Editorial: Happy New Year!
A warm welcome back following a well deserved break over the Christmas and New Year period. The ARK survey and our latest Scientia Fellows announcement are some of the first tasks and opportunities we are faced with as we head into the New Year.
2022 is the last year for the current office of the Dean! Catch up on the first great news items of the year and learn more about upcoming studies, research and innovation activities, as well as the latest on the COVID-19 situation.
Read the full editorial.
NOK 100 million to research at MED through the joint funding initiative Fellesløftet IV
The Research Council of Norway is allocating funding to Philippe Collas, Irep Gözen, Torbjørn Omland and Ole Andreassen’s major interdisciplinary research projects in life sciences. Read more.
Investigating the deepest secrets of cells
Imagine zooming in on your body several million times, to the innermost parts of your cell structures. A dedicated group at the University of Oslo is helping researchers worldwide prove their theories. Read more.
NOK 15 million awarded for immune system research
Researcher Johanne Jacobsen (IMB) has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant of NOK 15 million from the European Research Council. She conducts research into how we can manipulate immune system processes in order to create antibodies that, among other things, work more broadly against COVID-19. Read the article in full on the department’s website in Norwegian.
Host a Scientia Fellow
73 doctoral research fellows have now joined the Scientia Fellows II programme, 35 of whom started in 2021. You can apply to become a host until 19 January. Read the full article and apply today.
Studies
Start of studies for S22 medical students and the new semester
The new medical students started their semester back in week 1. “The start of studies has gone very well considering the unideal circumstances,” explains Vetle André Wenger, head of the Buddy Scheme. “I feel that most of the students have had the chance to meet up, despite a lot of the programme taking place online. Attendance has generally been good, with around 120 new students. I would like to welcome all of the new students and wish you the best of luck at the start of your studies,” he says.
The Dean of Studies, Elin Olaug Rossvold, is extremely happy with the efforts of Wenger and the rest of the buddy team. “It’s great to see that they have achieved such a positive and social setup to include and inspire new students in spite of the restrictions that are in force due to the pandemic.”
Apply to become a merited teacher
The merit scheme is intended to promote quality in education at the University of Oslo. All permanent academic staff with their primary position at the University of Oslo are eligible to apply. Deadline: 15 March
Information for employees
MED: We ask all staff and students to keep up to date with information from the Faculty on our website for information about coronavirus outbreaks.-
UiO: Carrying over holiday entitlement from last year. If you have not yet used all of your holiday entitlement from 2021, you need to apply to carry it over by 31 January.
- UiO:Life Sciences: Apply for student summer projects. Up to 40 student summer projects running between April and September 2022 could receive funding. Students admitted to a bachelor’s, master’s or relevant programme of professional study at the University of Oslo can apply. Registration opens on Thursday 13 January at 08:00.
- Institute of Health and Society (Helsam) day cancelled. The Institute of Health and Society was due to celebrate ten years as a department on 21 January. However, the celebrations have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation and neither the seminar nor the party will go ahead as planned.
- Did you miss the 2021 Per Fugelli lecture? The decolonizing power of planetary health? You can now watch and read a printout of the entire seminar – an open lecture delivered by Renzo R. Guinto.
- Khrono: University of Oslo Memorandum: DFØ system referred to as an IT scandal. The issues associated with the new finance system from DFØ are so significant that both managers and employees at the University of Oslo are referring to the project as an IT scandal.
- The Working Environment Survey (ARK) at MED. At the start of 2022, the entire Faculty will complete the working environment and working climate survey (ARK) for the university and university college sector. Here you can find all the information you need about ARK.
- The Anders Jahre Awards for Medical Research: It is now time to submit your nominations for next year’s Anders Jahre Awards for Medical Research, which are awarded for outstanding medical research and results in the Nordic countries. There are two awards: The Anders Jahre Award for Medical Research and the Anders Jahre Award for Young Medical Researchers under the age of 40. All medical professors in the Nordic countries are invited to submit nominations for candidates.
Read more: The deadline for nominations is 1 February. -
OD-Faculty: People who have lost their sense of smell following COVID-19 infection are queuing up for help. Frustrated patients who are unable to smell their babies or who find that shampoo smells like sewage are now queuing up to see smell and taste specialist Preet Bano Singh at the University of Oslo.
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UiO: First allocation in Horizon Europe: More than half allocated to the University of Oslo. The very first allocation from the European Research Council as part of Horizon Europe is now ready. Five of the nine Norwegian allocations have gone to the University of Oslo. Read more at Uniforum.
- UiO: New records for the Norwegian encyclopedia Store norske leksikon (link in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon continues to grow and University of Oslo researchers read 20.5 million articles in 2021!
- Rector’s blog: Students must be taken good care of and five new ERC allocations when Horizon Europe starts up all in Norwegian.
- University of Oslo Library: Welcome to the library! How do I borrow, when is it open, do you have a photocopier and how do I access the syllabus materials for free? Here you can find the answers to everything you need to know.
- Rector’s blog: “The time is ripe for a discussion on Norwegian language requirements for University Board members”
Management meetings
- Preliminary minutes from the Faculty Board Meeting on 15 December (for approval at the first meeting in 2022).
Deadlines
- See all the important deadlines for applications for research funding under Funding opportunities.
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Horizon Europe - Health cluster calls. Deadline 1 February
- Collaborative Projects within Global Health Deadline 9 February
- Collaborative Projects within Anti-Microbial Resistance in a One Health perspective Deadline 9 February
- ERA PerMed: Multidisciplinary research projects on personalized medicine Deadline 17 February
- Throne-Holst grants - human nutrition and related sciences. The foundation awards approximately 1-2 million SEK to researchers annually. The next deadline is 1 March
- MEDERC Consolidator Grant The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the deadline for the 2022 Consolidator Grant. Deadline: 17 March.
- UiO: Who deserves the HSE Award? Every year the HSE Award is presented to an individual or team at the University of Oslo that has made a significant contribution to the working environment at their unit or at the University of Oslo as a whole. Do you know anyone who deserves the prize? Submit your proposal by 15 February.
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- Award announcements: Keep up-to-date with the annual cycle for award announcements. These now include the following:
- The Monrad-Krohn Endowment for the promotion of neurological research – Deadline 15 January
- The Anders Jahre Awards for Medical Research – Deadline 1 February
- King Faisal International Prize for Medicine for the Year 2022 – Deadline 31 March
Courses and events
See UiO’s calendar for an overview of all available courses.
Updated overview: upcoming public defences
- The library’s project assignment clinic for medical students in January.
- Research Council of Norway, 18 January: Webinar on COVID-19 research: Research in the wake of the pandemic.
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- 25 January Welcome to a course in the statistical package Stata. The course is aimed at PhD candidates, doctoral research fellows and researchers in medical statistics and epidemiology in general.
- Research Council of Norway: The 2022 Health Innovation Conference. 2-3 February,11:30-13:00.
- 16–17 March 2022. The 2022 Health Service Research Conference in Tromsø. Registration for this conference is now open and the submission deadline for abstracts is 15 January 2022.
Research News
You can also follow what is happening at the Faculty of Medicine on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
The Medicine Blog: We aim to help the immune system detect cancer cells by Jason Bruce Matthews. There is actually a protein that helps cancer cells hide from immune cells. We want to put an end to this.
The Medicine Blog: Can we vaccinate our way out of the COVID-19 pandemic? by Gunnveig Grødeland The winter has once again been characterised by infection control measures, prohibitions and restrictions. One year ago, we were waiting for the vaccines. The vaccines arrived and most of us have now been vaccinated. Then came Omicron. What next?
Nettavisen: ”Many young people do not consider drugs to be an issue – rather a SOLUTION to their problems" by Marte Nordahl in Norwegian. Professor and Head of SERAF Thomas Clausen confirms that young people who develop a substance addiction without receiving treatment fail to complete their studies and drop out of social activities with friends.
The Psykopodden podcast: Listen to Professor of Psychiatry Theresa Wilberg as she explains defence mechanisms in a new episode of #psykopodden. These are processes we use to block unwanted notions, thoughts and ideas from our consciousness. We all use different defence mechanisms in different situations and at different stages of life.
Medisinbloggen: Cardiac rhythm is the rhythm of life - always changing by Mathis Korseberg Stokke. The heart is like the responsive rhythm section of an improvisational jazz band, it constantly reacts to impulses from the rest of the body. But how?
Helsam: The support system is not equipped to look after victims of torture by Thea Cecilie Engelsen. Tens of thousands of people with a refugee background in Norway may have been subjected to torture. A fragmented rehabilitation service creates great burdens for individuals in the support system.
Klinmed: New method for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease by Elin Martine Doeland and Thomas Olafsen. Artificial intelligence and the inherent purification system in cells are key to the new medicine. The project is managed by Evandro F. Fang.
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