Servant leadership

Servant leadership is a management philosophy formulated by Robert K. Greenleaf in the 70s. The main idea is that the manager should serve the employees and the organisation, and differs from traditional leadership where the manager’s role is to promote the organisation’s interests.

A servant leader shares power, puts the needs of employees first and helps people develop and perform at their best. Instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people. Greenleaf put it this way: A servant leader must ask himself the question: “Are my employees growing as people? As they serve, do they become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely to become servants themselves?”

Do we have a serving leadership at UiB and for that matter the hospital we are an integral part of? As a scientific employee, many others and I experience that tasks that others previously did for us, now have to be done by us. We spend more and more time on documentation, filling in forms, organizing teaching and other administrative tasks. It feels like there are various administrative groups around us who are more concerned with leading us instead of serving us. This means that we have less time to do the university’s core tasks, namely research, teaching and communication.

We need a debate about this. I did not have Fredrik Solvang available, so as an introduction I asked ChapGPT if we had serving leadership at UiB. It answered, among other things: “There is a growing interest in servant leadership in higher education institutions around the world. Many universities have introduced servant leadership principles into their management structures and have seen positive results.

UiB has also taken initiatives to promote servant leadership. For example, they have organized seminars and workshops on the subject and have also included this as one of their core values. Furthermore, in its vision for 2022, UiB emphasizes that it wants to promote responsible management, including servant leadership.

We now need to discuss how this vision can be implemented in practical terms?

With warm wishes for a good the coming weekend

Eystein Husebye
Deputy leader K2

Vacation 2023

I hope everyone had a nice Easter holiday with friends and family. The weather and snow conditions were some of the best I can remember for the season.

Not everyone takes a holiday at Easter but finds quiet days to be an opportunity to get professional work done or there is a deadline that makes working at Easter necessary. I would like to single out Eystein Husebye and Helge Ræder who sent a comprehensive EU application yesterday and therefore had the impetus for the application during Easter. They received invaluable administrative help from, among others, Corina Guder, Susanna Pakkasmaa, Andreas Westermoen and Håkon Solheim, even on several of the “red days”. I would like to thank everyone in the team for their efforts, and we are crossing our fingers for a good process with a positive outcome!

Finally, I would like to remind you of the vacation accounts for 2023. By 1 May, everyone must register in the Self-Service Portal (https://www.uib.no/en/self-service-portal) which days they plan to take vacation. It is possible to change days afterwards. The most important thing is that the number of days planned is entered. This is not only important for K2 to know when K2’s employees are present or absent, but it has an impact on the budget. Vacation that is not registered or taken will be marked as liabilities in our accounts for 2023 and worsen the financial balance. So, register your planned vacation as soon as possible and by 1 May!

Have a great weekend!

Welcome to Teaching Day!

At K2, we take pride in providing excellent education. In order to maintain excellence in education, we need to continuously develop ourselves as teachers. A this year’s Teaching Day, we can learn from the best as the teaching group for geriatrics tell us about their award-winning educational development. We will also discuss how we can improve collaboration regarding teaching even further, as well as some recent and ongoing changes (Vestlandslegen, changes in MED5-MED6).

We wish to see as many as possible of you at the Teaching Day on Wednesday May 3^rd at AHH (half-day from lunch). Meet up for lunch with good colleagues, inspirational talks and discussion about teaching and learning.

We will also announce the K2 Teaching Award – please send 7our nomination to mette.vesterhus@uib.no by Monday April 24^th!

Velkommen til K1 og K2s Felles undervisningsdag onsdag 3. mai!

Sted: Auditoriet i AHH

PROGRAM

12.00 Lunsj 15 min

12.15 Velkommen

12.15 Nyskapende undervisning v/Marit Stordal Bakken

12.45 Ferdighetssenteret: hva tilbyr vi og hvor går utviklingen? v/Bernt Aarli

13.00 Vestlandslegen v/Audun Vik-Mo

13.15 Pause 15 min

13.30 Erfaringer med samarbeid i undervisingsgruppe for gynekologi v/Ragnar Sande

13.45 Utvikling av faggruppe på tvers i ortopedi v/Trude Gundersen

14.05 Diskusjon: Hvordan kan vi samarbeide bedre om undervisning?

14.15 Pause 15 min

14.30 Endringer i MED5-MED6 v/Harald Wiker, Jon Hardie, Magnus Berle

15.15 Prisutdeling undervisningsprisene

15.30 Slutt

Joint Research Day UiB – Helse Bergen 170323 – and UiB – Helse Stavanger in the autumn!

Last Friday, the Joint Research Day for UiB and Helse Bergen got off the ground. The aim was to stimulate increased research collaboration between the hospital and the university. This was a success. We counted 160 people present in the room – i.e. more than the maximum number at registration. Consequently, there were not enough chairs, and some had to stand. There is nothing quite like feeling that something is so popular that it is cramped for space 🙂

CEO at Helse Bergen Eivind Hansen and Vice Chancellor at UiB Gottfried Greve opened the seminar together. They emphasized that today’s culture of collaboration is very good and little governed by what is difficult, but that you must constantly work to overcome the challenges that arise. Together we are stronger 🙂

This was followed by great, scientific talks on the corona pandemic by Professor and Senior Physician Nina Langeland, on rhythmic hormone diagnostics by Professor and Senior Physician Eystein Husebye, on possibilities for treating a rare cause of blindness by Associated Professor and Senior Physician Cecilie Brederup, and finally on mechanisms of action in anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders by Associated Professor and Senior Physician Olga Therese Ousdal. The research that was presented represented some of the best we have at Haukeland Campus, i.a. based on articles in the Nature, Science, and Lancet class.

The research seminar should definitely be repeated! If we e.g. aim for seminars four times per year, one can imagine themes such as patient cases with translational aspects, clinical studies, new techniques and methods, interdisciplinary studies, as well as presentations by  young, promising researchers.

In connection with the half-yearly meeting of the Joint Education Council between the Faculty of Medicine and Helse Stavanger last Monday, the implementation of the first step for the new course of study Vestlandslegen at Helse Stavanger from the autumn was on the agenda. There was no doubt that the students will be well received with concrete plans for teaching for the coming 4th year in Stavanger.

Before the corona pandemic, we had planned a research seminar between UiB and Health Stavanger with the same goal as the meeting we had last week at Haukeland Campus. The corona pandemic caused this seminar to be cancelled, but now the initiative has been brought back to life. There was still great interest in such a meeting in Stavavanger, and I certainly believe that it is mutual when it comes to researchers in Bergen. There is much we can learn from each other with opportunities to create new research collaborations for mutual benefit and fun. We are therefore planning such a meeting in connection with the first meeting of the Joint Education Council in the autumn.

Have a great weekend!

Editorial K2 nytt 240223
Pål R. Njølstad

Export control and export license – a new dimension to advertising and filling positions

Export control and sensitive knowledge transfer means that certain goods, technology and services cannot be exported from Norway without a license issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. PST and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs do not have detailed knowledge of what is subject to a license, it is the institutions and professional communities that must assess this.

For our part, export control is mainly about control of knowledge transfer and research collaboration, with associated mapping of equipment and technology required to be licensed as well as awareness when exchanging students/employees, guest lecturers, data security etc.

As Head of Department, I must assess whether an export license should be applied for, based on the candidate’s nationality and whether the subject area in which the person is to work is sensitive, and may therefore be problematic in relation to the export control regulations/knowledge transfer.

An export license is mainly applied for when there are candidates who come from the countries: Iran, China, Pakistan and Russia. Applications are made regardless of whether the candidates reside in countries other than their citizenship.

HOW SHOULD WE AT K2 RELATE TO THIS?

1. When a position is advertised

I will assess early in the recruitment process whether the position is within a sensitive subject area. When scientific positions are to be advertised, the text of the announcement to this effect must be worded if the subject area requires it:

“UiB is subject to the regulations for export control and the regulations apply when processing applications for the position”.

An export license is applied for if I consider that the subject area is sensitive, and the candidate(s) has a nationality which means that it should be applied for. An application for an export license is sent before an offer letter is sent to the candidate.

The HR employee can send out an offer letter when we have received feedback that the candidate is not subject to a license. If necessary, reservations can be included in the offer letter and/or the employment contract pending a response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the application for a license.

1. Visiting researchers

I will assess whether the subject area and the candidate’s nationality indicate that we should apply for an export license. Applications are sent well in advance of the planned stay.

HOW TO DO?
When a position is to be advertised, the person wishing to advertise the position must send information to me about the following:

• project description
• description of the work tasks
• equipment/instruments the candidate must use in the work
• what qualifications the person appointed to the position must have in order to carry out the work tasks
• the candidate (competence, background and why the candidate is assessed as the right person)

WHAT HAPPENS THEN?
Processing of the application by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can take 3-6 months. It is therefore important that the time aspect is carefully assessed before the announcement and that, if necessary, appears from the advertisement text that the appointment of the candidate must take place soon. If so, this will be emphasized when recommending and offering the position.

This is complicated, and the most practical method has not yet been found. A representative from PST will come to our department head meeting in 1-2 weeks so that we can find out more about what an export license means and how we should proceed.

Have a great weekend!

Pål

Are you home?

Does your website show that you are an active employee, that you constantly publish ground-breaking research and that you are a media darling? If not, it might be time to update it.

All employees have an automatically generated personal page on uib.no. This contains contact information and formal information about your position, but it looks undeniably bare if you have not entered any self-selected information such as:

• A portrait of yourself
• A description of your competence, both as a researcher, teacher and communicator
• Your research group and projects, consortia you are part of which may have their own website
• Link to social media if you disseminate research there
• Publications from CRISTIN

Feel free to use fields of competence, so that people looking for experts in immunology, diabetes, proteins or something else find you.

The K2 leaders encourages everyone to upload a photo of themselves as a minimum (but we accept that some do not want this for personal reasons), that you specify your subject/field of work and upload a link to publications in CRISTIN. You will find instructions on editing your personal page here: https://manual.uib.no/en/brand-guide/personal-page/

Why is this important? If you apply for funding from The Research Council of Norway, Helse Vest or EU funding, there is a relatively high chance that some of the evaluators will check out your page. If it looks like no one is at home, it is not positive for the evaluation.

Good luck

Eystein and Susanna

Helse Vest’s Education Award for geriatric teaching

Helse Vest’s Education Award for 2022 this time went to the teaching group in geriatrics at the Department. A reception and award took place during the Education Cooperation Agency’s meeting at Clarion Hotel Bergen Airport the day before yesterday.

Geriatrics is a small but important specialist area and certainly in the present conferring the reports in the media last week!

The construction of the environment has a long history. Gudbrand Fossan and Olav Sletvold were pioneers in Bergen in the late 1980s, followed by a period of little activity. A collaboration between the Kavli Trust, Helse Vest and UiB meant that from 2008 Anette Hylen Ranhoff could be employed in a shared position between Diakonhjemmet Hospital in Oslo and K2, UiB. She has systematically built up an enthusiastic group here in Bergen with a focus on clinical and interdisciplinary teaching, and with the use of innovative methods and great commitment. The teaching has very good feedback from the students.

In addition, Ranhoff has built up a research group with several doctorates in recent years.

K2 congratulates so much and is very proud of the group!

Pål R. Njølstad

From left: head of institute Pål R. Njølstad, and award winners Katinka Nordheim Alme, Elisabeth Skaar, Marit Stordal Bakken, Susanne Hernes and Anette Hylen Ranhoff. Photo: private

Last week, the Government launched a new strategy for personalized medicine Strategi for persontilpasset medisin – regjeringen.no . The strategy underscores the need to integrate research and clinical work as personalized medicine becomes an integrated part of the health services.

One of the three thematic aims is of particular relevance to those of us who teach: Personalized medicine is an evolving field, necessitating life-long learning as well as a continuous process of  updating the curriculum and programmes in which we teach, in line with adjustments in RETHOS. E.g. molecular biology and microbiology and advanced decision making algorithms and analyses based on artificial intelligence are examples of fields in probable need of expansion and development.

Please remember the upcoming deadline – Monday February 6^th – for nominations to the Faculty Awards for research and teaching. Information was published in a previous K2-nytt.

Mette Vesterhus
Head of Teaching

By: Pål Njølstad

BOA record!

I am reporting some really good news: In 2022, K2 has set a record in terms of external funding with NOK 119.4 million. It is a fantastically great result, especially in these times of failing funding.

And it is significantly better than the other departments: IGS had 74 million, IBM 60 million, K1 50 million and IKO 40 million. This is also very good, but K2 is the strongest in terms of its competence to get external funds.

BOA is a very important source to keep the wheels turning when other funds are reduced. I would like to thank everyone who contributes, but also thank those who applied but did not make it. As is well known, those who do not apply get nothing. And with grant percentages that are very low, it can be random who gets it, at least if one is among the top 20-30%.

Ola Borten Moe wants a grant percentage threshold of 25 at NFR. It may make sense, and it will be exciting to see how this can be achieved without allocating more funds from the State. Personally, I hope that the solution will be that the allocated sum for the individual project will be smaller, and that the institutions will not decide who can apply.

Have a great weekend!