It has now been two months since our conference at Solstrand, and since then I have gathered all your input from the group work on K2s strategy plan.

All your suggestions amounted to four pages of suggestions on what we should keep from our current plan, and what new goals and measures should be included in our new plan. Among other things, your suggestions were a separate goal on innovation at K2 as well as environmental goals and a green strategy. According to your input, we are still in want of meeting places across internal groupings, and career planning for our younger researchers. I am very grateful for your group work at Solstrand and your good input to the new strategy plan.

The new plan will act for three years from 2020 and part of the leader group at K2 will be involved in editing the existing plan. A draft for the new strategy plan will be distributed to all you after the summer. I hope you will take the time both to read and comment when I send it to you.

Best,
Julie

Last week, the Institute had a dialogue meeting with the medical faculty about the research education at the institute. It turns out that there is a minority of fellows who complete their doctorate within 4 years (36%), while a little more than half complete within 6 years (55%). K2 is thus below the average at the medical faculty, which is 65% (by the way, the target number of the Ministry of Education and Research is 80%). No one can say a lot about the reasons or what is more important, to finish the thesis within a given time frame or to deliver a work of good quality. But we do see that there are some fellows who struggle to finish their PhD.

It is always difficult to predict the results of experiments or clinical trials, but it is possible to make life at the end of the PhD period considerably less stressful if you start planning mandatory courses and dissemination points well in time. For example, MEDMET1 (Basic Course in Medical and Health Related Research) is one of the courses that is compulsory for all PhD fellows at the Faculty of Medicine, and it should be taken at the very beginning of the doctoral thesis to have some benefit. For those unfamiliar with MEDMET1, the purpose of the course is to provide an overview of the various stages of the research process including formulating a research question to be addressed, data collection, analysis methods, written and oral presentation of research data as well as research ethics. The course is given every semester. K2 also offers 8 different researcher courses under the umbrella of the two research schools at K2 (Research School in Clinical Medicine and Bergen Research School in Inflammation). Also the mid-term evaluation is compulsory and can be a good control checkpoint if one is on track with the project, and a possibility to ask for help. And remember that one can always contact Irene Hjelmås or me if there is anything one needs help with.

Last deadline for submitting your thesis before summer is set to 21.6., after that, the institute cannot guarantee that everyone who needs to sign anything is in place.

Lastly, I just want to mention that there will be a K2 PhD retreat also this year which I strongly recommend to participate in, not only to get to know your fellow PhD candidates, but not least for the feeling of not standing in everything alone, so stay tuned for more information!

I wish everyone a happy May 17!

As is well known, K2 and K1 have a joint student administration. May 7, we had the annual Teaching Day. Although the attendance was good, it could certainly have been even better. I ask that more people set aside the next day – because the program was important and useful.

Eirik Søfteland (K1) first informed about how OSCE (objective structured clinical exam) in 2018 for the 6th semester was organized and implemented. Well over 300 people were involved in it. Although the OSCE day itself was a logistical challenge to complete both the practical and theoretical evaluation of all the students on the same day, it was without doubt the planning of this which was the biggest challenge. And it actually went smoothly without any special problems! A big thank you to everyone, especially the “OSCE General” Ketil Grong (K2) and Eirik Søfteland (K1).

Responsible for the implementation of this year’s OSCE for the 12th semester is Rune Nielsen (K2). He explained the plans. The date is Thursday, June 6th. This date, all K2 employees must in principle set aside in case they are needed for the implementation of this year’s OSCE. In any case, more examiners are needed. I participated as examinator last year and it was interesting, exciting, and fun. Come on: ask not what K2 can do for you, ask what you can do for K2!

Dean of Teaching Steinar Hunskår informed about the proposed qualification scheme for Outstanding Teachers and how K2 can implement this. In the future, there will be more focus on documented teaching – not just quantity but also quality. Everyone with an academic position must build up a teaching portfolio. Collect documentation about eg. invited lectures, presentations at meetings and seminars, lectures and group teaching, organization of teaching, and others’ evaluation of your efforts. The proposed accreditation scheme will, according to given criteria, designate people who excel especially for the title of Outstanding Teachers. In addition to their status, they will be provided with higher salaries. The proposal is now for review at the Departments. Be active and share your opinion on this matter! Send input directly to Julie Stavnes.

After lunch, Jone Trovik, Ingfrid Salvesen Haldorsen (K1) and Hans Kristian Flaatten (K1) demonstrated team-based learning (TBL). Participants on the Teaching Day were divided into groups for a TBL session where we used Socrative and at the same time learned multiple choice assignments. This was practical and very useful, and at least I learned a lot that I did not know before. A practical limitation on Socrative is that the free version can involve a maximum of 50 students. We are now investigating whether it is possible to purchase a common license for all teachers at K2 and K1 and where one can involve up to 150 students.

This year’s Teaching Award went to Bjørg Tilde Svanes Fevang (K2) and Anders Molven (K1). Congratulations to both – well deserved! In addition to honour and glory, the K2 Teaching Award comes with NOK 50.000.

A big thank you to the Vice Directors Jone Trovik and Ingfrid Salvesen Haldorsen (K1) for a well-executed teaching day. I certainly look forward to next time!

Since the New Year I have been involved, along with representatives of all the faculties of the university, in the drafting of an action plan for innovation for the university of Bergen. This work concluded on the 30th of April and will now be presented to the rektotrate for approval. It’s clear from the commitment to this project that innovation will now percolate into all facets of university life from teaching through research. While some might have grave reservations in this direction, believing we are abandoning the fundamental tenants of a university, it maybe that this is down to how exactly one defines “innovation”. Indeed, the committee that helped put this report together naturally had very different ideas as to what innovation was and how it should be implemented across each of the faculties. The Oslo manual 2018 manual on Guidelines for Collecting, Reporting and Using Data on Innovation defines Innovation as:

“a new or improved product or process (or combination thereof) that differs significantly from the unit’s previous products or processes and that has been made available to potential users (product) or brought into use by the unit (process)”.

In this context, innovation is not necessarily selling ones soul to corporate research, but implementing change for the betterment of society – which is in essence what most of us are trying to achieve within biomedical research. It will be interesting to see how this rolls out across the university, and the potential funding opportunities it will afford.

Finally, the biomedical network will have a meeting on “Drug Repurposing” to be held at bikuben, haukeland university hospital on June 7^thfrom 12-16:00.

In addition to being at Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, I worked one day a week at the Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). This is a public hospital located in downtown Boston and is considered by many to be one of the world’s best hospitals. Here, the world’s first ether anesthesia was performed, where a number of interested doctors observed the incident, see the legendary image (hanging in The Ether Dome; find the error!). I participated in several Grand Rounds in endocrinology in this room. The level of these was impressive. Assistant doctors gave presentations that were very detailed, and biochemistry and genetics were carefully dissected. There was plenty of time for discussions where seniors were very active. The first time I was there, it was full flap. The two presentations were about MODY and hyperinsulin, respectively. These are two disease groups that I have worked a lot with as a clinician and researcher for many years!

Otherwise, at MGH every week there is a presentation of a case for all doctors in education and other interested. These include supplementary information from several doctors involved in investigation and treatment. Own personnel write up what is said and the one who held the presentation finally publishes it in the New England Journal of Medicine. I was attending my boss, Professor Jose Florez MD PhD, his presentation of an unusual case of gestational diabetes. The presentation was just amazing. It was elegant and to the point, easily explained but still detailed when it comes to investigation and treatment. In addition, he included state-of-the-art at the research front in the field. The presentation was with a decent portion of humor so it didn’t get boring. The presentation was of great inspiration when it comes to, for example, teaching of students. Our teaching should be research-based. It must be updated. The students are particularly pleased with lecturers who are inspiring. It often doesn’t take much more than giving a little bit of oneself and with a smile occasionally. Then the students better follow the talk.

Have a great weekend!

Yesterday some of us were gathered to count down towards the deadline for submitting applications to the Research Council of Norway; 10 – 9 – 8 down to 0. At the deadline K2’ers had send a total of 35 applications to NFR. Thanks to all the applicants and the administration (Amra, Julie, Kate, Kjetil, Linn, Burhan,and Mia) who have all worked towards a common goal – to send the best possible applications to The Research Council. The department leadership is very pleased with the effort. Hopefully we will be inspired to eat another cate as Christmas approaches.

At the same time, we must all be aware that the “eye of the needle” is small, even though we received two FRIPRO, three BEHANDLING and one GLOBEVAC project last year. This might be a national record for a department of our size. It is also gratifying to see that so many of the younger researchers are applying this year. Twelve applications were written by researchers in temporary positions. Altogether 19 applications were written by women and 16 by men. This testifies to the ability and willingness of K2’ers to move forward to be leaders in their fields.

Knowing that only about 1 out of 20 applications are funded, the majority of the 35 will be successful. Nevertheless, the writing process and all the time spent is not at all wasted as it both sharpens the hypotheses and ideas of the scientific project, and because the application can be used for other calls, such as Helse Vest and EU.

Writing applications is a “stone upon stone” process that we, who thrive going uphill, are good at. So let’s hope that success breeds success – and that Santa Claus comes to visit early this year.

Eystein Husebye
Deputy K2

Dear everyone

Thank you for your support and cooperation during the 6 months stint as Acting head of Department. I have to admit that it has been somewhat demanding to allocate the necessary time to the job, as other commitments have taken their time too. Head of Administration Julie and her team have done a great job of helping me with the work- thank you so much! The others in the leader team, Silke, Emmet and Jone have also helped by pulling extra weight.

Then there is always potential for improvement. The announcement and hiring processes takes a long time. There are many steps in such a process and there are formal requirements and regulations to be followed. In some cases, the delays have been due to me, in other cases it is the sum of all the steps that cause delays. That said, be confident that we are working to improve ourselves.

The dedicated e-mail address to the head of department (instituttleder@k2.uib.no) and the department administration (post@k2.uib.no) will be prolonged under Pål’s leadership. My experience is that it improves communication and secures that all questions are answered in reasonable time.

Thank you all again, and welcome back Pål!

Eystein
Deputy Head of Department

Time is running fast and we are getting closer to the first K2 retreat at Solstrand 28./29.3.2019. In this context the institute will hand out several awards. At Solstrand the best Pecha Kutcha presentation and the best website will be awarded. In addition, we will have an award for the Co-worker of the year, and there we need your help. Who of your colleagues is responsible for your wellbeing at work? Who does a lot more than expected and is always present when needed? Please come with suggestions HERE (include a short reasoning). Deadline is 25.3.2019. Remember that also the deadline for updating the website is 25.3. (link to the updated website has to be sent to Julie by 25.3.).

In addition to the institute’s awards, also the Faculty of Medicine has announced several awards for 2018, so now is your chance to nominate a colleague/environment (or yourself!). The categories are

• Publication of the year
• Research group of the year
• PhD thesis of the year
• Dissemination award

as well as a total of 3 awards for education

• Quality of the studies
• Best teacher
• Internationalization of the studies

The institute can forward up to two candidates in each category, so do not hesitate to come with a suggestion (with short reasoning). Fill in the form HERE. Deadline is 1.4.2019.

This year’s highlight – the K2 meeting at Solstand – is approaching. The seminar is a prime opportunity for the research groups to present themselves and get to know others. We will hear more about communication, innovation and future plans, and our strategy for the future will be hammered out. K2 employees in Bergen, Stavanger and Haugesund will be represented. The whole session will be led by Pål Njølstad who will be back from Boston full of inspiration and ideas.

You don’t want to miss that do you?

There is still room for more participants. We know that some group leaders will be unable to come, but we want all the groups to be represented and presented.

Help us make an impact for the future.

Eystein Husebye
Acting head of institute

The Solstrand seminar will focus on developing our new strategy plan. Therefore, I want everyone to start thinking about the strategy already now (see current strategy). How will the biomedical ecosystem look like in 2023 and what will K2’s position be? To conduct research in the international front and at the same time offer state-of-the art top notch teaching, we must both have a vision and a mission. To inspire and boost your imagination I include an overview of how Harvard Medical School thinks about strategy.

To concretise how to achieve our goals, I include some thoughts:

– Should we seek to introduce a scheme of unpaid clinical instructors to improve patient-near teaching, and thereby release more time for research?

– Should our recruitment policy focus more on excellence in fewer areas, and to a greater extent cover the teaching needs with university lecturers?

– How can we cooperate even closer with the hospitals so that we are better equipped to compete for research grants nationally and internationally?

– How can we organize our time so that we have more time for creative work and have to spend less time on administration?

There is obviously much more to discuss. Therefore input to the strategy plan is welcomed already now (post@k2.uib.no). See you at Solstrand.

Eystein Husebye
Acting head of department

K2, as we know the department, is entirely dependent on BOA (contribution and commission financed activity). In 2018, the Faculty achieved a new record of NOK 291 million in BOA, where K2 contributed with NOK 112 million.

The BOA activity is calculated based on spent funds, not granted funds. In other words, one must use the funds before they are included in the BOA activity. Overhead from positions and acquisitions and RBO (result-based redistribution) constitutes the largest post in the BOA accounts. RBO comes partly from external projects, partly as a result of graduated PhD and publication points.

BOA, grant and commission funded activity; GB, basic grant; OH, overhead; RBO, result-based redistribution.

Of the 105 million added by BOA, NOK 19 million goes to UiB centrally, NOK 11 million to the faculty and NOK 75 million to the departments. One NOK in BOA generated 0.25 NOK extra on K2’s budget; this amounted to almost 29 million in 2018. Converted into positions the 29 million equals 29 full professors or 145 professors in part time positions.

Of the external projects, EU grants are by far the most valuable projects for K2 since each NOK from EU generates another NOK. In comparison, each NOK from the research council of Norway generates extra 0.10 NOK.

What are the implications for K2? First and foremost, we must continue and apply for external funding. Secondly, that we must increase our portfolio of EU. To inspire you, the faculty has just adopted new incentives in the form of extra scholarships and postdoctoral positions for groups that receive larger grants. I hope this can help encourage high application activity the coming year.

Good luck!

Eystein Husebye
Acting head of department

Our institute recognizes the importance of good teaching to the extent that we have a REALLY BIG PRIZE to be awarded to the person/educational environment that has distinguished itself during the previous year(s). This may be related to clinical or para-clinical teaching, within any of the areas for which K2 is responsible. It can be directly student-related or more organizational; to create a new study program,

Who do you know who have contributed to extraordinary good teaching, or more organizationally; initiated and implemented innovative teaching programs?
Please send me a mail to promote your candidate (including a brief explanation of why). The department management will then select the best candidate to receive this year’s prize which will be awarded on:

TEACHING DAY 7^thMay
Mark the date! If it isn’t you being awarded the teaching award, you will at least have the opportunity to learn more about:

-OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Exam): we have conducted a pilot exam for the 12th semester, how was this evaluated? How to implement full 12th semester OSCE June 6^th? (Mark the date here too! We need examiners)

-Merit schemes for excellent teachers; how can K2 implement this?

-TBL (team-based learning): we want to demonstrate a TBL session where we use Socrative and at the same time learn about MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions)

-FREM (Faculty’s Resource group for Examination procedures in Medicine)

Dessverre gir universitetet veldig lite penger til forskning så at enhver forsker er nødt til å søke om eksterne midler. I dag går startskuddet til NFR prosessen på instituttet med frist for å sende inn en ½ siders skisse til vår forskningsrådgiver Amra. Alle får anledning til å presentere og diskutere sine prosjekter 14. februar kl.10-16. Dessuten er det påmeldingsfrist for NFR workshopen som arrangeres 5.2. kl.9:00-11:30 i regi av Amra og fakultetets andre forskningsrådgivere, hvor endringene i NFR søknadene skal gjennomgås. Så benytt deg av muligheten og meld deg på! Så får vi se om vi ikke kan slå fjorårets tilslagssuksess med ett GLOBVAC prosjekt (Rebecca Cox), to FRIMEDBIO prosjekter (Sian Knappskog og Per Eystein Lønning) og hele tre BEHANDLING prosjekter (Harleen Grewal, Karl-Henning Kalland og Eystein Husebye).

2019 begynte veldig bra for instituttet med tilslag til ett forskningsprosjekt innen Bergens forskningsstiftelsen sin satsning på antibiotikaresistens. Prosjektet ledes av Elling Ulvestad og Harleen Grewal fra K2. Vi gratulerer!

I 2019 er det også lyst ut midler til nye KG-Jebsen-sentre. Siden fakultetet og Helse Bergen er begrenset til å fremme 4 søknader og har satt intern frist til 1.3., bes alle som vil søke henvende seg til Eystein Husebye så snart som mulig for mer informasjon.

Sist vil jeg fremheve alle de flinke forskere som var med på forskningspresentasjonen i regi av Forskerskolen i klinisk medisin forrige uke. Det var utrolig inspirerende å høre på presentasjonene, og jeg oppfordrer alle til å delta neste år! Og så var det selvsagt ekstra hyggelig at alle posterprisene gikk til stipendiater fra K2 (Silje Solberg fra Broegelmanns forskningslaboratorium, Jan-Inge Bjune fra KG Jebsen Senter for Diabetesforskning og Mette Engan fra EILO gruppen), og at Shamundeeswari Anandan fra gruppen Translasjonell molekylær avbildning i kreft kom på tredje plassen for hennes muntlig presentasjon. Vi gratulerer!

Being on top of ones inbox in a continuously busy workweek is turning into a challenging task. Regretfully, sometimes emails are lost or forgotten.

Pål and myself have therefore decided upon changing the current routines. From now on all enquiries to the K2 Head of department shall be sent to post@k2.uib.no, in order to ensure a best possible case process. This email will be read by head of department or his acting head of department, who together will be better equipped to reply and expedite the email.

This change is effectuated as of from now.

Wishing you a nice weekend,

Eystein Husebye,
Acting head of department

Firstly Id like to wish you all a happy new year, and I hope that the planning for the research year is well underway and please see Amras, Silkes and Eysteins piece below with respect to upcoming application process and deadlines this spring.

Prior to the Christmas break I had the opportunity to participate in the EATRIS combined platform meeting in Slovenia. EATRIS is the European Research Infrastructure Consortium for Translational Medicine (https://eatris.eu/) and its goal is to support researchers (academia, funders, SME & biotech/pharma) in developing their biomedical discoveries into novel Translational tools and Interventions for better health outcomes for society. It has 5 platforms of expertise, namely; Biomarkers, imaging and Tracing, small molecules, ATMPs and biologicals, and vaccines. The idea of the consortium to facilitate public-private collaboration and provide research services and access to expertise, provide regulatory support and to collaborate between academia and industry in development and validation of novel tools. In particular for those who are working in these areas and planning H2020 applications I would suggest that you contact Eartris to see if they can help you partner with industry for the development of your ideas. University of Bergen is currently a member so please consider exploiting this opportunity to strengthen your applications or development of your commercial ideas.

The University of Bergen, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen Teknologioverføring AS (BTO), Biomedical Network and Digital life Norway would like to inform you about an IP seminar to be held at Bikuben, Haukeland University Hospital, Monday January 28th 2019, 12:30 -18:30. With a number of exciting speakers this seminar will give you several reasons to engage in innovation, and demonstrate how patenting and publishing both can be successfully achieved, enlighten how to accomplish an impact for your innovation, and Norwegian and international projects will be presented and discussed. Seats are limited so please register for this event. More details can be found here. Furthermore, the organizers are inviting a wider audience to seminars on Start-ups and Innovation mindset and a workshop on Design thinking.

Finally, Id like to remind you about the upcoming research presentations from the Research School in Clinical Medicine (23 – 24.1.) K2 is nicely represented, so a good chance of getting to know what your colleagues have been doing in 2018.

I wish all K2 employees a somewhat late, but very heartfelt happy and fruitful new year. I assume most of you are already well into the working routines after the holidays.

28-29 March, K2 arranges for the first time, an institute excursion for the whole institute at Solstrand Hotel & Bad. The idea is to gather as many as possible of the department’s employees to discuss research and strategy. The first day will be devoted to short “speed dates” where each research group is given the opportunity to tell the other about their research and what they are good at.

K2’s strategy over the next few years will also be an important topic and as we need to chisel out the way forward. Other key words from the program are profiling, communication and teaching.

In addition, we hope the outing also will be a very social event. It certainly is a great opportunity to become better acquainted with colleagues you do not meet on a daily basis. Therefore, we hope that many of our colleagues in Stavanger, Haugesund and Førde will be able to participate.

A link to registration will be sent out shortly, but mark your calender today. I hope as many as possible can prioritize to come to Solstrand.

With best regards

Eystein Husebye
Acting head of institute

On this shortest day of the year, take the opportunity to lower the pace a little, sit back and think about the year soon ending. All in all, the K2 year 2018 has been good. A lot of good research and teaching has been performed and we have achieved the goals we set at the start of the year. We have also been able to present out work to the public on numerous occasions, not least through the program Norge nå shown on NRK last week.

Next year will be as busy as 2018, but before that, you can all take a well-deserved Christmas break. I hope everyone will have time to connect with family and friends and have a good and relaxing time.

The management at K2 wishes all employees and partners a happy Christmas and Happy New Year.

Eystein
Acting Head of Department

This fall has seen a lot of work related to this Wednesday’s department day, both for the administration and the organizing committee, and finally, this week, the day arrived.
I have been looking very much forward to our day together, partly also due to this year’s dinner afterwards. I like to believe that many of you became better acquainted with your colleagues, both on and off the stage. I myself have many memories and impressions from the day, and one of the most lasting impression is the song and music from Ehsan, by which I was most impressed. His music has inspired many of the staff to practice snapping their fingers during lunch hours.

We have all much to gain from a day like this, with both professional and social refill. I am therefore glad that the waiting time until our next gathering is not too long. The K2 conference 2019 is being held 28.-29. March at Solstrand. The conference will incorporate both the department day and the annual strategic seminar which is usually held in January. The conference will be from lunch to lunch, and also includes dinner in the evening and accommodation, meaning we will soon have a new opportunity to get even better acquainted with fellow K2s. Please save the date, more information will come early next year.

Finally, I would like to once again thank the organizing committee for their work with this year ‘s department day. Without your contribution , we would not have had this great day together. Thank you Ola, Sonja, Irene, Marius, Bente og Siv Lise.

Best,
Julie

For all businesses it is important that the cash flow is good and predictable. For K2’s part, it is important to be successful in applications for external funding, especially from sources which cover indirect project costs. As the end of the year is approaching, it is time to summarize what we have achieved in 2018.

Yesterday we received the news that Per Eystein Lønning and Stian Knappskog got a FRIMEDBIO grant each – this is truly very impressive when we know how low the success rate is. Earlier this week Karl-Henning Kalland and Eystein Husebye each received a NFR’s BEHANDLING grant. Earlier this fall, Rebecca Cox succeeded in the GLOBVAC program. I do not know if K2 is Norwegian champions in NFR, but we must be close.

In the case of EU applications, we have received an ERC Starting Grant (Randi Bertelsen), a partner application for Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI, Name), a partnership in Era-Net for Personalized Medicine, a JPI in Antimicrobial Resistance (Nina Langeland) and an ERAPerMed project (Steinar Skrede). Piotr ​​Mydel has come through the needle eye and received a project from National Institutes of Health – impressive!

Furthermore, we have received funding from the NovoNordisk Foundation (Eystein Husebye), and the Directorate for Internationalization and Quality Development in Higher Education in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Svein Haavik). Last but not least, we have (almost as a tradition) received a big share of Helse Vest research funds including 6 new research projects (open project support, Eva Gerdts, Kristin Aakre, Nina Langeland, Per Eystein Wage, Stian Knappskog, Pål Njølstad) and a good share of the Ph.d. .- and postdoc positions from both the Helse Vest and UiB.

With regards to the larger programs for research centers, K.G. Jebsensenter for translational cancer research started this year with Per Eystein Lønning as leader. Unfortunately, we have not been successful with the career scholar program from Bergen Research Foundation.

All in all, the leadership at K2 is very pleased with 2018. At the same time, we see the opportunity to increase the portfolio, especially of EU projects. It would also be desirable to have a wider range of K2 researchers among those who are awarded grants. That means that those who succeed must help the others to success.

In light of the changes at NFR, including new templates and assessment criteria from 2019 on, Amra and the other counsellors at the faculty will arrange workshops to inform. NFR will release the final information sometimes in late January or early February.

Before that, a webinar is given on 14 December.

UiB has also selected Sean McCarthy to give information on the impact part of projects, which will be given significant weight in the new NFR template. He is coming to Bergen on 10 January, so please sign up. This also applies to researchers early in their career.

Last but not least, a big thanks to all who have helped with advice and budgeting grant application – very important factors in our success. To those who did not succeed, do not give up, but keep working to improve your projects and applications!

Best wishes

Eystein, Amra and Julie

To lead the institute is a rewarding but busy job. Although our job is to serve you we do not always want to stay put in the office. This can be challenging if some of the employees need a signature in a hurry (and some of you are always in a hurry). Like many of you we receive an ever increasing number of e-mails every day and the few important one sometimes are lost in the crowd or disappear below the horizon and are forgotten.

To secure adequate and expedient document handling, applications for PHD programme, thesis evaluation, material transfer agreements, etc, must be sent to the administration, either Irene Hjelmaas or Julie. They will secure, save and ready the documents for signature and we will sign as fast as possible.

Have a nice weekend when that time comes

Eystein and Julie

There are many elements that must align to succeed with a research career. When reviewing and evaluating applications for funds, it is as important to refer to ones expertise in the guidance, teaching and awarding of funds as it is to refer to scientific production. I would therefore particularly urge researchers early in their careers to take advantage of the opportunity to apply for funds and endowments with a deadline of 1 December. There are several active funds and various differnet specifications as to what they can cover, but funds for travel and, in some cases, lab consumables can be applied for. Sucessful application will strengthen your CV by demonstrating your ability to be sucessful in an open application forum, even if it is not a large amount

December 1 is also the deadline for nominating candidates for Meltzer prizes. This year it is possible to nominate candidates for honorary prizes, young talents and excellent research dissemination. Funding sources are increasingly using CV templates, and it is not rare to be asked to list prizes and allocations. On a national and international scale, which is where one operates as a researcher, it is good to show that one’s competence is recognized locally.

Finally, I would like to inform you that BTO and UiB invite you to a Horizon 2020 seminar on the next Horizon Europe framework program. Representatives from the British Embassy will talk about how to prepare for future cooperation with the UK in light of Brexit, and the audience will receive an update on the next framework program. It appears that there will again be  selected focus areas and the Commission will introduce strategic “missions”, clearly defined goals to what they want to achieve. Experience with Horizon 2020 shows that our national sources of funding tend to follow the EU when they present the thematic priorities in their announcements, so it is important to keep up with it.

By Amra Grudic-Feta and Emmet Mc Cormack

Research Council of Norway together with ten other research councils*, the European commission and the European Research Council (ERC) presented an initiative for full and immediate open access to research publications they fund as of 2020. The initiative is called Plan S and the potential consequences for career and research quality have sparked a fierce debate among researchers.

Everyone agrees that open access publication is good, but how to implement it have initiated headed discussions. Plan S means that Norwegian researchers with funding from the EU and Norwegian Research council will be barred from publishing their work in journals like Nature and Science from 1 January 2020. Novel laureate Edvard Moses says that the plan will have catastrophic consequences for Norwegian science and researchers, while others are more positive. One problem is that large and active research nations such as USA, Germany and China have chosen not to be part of the plan.

The Chief Executive Officer of Research Council of Norway, John-Arne Røttingen, will visit UiB to present the initiative and participate in a debate with UiB’s researchers.

Everybody is welcome and there will be plenty of time for discussion and input from the attendants.

Time: 7 December at 10.00-12.00
Venue: Dragefjellet skole, Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1, Auditorium 1

*France, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Norway, Polen, Slovenia, Great Britain, Sweden and Austria.

Have a nice weekend

Amra and Eystein.

It was already mentioned in last weeks K2nytt that the faculty of medicine distributes means to assist with buying equipment or infrastructure. Applications should contain the following:

– Description of the requested equipment
– Justification why the requested equipment is a necessary investment
– Information if the equipment is already available in Bergen, either at other institutes or an older version
– Information on collaboration between institutes
– Information on planned own contribution (normally 5-10%)
– Information on laboratory space needed
– Information on planned service contracts and upgrades, including estimated costs

Applications for equipment which will be beneficial for several users will be prioritized. The completed form is to be sent to me by Monday December 10th, 2018.

How to create excellent research was the main theme of this year’s autumn meeting for the K.G. Jebsen centers. Some of the country’s most successful researchers shared their experiences. It was pointed out that success (not unexpectedly) is the result of hard work, but all emphasized two important elements to become a leader in research: research stay abroad and networking.

A stay abroad gives the opportunity to learn new techniques and work with ambitious colleagues who are more skilled than you. At the same time, a stay abroad is an excellent opportunity to create your own network. The practical difficulties of going abroad, perhaps with a partner and children, was highlighted. However, a shorter stay is better than no stay. UiB pursues a conscious policy in this area, for example, by postdoctoral fellows receiving an additional year if they go abroad, sabbaticals, and channels to apply for additional funding.

Success is infectious. If one of the PhD students in the lab manages to publish a paper in Nature or a corresponding journal, chances are bigger that you will be able to do the same. If your labfriend gets an ERC-Starting Grant, chances are that you can be equally successful. Harald Stenmark at the Institute of Cancer Research at UiO is one of three Norwegians to receive two ERC-Advanced Grants. He talked about the positive cycle of research. Project funds provide the opportunity to invest in equipment, personnel and money to do studies. This gives (hopefully) good results and publications, which can be used to apply for more funding for more equipment, people and studies. Ole Andreassen, who heads Norment, one of the Centers of Excellence (along with, among others, Vidar Steen and Stephanie Le Hellard at K2) highlighted the enormous importance of international networks to map the genetic mechanisms of psychiatric diseases.

The start is often the most difficult part and the institution should play an major role facilitator. K2 is doing quite well in this regard and we have many excellent examples to follow. I am confident that we can create more excellent research in the future. The next chance to excell is to obtain a new Center of Excellence. The Medical Faculty wants drafts of new centres by 1 December. More information will follow in K2-news.

Eystein Husebye
Acting Head of Department

Our department contributes a lot within education; Mostly for medicine but also significant contributions of teaching in studies of pharmacy, nutrition, dentistry and also non-medical subjects at the other faculties.

It is difficult to have a proper overview regarding who is responsible for what related to teaching within our departmental structure based mainly on research groups, not the traditional medical specialities/subjects.

The head of our department has therefore set up a working group in which we will try to find a sensible structure to secure a good overview of who is responsible for what regarding our educational responsibilities. Who holds the overview of which teaching resources are available? When a teacher becomes ill; where are persons with the right skills to step in? And when applying for a leave of absence: who should be consulted to know whether the educational responsibilities might be undertaken by other?

IGS (Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care) has an administrative structure of their education recourses in parallel with their research-group structure, where they have teaching/educational group leaders named UGLE (English: OWL) that should hold this overview regarding teaching resources (teachers!) and their responsibility to undertake defined teaching tasks. We are now working to develop our teaching structure and perhaps define corresponding OWL territories within K2. Each OWL-nest will probably be connected to a research groups, but some of the OWL-nestlings will have to fly a little outside their local territories to perform their teaching associated with other subject areas.

Each OWL must keep an overview of their respective OWL-chicks while the HEAD of OWLS  (Teaching Director of K2 = signed) supervises the OWLS’ management of their territories.

We need to map K2s total educational contributions to know what is affiliated with each of our research group today (the “terrain”) and how our education map should be made to fit properly in the future!

If you have opinions regarding this process, we are very interested in input; which teaching resources belong together in one “nest”? How to ensure good coverage of all education within our responsibility? Please give feedback to the K2 teaching director!

The department management is really trying to secure teaching resources when announcing vacancies! But we need to know what the former position has contained regarding teaching, and who may this teaching be transferred to if other teaching is to be secured by affiliating this position to another subject/field.

All employees at K2 shall have the opportunity to conduct a so-called employee interview with their leader once a year. The UiB policy is that the employee interview is a part of targeted management and employee development. The talks should be annual, systematic, reciprocally prepared and linked to the strategic plans of the institute, faculty and university. It is recommended to use the UiB’s employee interview form to systematize the conversation.

At K2 the employee talks are organized so that I, as acting head of department, offer group leaders employee interviews. A time schedule will be sent out in order for you to book a time. Group leaders will provide their group members, both academic, technical and  administrative staff, the same. Implementation will be checked by K2’s administration and the central administration at UiB will also log our performance in this area. Employee interview forms can be retrieved from this link.

Good luck,

Eystein Husebye
Acting Head of Department

After the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entered into force July 20, 2018, there are some changes on how data on patients’ health have to be treated. It is not enough to just have ethical approval! It is of course still a prerequisite to get REK approal before you start your project. New is that REK approval does not include the permission to handle personal data. In addition, it is required that you are allowed to personal data according to article 6 and article 9 of the personal data protection law. So you still need to get ethical approval prior to starting your research project, but the institution has the additional responsibility that handling of personal data occurs in accordance to the new regulation.

That means that the foundation to get access to personal data has to be evaluated by the project leader, and has to be included in the ethical approval. This foundation is either consent or dispensation of this consent requirement according to the health research laws. The project leader has to show that the treatment of personal data follow the general principles of the personal data protection regulation, for example definition of aims, minimizing the amount of data, limitation of storage and responsibility.

More internal control responsibility is given. We have to assure that treatment of the personal data is according to the regulations, and perform Data Protection Impact Assessments – DPIA when required.

This means that the responsibilities have in collaboration projects have to be well defined and agreed upon, which is of importance when you want to share patient data with your collaborators, and make written agreements. This is not a new requirement, but of more importance now with the new GDPR.

Both the University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital have a Personal Data and Privacy commissioner – Janecke Veim and Christer Kleppe. If you are in doubt if you need an agreement with the hospital, contact Janecke or/and Christer (janecke.veim@uib.no, personvernombudet@helse-bergen.no).