the research lab at U level at Kvinneklinikken, but I am also at the animal facility (BBB) and in the laboratory building when needed. In addition to research, I have also worked as editor for K2-nytt as part of my duty work. This work will now be handed over to new editor, Oda Vedøy.

Why K2? What do you enjoy to work with at K2?
Working at K2 has given me the opportunity to participate in research at high international level. We have access to state-of-the art equipment at core facilities and at other K2-affiliated research groups – providing opportunities rather than constrains. These opportunities and a good working environment contributes to good motivation, inspiration and increased competence. Further, being editor of K2-nytt has given me the opportunity to get to know K2 and other K2’ers which is valuable at the beginning of a PhD. A good overview of activities at K2 also comes with the job. This has been useful, and it has been both encouraging and enjoyable to work with the K2 administration. I now wish Oda all the best with the job as editor.

(Norwegian) Ukens leder

Først og fremst ønsker jeg dere alle et godt nytt år. Jeg håper at planleggingen for det kommende året er godt i gang.

Det medisinske fakultet vil også i år utpeke Årets publikasjon, årets ph.d.-arbeid og pris for fremragende forskningsformidling. Fra 2019 vil prisen for årets forskningsgruppe bli erstattet med en pris for årets forsknings-/innovasjonsmiljø.

Om de enkelte prisene

Begrunnelse Årets publikasjon
Gi en begrunnelse som inneholder argumentasjon for kvalitet (bl.a. impact factor), originalitet og nyskapning. Der det er relevant bør nominasjon også redegjøre for konsekvenser for videre kunnskapsinnhenting, klinisk anvendelse eller innovasjon. Nominasjon til årets publikasjon bør avspeile instituttets egen forskning og originalartikkelen som nomineres skal sendes fakultetet som eget vedlegg (pdf-fil av trykket artikkel).

Begrunnelse Årets ph.d.-arbeid
Gi en kort begrunnelse som blant annet inneholder argumentasjon for kvalitet, originalitet og nyskaping. Der det er relevant bør nominasjon også redegjøre for mulige konsekvenser for videre kunnskapsinnhenting, klinisk anvendelse eller innovasjon. I tillegg skal kandidatens eget bidrag og selvstendighet beskrives. Bedømmelseskomiteens innstilling må legges ved og komiteen vil ta hensyn til denne i sin vurdering. Den nominerte avhandlingen kan sendes som som pdf.

Begrunnelse Årets forsknings-/innovasjonsmiljø
Gi en begrunnelse som blant annet inneholder argumentasjon med utgangspunkt i forskningsproduksjon og/eller innovasjonsaktivitet (For eksempel: fremme av innovasjonskultur, kontakt med næringsliv, innsendelse av/tilslag på søknader om innovasjonsprosjekter, oppnådde lisenser, selskapsetablering, fremragende tjenesteinnovasjon), vitenskapelig kvalitet eller evne til nyskaping. Også arbeidsmiljø, rekruttering, kjønnsbalanse og evne til å utvikle yngre forskere vil bli vektlagt og må presenteres i begrunnelsen. Miljøet som nomineres bør ha tett samarbeid og ikke ha karakter av å være et løst knyttet nettverk. I tillegg bør bidrag til nasjonalt og internasjonalt forskningssamarbeid eller innovasjonsaktivitet, nettverksbygging og bidrag til utdanning av studenter og ph.d.-kandidater kommenteres. 

Begrunnelse Formidlingsprisen
Gi en kort begrunnelse som blant annet inneholder argumentasjon for hvordan en forsker eller en forskningsgruppe har evnet å formidle nyere forskning på en fremragende måte til et bredt publikum. Forskningsformidlingen skal være av høy kvalitet med hensyn til faglig innhold, utforming og utførelse. Den bør engasjere, vekke nysgjerrighet, gi inspirasjon og ny kunnskap. Formidlingen skal svare på samfunnets behov for informasjon og kunnskap om forskning og høyere utdanning.

Frist

Bruk linken å nominere kandidatene dine:

https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=7848679

Frist for innsending av grunngitte forslag settes til 07.02.2020.

UiBs bærekreftskonferanse 6. og 7. februar

Til alle ansatte.

Det nærmer seg tiden for UiBs store nasjonale bærekraftskonferanse 6. og 7.
februar. Som i fjor holder vi en arrangementsdag den 5. februar som vi kaller
Day Zero. Her finnes det noe for enhver smak, og godt faglig påfyll.

Du kan delta på en rekke svært interessante seminarer og workshops med ulike
tilnærminger til bærekraft. Har du studenter i undervisning kan kanskje noen av
arrangementene være relevant å ta med studentene på. Day Zero er selvfølgelig
gratis og et virkelig unikt tilbud.

Det er mer enn 30 arrangement å velge mellom, og temaene spenner bredt. Ta en
titt på listen av arrangement her.

Med vennlig hilsen,

Ingrid Hagerup

2020 proposal round to Research Council of Norway

Research Council of Norway has set the deadline for this years’ main proposal round to 6th May. We do not have much information yet, but most likely you will be able to apply to the health programmes BEHANDLING, BEDREHELSE and HELSEVEL and the programme FRIPRO which is open to all thematic areas. In the FRIPRO programme you can apply for researcher project, mobility grant and young research talent grant. The mobility and young research talent grants are for researchers in the early stages of their career, 2-7 years after defense allowing deduction of maternity leave, etc.

Rumours say that the next “Fellesløftet” (Toppforsk) also has 6th May as deadline. This programme supports development of excellent research environments at the forefront of international research within their research fields. Nothing is yet confirmed, but you can show your interest in the programme via the questionnaire (link below) and we will get back to you when we hear more.

The department would like to know who plans to apply this year in order to plan administrative resources. If you intend to apply, we ask you to fill in the form before 31st January, it will only take 2 min:

https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=7844053

(Norwegian) Dagskurs I Design Thinking 24.1.20

Du inviteres herved til kræsjkurs i Design Thinking, fredag 24.januar 0900-1600 på Marineholmen Makerspace.

Design Thinking er hovedverktøy for innovasjon, fokusert på brukerbehov og rask testing av praktiske løsninger. Seminaret med Federico Lozano er svært høy kvalitet, nyttig for alle fagområder, og ikke minst veldig gøy! NB: svært begrenset antall plasser, påmelding kun via link.

Workshop announcement

The Respiratory Research group is organising the workshop

Bioinformatic analysis of the airway microbiome: A QIIME2 workshop

16th – 20th of March 2020

This five-day workshop focuses on applied bioinformatics in the field of microbiome data mainly for non-computer scientists using QIIME2. The QIIME2 developers Greg Caporaso and Matthew Ryan Dillon will teach at the workshop.

Participants are required to have some experience with QIIME2 prior to attending the workshop, as no introduction to QIIME2 will be given. Examples used in the workshop will be from the MicroCOPD study, which is data consisting of 16S-rRNA (bacterial) and ITS (fungal) sequencing data from lung samples. Since these samples are low biomass, an emphasis will be on the challenges related to contamination in microbiome analysis.

Participants can bring their own data, but workshop datasets will also be provided. The sessions in the workshop include interactive discussions on several related topics such as different denoising strategies, bioinformatic identification and handling of contaminants, filtering strategies, diversity analyses, differential abundance testing, statistics interpretation, and visualisation and presentation of data.

The spaces are limited, and priority will be given to applicants with relevant background. If you are interested in attending the course, check out the information here:

https://www.digitallifenorway.org/arrangementer/bioinformatic-analysis-of-the-airway-microbiome-a-qiime2-workshop

(Norwegian) Seminarserie Senter for ernæring, torsdag 23. januar

Senter for ernæring har gleden av å invitere til et nytt seminar i vår seminarrekke. Serien tar opp sentrale utfordringer innen ernæring og helse.

Maternal nutrition in a modern world. Are we creating new risks for the baby?

Foreleser: Eleni Papadopoulou, PhD, Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo

Moderator: Petur Benedikt Juliusson
Tid: Torsdag 23. januar kl. 14.30-15.30
Sted: Auditorium 2, BB-bygget, Jonas Lies vei 91

Eleni Papadopoulou is an epidemiologist at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). Her background is in nutrition and environmental health. She holds a PhD in Environmental Epidemiology (2013) from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Spain, on the impact of early life exposures to environmental contaminants on fetal growth and endocrine disruption. Her research is focused on the investigation of exposures to environmental contaminants with toxic effects for humans, especially using birth cohorts, as well as the interactions with beneficial nutrients. When coming to NIPH, she first received funding as a Marie Curie post-doctoral fellow to study human dietary exposures to new “emerging” toxicants and currently she is funded by the Norwegian Research Council (“CATCH-UP project”) for a study aiming to identify early life environmental stressors that can affect child growth in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child cohort study.

Abstract
Diet and nutrition are among the major modifiable risk factors for the prevention of Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and more specifically alcohol use, inactivity and unhealthy diet, as well as obesity. In addition, exposure to environmental chemicals have become hot topics due to the link to increase NCD risk. These chemicals are now considered the new threats for human health, mainly because some of them after they enter the human body can mimic the function of our hormones and promote adverse health effects. The periods of pregnancy and early life are identified as critical periods to tackle NCD risk development, as the risk factors are developing long time before the occurrence of the disease, all the way to the pregnancy period and the fetal life. This is no different for environmental chemicals, as the placenta is not protecting the fetus from being exposed to them and the child is born with detectable levels of several environmental chemicals. In this talk, she will focus in the role of maternal diet as a source of exposure to environmental chemicals as well as beneficial nutrients and the associations with child’s physical development and health.

Det blir lett servering.

Velkommen!

http://www.uib.no/ernaring

Disputas – Priyanthi Borgen Gjerde

Priyanthi Borgen Gjerde will defend her PhD thesis on Wednesday 29th January 2020

Trial lecture: Wednesday 29th January 2020 at 09.15.
Topic: “Lipid metabolism in physical health promotion and follow up of treatment response in psychotic disorders”
Place:Auditorium, Armauer Hansens hus, Haukelandsveien 28

Public defense: Wednesday 29th January 2020 at 11.15.
Title of dissertation: “Lipid effects during antipsychotic drug treatment and their relevance for clinical outcomes”
Place: Auditorium, Armauer Hansens hus, Haukelandsveien 28

1st opponent: professor Olli Kampman, Universitetet i Tampere, Finland
2nd opponent: førsteamanuensis Eva Malt, Universitetet i Oslo
3rd member of the comittee: professor II Jørn V. Sagen, Universitetet i Bergen

The defense will be led by professor Francisco Gomez Real

 

 

 

 

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 20 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 Hege F. Berg.

Continue reading

Happy New Year!

Christmas and the holiday season at the end of the year are over. It has been a busy time – everything must be fixed and arranged for a few, intense days. However, for most people it has been a precious holiday with time together with the ones we love, as well as an opportunity for contemplation and reflection. It provides motivation and strength to embark on a new year with new opportunities.

It is natural to begin a new year with strategic thinking. In February, the management will conduct a strategy seminar for research group leaders, platform leaders and UGLEs (if the institute council adopts the new scheme). The main theme this year will be communication. Later in the spring we will have a dedicated day focusing on teaching and in the Autumn,  there will be a seminar with HMS work on the agenda. Last year’s K2 seminar (K2 Retreat) at Solstrand for everyone was a success, but the budget situation means that we cannot repeat that for this year. However, we hope to be able to repeat the K2 seminar for everyone at Solstrand in 2021.

(Norwegian) Nye forskningsgrupper og ledere

Hei.
Jeg skriver til dere for å informere om justerte forskningsgrupper og forskningsgruppeledere.

Sammensetningen av forskningsgrupper og forskningsgruppeledere vil og må endre seg i takt med utvikling i fag og personal. Siste året har ledelsen ved K2 derfor arbeidet med en revisjon av dagens situasjon i dialog med de gruppene og lederne som er aktuelle.

En oversikt over justerte forskningsgrupper og forskningsgruppeledere er vedlagt. Oppdatering av informasjon på nettsider vil bli gjennomført fortløpende.

Vi takker grupper, tidligere og nye ledere for en konstruktiv diskusjon. Velkommen til nye ledere og takk for at dere vil stille til denne viktige oppgaven.

Benytter anledningen til å ønske dere alle alt godt for 2020.

På vegne av ledelsen ved K2,

Pål

(Norwegian) Invitasjon til arbeidsseminar for OSKE 6. februar 2020

Minner om arbeidsseminaret for OSKE6 og OSKE12 torsdag 6. februar 2020 på Scandic Bergen City fra kl 09.00 til 16.00. I etterkant av seminaret blir det middag for de som ønsker å være med på det.

Påmeldingslenke her.
Frist for påmelding 14.01.20

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 representerte.

For informasjon om OSKE som vurderingsform, se ferdighetssenteret sine nettsider.

PhD defense – Øyunn Kleiven

Øyunn Kleiven will defend her PhD thesis on Friday 17th January 2020

Trial lecture: Friday 17th January 2020 at 09.00.
Topic: “The potential detrimental effects of long-term endurance exercise training on the heart”
Place: Aula 2. etg. Sydbygget, Stavanger Universitetssjukehus, Gerd-Ragna Bloch Thorsens gate 8

Public defense: Friday 17th January 2020 at 10.30.
Title of dissertation“The clinical significance of exercise-induced cardiac biomarkers”
Place: Aula 2. etg. Sydbygget, Stavanger Universitetssjukehus, Gerd-Ragna Bloch Thorsens gate 8

1st opponent: Ph.d. Jostein Grimsmo, The Norwegian Heart and Lung Patient Organisation
2nd opponent: Amanuensis Thijs Eijsvogels, Radboud University Medical Center, Nederland
3rd member of the comittee: Førsteamanuensis Heidi Grundt, Universitetet i Bergen

The defense will be led by Director of Research Svein Skeie.

PhD defense – Brith Bergum

Brith Bergum will defend her PhD thesis on Wednesday 22nd January 2020

Trial lecture: Wednesday 22nd January 2020 at 09.15.
Topic: “Mass cytometry as a platform to guide effective autoimmune disease therapy”
Place: Auditorium, AHH, Haukelandsveien 28

Public defense: Wednesday 22nd January 2020 at 11.15.
Title of dissertationCarbamylation in an inflammatory and uremic environment”
Place: Auditorium, AHH, Haukelandsveien 28

1st opponent: professor Thomas Dietrich, University of Birmingham, U.K.
2nd opponent: researcher Aleksandra Anna Milewska, Jagiellonian University, Polen
3rd member of the comittee: postdoc Tim Holmes, Universitetet i Bergen

The defense will be led by professor emeritus Bjørn Bolann.

(Norwegian) Smådriftsmidler 2020 (frist 31.1.2020)

Det er tid for tildeling av smådriftsmidler (SMÅFORSK). Midlene er et spleiselag mellom NFR og UiB. Intensjonen med denne tildelingen er at midlene skal gis til forskningsgrupper som ikke har fått tilslag på store tildelinger slik at de kan komme i gang med nye prosjekter. Det kan søkes om å dekke utgifter til reiser, seminarer, kurs, materiell, teknisk-administrativ assistanse og andre driftskostnader.

Krav til søknad og kriterier for tildeling:

– Midlene går til forskere som ikke har store driftsmidler allerede.
– Størrelsen på de enkelte bevilgningene er mellom 15 000-150 000 NOK.
– Midlene må brukes innen 2020 og kan ikke overføres.
– Mottakere må være aktive forskere i fast vitenskapelig stilling, prof. II eller 1.am. II.
– Mottakere må ha søkt eksterne midler de siste årene.

Siden det har vist seg å ikke fungere optimalt å limitere søknaden til forskningsgruppeledere er det i år åpen for alle faste vitenskapelige ansatte (inklusive vitenskapelige ansatte i bistilling) å sende inn en søknad. Det gjøres via denne linken.

(Norwegian) Invitasjon til å søke om 2 tverrfakultære phd-stillinger innen Klima og energiomstilling 2020

Universitetet i Bergen inviterer til prosjektskisser for to stipendiatstillinger innen det strategiske satsningsområdet klima og energiomstilling. Satsingsområdets ledes fra MN-fakultetet i samarbeid med et tverrfaglig utvalg med representanter for alle fakulteter.

Det inviteres herved til å sende inn korte prosjektskisser – retningslinjer og søknadsskjema er vedlagt.

Utlysningen er åpen for alle fagmiljø ved UiB.

Vi oppfordrer forskere som er i tidligfase av karrieren til å sende inn prosjektskisser.

Frist for å sende inn skisse er 15. februar 2020.
Skissene skal sendes i ePhorte under sak: 2019/27343.

Man må bruke dette søknadsskjema.
Oppstart av prosjektperioden er planlagt til etter sommeren 2020.

 

Vennlig hilsen

Gunn Mangerud
visedekan, klima og energi

Gry E. Parker
organisasjonskonsulent

Peder Sather Grants

The Peder Sather Center for Advanced Study supports projects carried out by researchers at UC Berkeley in collaboration with researchers from nine Norwegian universities. The Center offers grants of between $10K and $25K. Funds are made available for one academic year.  Grants can support activities such as workshops, mini-conferences, virtual intellectual exchanges, the undertaking of exploratory and pilot studies, activities such as PhD student exchanges, longer-term stays for Principal Investigators, the collection and analysis of data, and other core research activities.
More information and application form visit Peder Sather Center’s webpage.

New publications

Here are recent publications with contributions from K2 based on a search from last edition of K2-nytt (17.12.19 – 10.01.20) on PubMed. This time the list includes in total 24 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 Hege F. Berg.

Continue reading

Merry Christmas and happy holiday season!

Another year will soon be over. Autumn is often perceived as hectic due to application deadlines, congresses, meetings, and new student courses. And the semester is relatively short compared to the spring semester. Hence, as the year is nearing it’s end, it is good to be able to look forward to a holiday with the opportunity for peace and reflection.

For K2, 2019 has been a very good year. Our faculty members and scientists have published in the best journals and been awarded a number of prestigious awards, including the Faculty of Medicine’s awards, the Research Group of the Year to the Mohn Cancer Research Laboratory by Per Eystein Lønning, the Falch’s Senior Award to Birgitta Åsjø, the Falch’s Junior Award to Bergithe Oftedal, and the Helse Vest research award to Endocrine Medicine with Eystein Husebye. Congratulations to all these environments!

We do not yet know the result of this year’s awards from the Research Council of Norway, but nevertheless solid research funding was achieved in 2019. Although the fiscal year has not yet been concluded, it appears we will well reach our goal of 101 mNOK in consumed external funding this year 🙂

Very good news last week was that Jenny Mjösberg from the Karolinska Institute was awarded the TMS Starting Grant from the Trond Mohn Foundation. Congratulations and welcome to K2! On the teaching side, K2 was responsible for this year’s OSCE, and it went very well. A big thank you to everyone involved.

But there are many others who also contribute to K2 being a good place to work. We have a superb administration that I know maximizes the potential for better research, teaching, innovation, and communication. And we’re so lucky to have a splendid technical staff: Without you, K2 stops!

For many, Christmas and the holiday season is the highlight of the year where family and friends gather for a holiday filled with traditions and a sense of belonging, followed by some days off that can provide opportunities for other activities at home in Bergen, trips to the mountains or abroad. Then comes a fun and exciting time with the New Year’s Eve, the New Year’s concert and the traditional Ski Jumping Week – before another year arises.

What most of us take for granted is not necessarily the case for everyone. Some have lost someone they loved or have no close friends or family gathering this year. I have been to the United States for four Christmas holidays and have always been invited home to someone during the holidays. I am embarrassed when I realize that I myself have not been good to include others in my own holiday celebration. Here we have something to learn – being better at including others who are alone or lonely during the holidays. Is there room for someone else at the inn?

With wishes for a peaceful Christmas and holiday season and all the best for 2020.

 

Information about building plans in first quarter 2020

The parking garage in Haukelandsbakken and the parking spaces on the top of the BB-building (Incubator Building) will be removed once the projects on these locations commence. The Estate and Facilities Management Division at UiB are in contact with Helse Bergen regarding replacements of the parking spaces we will lose.

The building of the Incubator Building have the following milestones:

  • Start demolition of parking spaces: 23.03.2020
  • Start drilling of holes / fundament: 04.05.2020
  • End foundation mounting / ceiling: 03.07.2020
  • Hand over all disciplines prior to test run: 01.09.2021
  • Start test run: 01.10.2021
  • Approved test run: 01.10.2022

The parking garage in Haukelandsbakken will in time also be removed. More information about this will follow as soon at the department knows more.

Small research funds (deadline 31.1.2020)

It is time for the allocation of small research funds (SMÅFORSK). The funds are available due to joint efforts between RCN and UiB. The intention of these allocations is that funds will be awarded research groups that have not been endowed large allocations so that they can start new projects. Applicants can ask for means to cover expenses for travel, seminars, courses, materials, technical-administrative assistance and other operating expenses.

Requirements for application and criteria for allocation:

– Funding for researchers without a lot of funding.
– You can apply for 15 000-150 000 NOK.
– The funds have to be used within 2020 and cannot be transferred to 2021.
– Recipient has to be an active researcher with a permanent position, prof II or 1.am. II
– The recipient must have applied for external funding during the past years.

Since it has not worked optimally to limit the application to the research group leaders, this year everybody with a permanent scientific position (including the ones with adjunct positions) may send inn an application. Use the following link.