Category: Leader of the week

Dear everyone,

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has had a few quiet days during the Christmas season and has started 2026 with new energy.

2026 will bring a number of changes, among other things, the financial officers from the faculty will move to the "PhD office" on the 8th floor of the lab building and be co-located with "our" financial officers (who are also employed at the faculty). This entails some relocation of office space for PhD candidates and postdocs, I apologize for the inconvenience this causes for those affected. Before the economists can move in, some rebuilding is required, but I hope that it does not take too long.

Let me also use this editorial to congratulate Professor Edvin Schei from IGS and his project group PROFMED (Medical Students' Professional Identity Formation During Practice in Hospitals), which was awarded the Western Norway Regional Health Authority's education award last night at the Western Norway Regional Health Authority's education conference. PROFMED aims to improve medical students' hospital placement learning, and support the development of a professional physician’s identity by: 1) systematically preparing students for workplace participation, and 2) educating the hospital physicians who interact with the students.

The project has been very successful, and the application of the knowledge from it will have a great effect on the successful completion of the hospital placement with many more students than before.

Have a really good weekend!

Silke

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Dear everyone,
Thank you very much to everyone who contributed to yet another well-executed OSKE12 yesterday!
Yesterday, I was reminded again of how important a good flow of information is. From 1 August 2024, the new Universities and University Colleges Act came into force, and this has led to several changes for us – including in terms of censorship
What's new?
• Written exams under 15 credits: One internal examiner is sufficient.
• Written exams of 15 credits or more, as well as oral exams: Two internal examiners are required.
External examiners are no longer mandatory in these cases.
I have participated in many forums where this was discussed, and thought the information was well known. It turns out that many people had not been informed about these changes, and I apologize for the frustration this created yesterday for MED9.
Given the financial situation at K2, we must reduce the use of external teachers and examiners as far as possible. Where external sensors are not needed, we need to look at solutions with two internal sensors. I know this will involve more work for some, but we will find good solutions that take care of both examiners and students.
Have a really good weekend and a nice 2nd advent!
Silke

(NOTE - click on "Read more" for links)

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Dear everyone,

A few weeks ago, the first cohort of medical students from Vestland who will spend the last three years of their studies in Førde went on an exciting and eventful study trip to Campus Førde. Preparations are in full swing with the establishment of a new study model in the form of a joint multi-campus model for the medical study here in the west. Feedback has been received on the draft of the new study plan that was sent out for consultation earlier this fall, and an adjusted plan with main lines has recently been adopted by the Program Committee in Medicine.

Internal medicine and surgical clinical practice will, in the multi-campus model, take place in the 7th semester instead of the 8th semester as in the 2015 model, while psychiatric practice and teaching will be in the 10th semester instead of the 7th semester. Adjustments are being made in the first three common Bergen years, and in the last three years, where students are distributed across Stavanger, Førde, Haugesund and Bergen, all will have common learning objectives and common exams. Working in cross-disciplinary groups with representatives from all four campuses will be central going forward to decide what should be taught, when, and how, to develop more detailed descriptions of learning outcomes and pedagogical interactive approaches for the best possible formation of good doctors for the healthcare of the future.

Thank you so much for all your hard work on this, OSKE, and everything else!

Have a really good weekend!

Camilla

«Les mer» for lenker!

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Dear everyone,

Congratulations to the award winners of the Western Norway Regional Health Authority's research awards that were awarded on Thursday evening at the Western Norway Regional Health Authority's research conference. The Innovation Award went to Jannicke Wathne and Tormod Bjånes, who is an associate professor of pharmacology at K2 😊. The other awards went to researchers affiliated with K1: The prize for young researchers went to Øyvind Eikrem and the research prize to Christian Beisland.

And Christmas is approaching! On December 12th at 1 p.m., everyone from K2 is invited to a small Christmas gathering with gingerbread and mulled wine on the 5th floor of the lab building, I hope as many as possible want to join.

Have a really good weekend!

Silke

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Dear everyone,

This week, K2 researchers were well represented at DRIV's National Conference on Women's Health Research (LINK: click on "read more") with many inspiring presentations.

We also received the happy news that Stian Knappskog has been granted funding for his project from the Cancer Society, congratulations so much! And to those who have not received funding or are on the waiting list: keep going and don't give up! If you want to, contact the research advisers for tips on how to improve the application or what other sources of funding are available for your research. Although it is always discouraging to get rejected, you will not get any money when you do not even apply.

And speaking of applications: we are now in the final stages of the Center of Excellence (SFF) application round (step 1) and from K2 there are several who are listed as coordinators or partners. Already now, I would like to say thank you very much for the efforts of everyone involved (PIs, research advisors, economists, research group members, etc)! We'll have to keep our fingers crossed!

Have a great weekend!

Silke

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Dear everyone,

It is very pleasing that K2 was well represented at the Faculty's Research Day with the theme "New Challenges in Academia" which was held this week. Kurt Hanevik led the first part of the program, where Helga Midtbø, researcher and associate professor affiliated with the Center for Research on Heart Disease in Women, was one of 5 younger researchers who presented her research as a "flash talk". One of the keynote lectures ("From Bench to Backlash: The Vaccine Research Crisis") was given by Rebecca Cox, professor and head of the Influenza Center. Her lecture was both frightening considering the current situation in the United States with a Minister of Health who is anti-vaccine, but also thought-provoking with regard to the responsibility we all have to communicate our research-based results. She emphasized the importance of good research communication - this is something we should all do more of. She also participated in the panel debate that dealt with new challenges in academia towards the end of the day.

Have a great weekend and remember to set your clocks back on Sunday!

Silke

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Dear everyone,

This week is Nobel Prize week. As an immunologist, I am particularly pleased that the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their discoveries of peripheral tolerance (click "read more" for link)

The consultation deadline for the multi-campus model has passed, and now work is underway to get a good plan in place. Gottfried Greve is the new project manager for Vestlandslegen and comes to the process with extensive experience, which gives us the confidence that we will find a good solution for the study plan going forward. Please follow the newsletters from Vestlandslegen: click on "read more" for the link

For the implementation of OSKE12 on December 4th, we still need more helpers, remember to sign up! Click on "read more" for the link

Also remember that everyone must register any side jobs they may have: click "read more" for link

The agenda for the next faculty board meeting next week (October 16) is available online (click on "read more" for link). I recommend that you read through it, there are several issues on the agenda that concern us at K2 (including evaluation and proposals for organizing the financial services, new curriculum for the integrated master's program in pharmacy, mandate for a review of the core facilities).

And finally: Remember to register for the faculty's research day on Tuesday, October 21st, 11:30-15:00 at Eitri. This year's theme is "New challenges in academia". Click on "read more" for the link

Have a really good weekend!

Silke

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Dear everyone,

This autumn we will spend a little more time to have better routines around RETTE (System for Risk and ETTerlevelse) – Processing of personal data in research projects and student assignments at UiB (Rette). In most cases, project information is transferred directly from the REK portal, but check that all mandatory information is provided. In this context, I would also like to remind you that the Health Research Act requires REK approval for all research on Norwegian territory or when the research is carried out under the auspices of a research manager established in Norway (https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2008-06-20-44). This therefore applies to all projects where someone from UiB is involved in analyzing data or financing analyses, i.e. when researchers from UiB are involved in the generation of new knowledge about health, even if the project is carried out abroad (with REK approval there) or the data is located on a server abroad (for example on the UKBiobank server). So check if this applies to your projects, if you are in doubt, contact REK!

Autumn is also the time when I remind you of employee interviews. This year, I will have performance appraisals with all research group and core facility managers, while the research group leaders have performance appraisals in the research group. Research group leaders will also receive more information about this at our next meeting on Tuesday.

Hopefully, most of you have seen the OSKE12 posters where you can register your participation. OSKE12 is a comprehensive exam that requires an important interaction between academic and administrative resources. It consists of four loops with 12 stations in each, where the students are divided into 2 pools, one before and one after lunch. In order for all of this to run smoothly, we need as many helpers as possible. This is an exciting day and not least a great opportunity to meet colleagues across departments and faculties. OSKE12 will be held on December 4. Registration link: https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=19789389

And finally: remember to register the remaining holiday for 2025 before 1.10.25.

Have a really good weekend!

Silke

For tilgang på lenker, trykk på «les mer»

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Dear everyone,
Det var veldig kjekt å se mange av dere på instituttets dag på mandag. Du kan lese og laste ned presentasjonene ved å trykke på «les mer».

The main focus was the FAMU survey, and the groups came up with many good suggestions for improvements and things worth preserving. What made me especially happy was that a recurring theme in many groups was the strong sense of collegiality that people want to maintain. I completely agree with that!There are many areas for improvement, and one that was mentioned several times was the need for shared meeting arenas across groups.

Now the groups have to organize an action meeting separately (some have already managed it on Monday!), then we will have a joint meeting for everybody to go through the results together. The summary will then be published in K2nytt.

Intense work is being done on the multi-campus model, and now a consultation has been sent out. I encourage all the academic communities to take the time to read through the documents and provide constructive input. Here it is important to think holistically, not just your own subject and your own campus.

Have a really good weekend!

Silke

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Support in career choices and applications

(NOTE - click on "Read more" for links)

In the recommendations to K2 following the Research Council's evaluation in 2024, the committee writes the following: “The committee recommends developing a leadership programme in which junior and senior staff jointly take on leadership of different organisational tasks”. This is advice we should try to follow up on in the coming year. In this context, it is relevant to recall what career support already exists for PhD candidates and early career researchers at our faculty.

UiB Ferd Career Centre for Young Researchers offers a range of services to support career development both within and outside the university. The centre targets PhD candidates, postdoctoral fellows, researchers and associate professors at UiB. Ferd organises courses and events for researcher development and career learning, and also offers individual conversations with professional career advisors. Examples of offers include externships with job shadowing in the private or public sector. Ferd also offers e-courses that can be taken at your convenience, such as: FERD100: Creating an Academic CV and Navigating the Funding Landscape.

The Postdoctoral Program at the Faculty of Medicine aims to support postdoctoral fellows in developing a successful academic career, build a community of early-career researchers, and make the faculty an attractive place to work for postdoctoral fellows. The program starts a new round every two years. It is aimed at those who are in “postdoctoral” or “researcher” positions with an affiliation to a research group at the Faculty of Medicine. The next round will start in September 2026, with space for 20 participants.

The Research and Innovation Department (FIA) at UiB is developing a range of sessions with application readings, including ERC, MSCA and collaborative projects in Horizon Europe. This can provide good insight into how such applications can be designed.

UiB also has the more competitive Momentum program, which supports the career development of selected early-career researchers. The application deadline for the 2025/26 round was in March this year. In addition to a series of seminars, each participant receives a grant of NOK 100,000 for mentoring, travel, networking, research stays, conferences and other career-enhancing activities. Marta Kaminska from K2 is participating in the current period.

Finally, I would like to welcome everyone to the Institute's Day in Bikuben, Monday, September 8, 11:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

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Please remember to register your vacation – Mia will send reminders. Thanks to Ingvild for stepping in, and welcome back to Mia!

K2nytt has a new design – thanks to Øyvind, Lene, and Ingri!

Department Day: September 8th, 11:30–16:00 at Bikuben.

Congratulations to Eystein Husebye – elected to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters!

Feel free to suggest honorary doctorate candidates – young, research-active individuals with strong international impact.

Have a great weekend!

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Dear everyone,

Now it has already been one year with me as head of department. It was a very exciting year with many heights, but also some headwinds. I am proud to be head of a department with so many fantastic employees who contribute to both high-level teaching and, not least, internationally excellent research, according to the committee from EVALMEDHELSE, which further concluded that «Both the research and teaching activities have been of high international standard and visibility, which has attracted researchers in basic science and clinicians to successfully collaborate on the well-defined expert areas within this administrative unit». As Eystein already mentioned last week, we are almost at the finish line with the strategic plan for 2025-2030, where we will include some of the recommendations from the committee.

The past year has been very successful in terms of allocations of external funding that covers indirect costs (ERC, NFR, various allocations from the EU, etc.) and there are many of you who have plans to lead a Center of Excellence (SFF). We have got better routines in place and most people are now familiar with the form that must be filled in for applications for external funding, so that a project economist is connected in time to help with the budget. And even though I unfortunately can’t do magic, and K2 is still running at a loss, we are on the right track! We have vacated some of the area in the lab building, which provides savings both for rent and not least operating costs.

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The leadership at K2 has now established the strategic framework for the institute’s development over the next five years. The 2025–2030 strategic plan provides a clear direction for how we will strengthen our position as a leading medical research and education institution. Research: We aim to enhance both the quality of our scientific output and the level of external funding...

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