Dear colleagues,
In each newsletter, Dean Hanne Flinstad Harbo provides an insight into what the dean's office is working on. Now she is concerned with research funding and wants to draw particular attention to the importance of independent basic research.
Ole Petter Ottersen and I have written an article in Dagens medisin about this: Langsiktig grunnforskning er avgjørende ved helsekriser (Long-term basic research is essential in health crises). In the feature article, we show how the success story of the management of the COVID pandemic is based on decades of long-term basic research. We want to highlight the story of the pandemic's forgotten heroes: generations of basic scientists who gave us the knowledge we needed to deal with Covid-19.
Norway is the Nordic country that has invested the least in research and development in recent years, measured as a share of gross domestic product (GDP). Researchers at Statistics Norway recently wrote about this in an article in the specialised journal Forskningspolitikk: Continued growth in Nordic R&D. You can also see the story in Khrono, in Norwegian, about Norway's bottom ranking.
When the next pandemic hits, the virus must not get the same head start that SARS-CoV-2 got three years ago. We need to discuss how we can be better prepared next time. Read our op-ed and share it on social media so we can reach as many people as possible.
Some updates
Congratulations to Grethe Dyb, who is now formally appointed as head of NorDoc, which she wrote about in MED-nytt no. 6 before Easter.
Work on the role of the MED in the Life Sciences Building (LVB) is ongoing. UiO:Life Science is organising a meeting on 24 May for employees at UiO and OUS who will be located in the building. At the meeting, you will receive practical information on how the workplaces in the building will be organised.
The Research Council of Norway has published an outline deadline for INFRA2023. UiO is coordinating an internal process in advance of the Research Council's deadlines. In connection with the outline deadline, UiO has two deadlines. One is already on 5 May. The Faculty has therefore sent orders to MED units with a first deadline of 3 May and a second deadline of 7 June. Time is short. Those interested in applying for funding for new infrastructure are therefore asked to have a dialogue with their unit management about this.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to keep up to date by following the emails we send out and reading about current issues in the bi-weekly MED-nytt. You are also welcome to contribute tips regarding your issues and let us know if there is anything you would like us to write more about.
Best wishes over the coming spring days!
Yours sincerely, Hanne
Les mer
- Feature article in Dagens medisin Dagens medisin: Langsiktig grunnforskning er avgjørende ved helsekriser
- Continued growth in Nordic R&D | Forskningspolitikk (fpol.no)
- Khrono: Sweden is at the top and Norway is at the bottom of these statistics. And the gap is widening. Norway is the Nordic country that has invested the least in research and development in recent years
- Public enquiry 2023: NOU_en to the Health Personnel Commission's report.
- The Public Health Report to the Storting 2018 - 2019.