Category: This weeks editorial

Dear colleagues at K2,

To my own and others' surprise, I am for a period part of the management team at K2. For those who don't know me, I am an infectious disease specialist by background, and I have shared positions between K2, the Medical Clinic at Haukeland, and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. I am the head of REK Vest, and a member of the national investigation committee for research misconduct, and I am also the chairman of the board of the Faculty of Medicine and Health at NTNU. 

One issue that will be important going forward is to get K2 into financial balance, without this affecting teaching and research. There is a lot of speculation about how we have gotten here, and also what can be done. Do we have too many or too few permanent employees? Do we have too many or too few core facilities? Do we have too much or too little administrative support? The faculty, together with the department management, has appointed a group that will look at our cards, but also ask us what and how. The group, which will be coordinated by Rolf Reed, will ask for input from employees at K2, we hope to have an input meeting in June.

The institute is on the right track, in 2027 we will be in the black, and I know that there are many who think that they and the academic communities have contributed to this. And that is absolutely right, there are many who have contributed to us being able to achieve balance.

I am optimistic that we will make this happen.

Have a really good weekend!

Nina

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Dear everyone!

With some delay you now can apply for the small-scale funding. The funds are a joint venture between the faculty and the institute. The intention is to help those without major funding to start projects and get into position to apply for larger grants.

Applications for operating costs, travel expenses, seminars, courses, materials, and technical-administrative assistance are welcomed.

Application requirements and the faculty’s award criteria:

Funding for researchers who have applied to NFR, EU or others without success, who do not have operating funds already.

You can apply for 15 000-75 000 NOK.

The funds have to be used within 2026 and cannot be transferred to 2027.

Recipient has to be an active researcher with a permanent scientific position at K2 (50% or more)

Søk via denne lenken: Smådriftsmidler/Small research funds (frist/deadline 26.4.26)

The application deadline is 26.4.2026

Have a great weekend!

Silke

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At Stavanger University Hospital, we have divided ourselves into two, with the new SUS at Ullandhaug and the old one at Våland. The students must also divide themselves. The Vestlandslege students and the internship students under the old arrangement must both find time and a way in the system. There will be many logistical challenges in addition to the running-in of the new hospital.
Nevertheless, many colleagues manage to find some time for research and student assignments in addition to teaching and supervision. If we are to raise research even further, we must improve cooperation between Campus Stavanger and Campus Bergen. As an employee at UiB/Med Fak, you are therefore encouraged to contact your academic colleagues in Stavanger/Bergen, challenge joint applications, contribute to other people's applications and, not least, increase the quality so that we receive more grants for external funding. The potential can be great if we work more together.

If you don't know who to contact, ask me!

Have a nice weekend from Stavanger 😊

Svein

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Dear everyone!

I am very happy to welcome Nina Langeland as deputy head of the management team at K2. Nina was Norway's first female dean of a medical faculty (2009-2017) and is well used to standing in the storm. Her experience in handling a demanding economy, combined with her good knowledge and understanding of the university and the hospitals, will be of great help to K2 in the work of getting into financial balance.

I am very happy to welcome Nina Langeland as deputy head of the management team at K2. Nina was Norway's first female dean of a medical faculty (2009-2017) and is well used to standing in the storm. Her experience in handling a demanding economy, combined with her good knowledge and understanding of the university and the hospitals, will be of great help to K2 in the work of getting into financial balance.

Have a great weekend!

Silke

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Dear everyone!

last week, work was done on the permission to exceed budget limits, which we unfortunately have to deliver this year as well, since we have budgeted for a deficit of NOK 3.7 million in 2026. But K2 has had a gradual improvement in the economy in recent years. While the deficit was NOK 11.2 million in 2023, it was NOK 9.7 million in 2024 and NOK 5 million last year. But with savings in, among other things, area costs (rent and operations), wage costs (many of the positions were/will not be filled after retiring), increased income for the core facilities and, not least, increased BOA to appropriation, there is light at the end of the tunnel: The long-term budget shows an expected small surplus of NOK 1.1 million as early as 2027. I am very happy about this. But even if the development is going in the right direction, we must continue the good work before the department has a sustainable financial situation. But if everyone contributes, we will make it!

Finally, I would like to inform you that Eystein Husebye is now ending his role in the management team of K2. I would like to thank him for his efforts and contributions during the long time he has been in the management team of K2. He has been part of important processes with us, and I really appreciate that.

Have a great weekend!

Silke

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Even in challenging times, we have reason for optimism after the meeting with the dean's office management who visited K2 on Tuesday, March 3. The faculty's management presented an inspiring vision for research, innovation and education. At the heart of this vision is a focus on health technology, which Norwegian politicians have made a national priority. K2 is facing a major challenge and has a critical need for clinical educators, and is struggling with recruitment. K2 therefore has a particularly clear focus on good cooperation with the hospitals. In line with this, the establishment of the Vestlandslegen project aims to integrate clinical research with education, and create a unique platform where discoveries and learning feed off each other for future innovations.

Perhaps the most exciting is the clear commitment to nurturing young academic talents. If you are considering an academic career path, know that the institution is actively creating structures to support your success. This is your invitation to think big. Keep developing your career plans, set ambitious goals, and know that the winds are at your back!

It has been a pleasure to be part of the K2 management, but I will now be stepping down from my position as innovation manager and the position is open for a new colleague 🙂.

Have a really good weekend!

Valeriya

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Dear everyone!

As is well known, there is currently a lot of good teaching work going on, and it was great when improvement efforts in both Pharmacy education and Medical practice in January were given well-deserved recognition and honor.

In the Program Committee for Medicine, important steps in the development of the Multi-Campus model with three shared years of study in Bergen for about 260 medical students, and then the final three years distributed across four campuses with 20 study places in Førde and Haugesund and 40 study places in Stavanger, are continuously discussed, developed, and decided. The professional pillar plays a central role in ensuring overall coherence, and practice periods in and outside hospitals are given considerable emphasis for the development of responsible, competent doctors.

There has recently been a lot of meeting activity within many areas of study in the medical program, including useful full-day in-person meetings with representatives from all four campuses.

Etter korona har en hatt en utvikling med mindre oppmøte av studenter enn tidligere på campus som kan påvirke miljø, faglig kvalitet og robusthet. I Khrono i dag vises det til Studentbarometeret 2025 hvor det kan se ut som en i noen fag har klart å snu denne utviklingen og at studentene i større grad er på vei tilbake til å være mer på campus.

Good suggestions for improvement are greatly appreciated!

Have a great weekend!

Camilla

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Publishing at K2
When the UiB Rector visited K2 last week, she asked about our publication strategy. K2’s strategy is quite simple: We publish open access as much as possible, and when we have strong and very interesting data, we try to publish in so called Level 2 journals. These are the top 20% highest-ranked journals within their field, and the list is updated annually by the National Publication Committee (NPU) and HK-dir. In 2024, 18% of K2’s 422 publications were in Level 2 journals. This is also the average for the Faculty of Medicine. For K2, it should be an objective to exceed 20% in Level 2 publications in order to demonstrate the overall quality of our research. Unfortunately, many Level 2 journals are still not fully open access. We can help promote fully open access Level 2 journals by publishing in them and having publication fees covered by UiB’s

Based on the number of publications, levels, and international collaboration, publication points are calculated. Until 2024, these were used to adjust funding for research institutions in Norway. This is no longer done, but the metric may still be a useful indicator to monitor, considering how well we manage under increasingly tight budget constraints. In the health trusts, publication points will continue to influence funding.

For this statistic to be accurate, it is important that affiliations are written correctly in submitted manuscripts from K2. AI tools often mistranslate this. The correct affiliation, where K2 is the employer or has otherwise contributed to participation in a study, is:

Finally, the K2 leadership congratulates Lars Herfindal, Professor of Pharmacology and the new Head of the Centre for Pharmacy, on receiving the prestigious Olav Thon Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching.

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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 great weekend!
Silke

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