MED-nytt, no. 1 – 2024

Editorial: Happy New Year!

Dean Hanne Flinstad Harbo wishes everyone a Happy New Year and talks about important and exciting issues facing us in 2024.
The faculty will gather in Domus Bibliotheca on Wednesday 17 January between 15:00 and 17:00 at the event: The Future Healthcare Service: what do we do when we run out of people? – Make sure you join us! The meeting will be held in Norwegian.
Read the full editorial.

The Management Column

New funding opportunities from CEPI 

Together with Oslo Science City, we invite you to a meeting in Domus Medica on 22 January with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to discuss funding opportunities. CEPI is also announcing basic research grants that can contribute to the development of vaccines and other methods that help limit pandemics, and is therefore relevant for many of our researchers.

Another goal of the meeting is to help the research communities build stronger and larger consortia, so that they are in an even better position to apply for major calls for proposals against strong competition. In relation to this, interdisciplinarity and collaboration with the business sector, start-up environments and public actors are important points. Oslo Science City is an important platform for UiO to build such collaborations.
See the full programme and register here: Funding opportunities with CEPI

News from MED

The Working Environment Survey (ARK) at MED

A good working environment gives better results. In February, the entire faculty will carry out the university and university college sector’s working environment and working climate survey (ARK). The survey will be sent out to everyone on Monday 12 February. 
Here you can find all the information you need about ARK.

How to pave the way for more outstanding research after an EU coordinator project?

"We must manage the resources from the project in a way that allows us to achieve something even greater in the future," Professor Vessela Kristensen says. She is Principal Investigator and coordinator of the EU project RESCUER.
Read more on the institute website.

Can VR Headsets improve the treatment of schizophrenia?

With funding from the SPARK Social Innovation program, Jan Ivar Røssberg and June Ullevoldsæter Lystad, seeks to develop a VR application to be used in the treatment of patients with serious psychotic disorders.
Read more on the institute website.

NOK 16 million from the Research Council of Norway

The aim of the project is to develop a personalised digital tool for early diagnosis of dementia. Professor Ole A. Andreassen is leading the project and he is joined by researcher Oleksandr Frei.
Read more on the institute website (in Norwegian, when translated you will find it on a link from the Norwegian article).

Studies

Successful supervised professional training week in module 3

The new supervised professional training weeks replace and extend the previous scheme with two days of placement. 
“Supervised professional training provides motivation to learn what we need in order to do a good job as a doctor,” says student Anna Holmedahl.
Read the full article on the programme of study website.

New teaching award for the medicine programme of study 

The faculty announces a new teaching award for the medicine programme of study (link in Norwegian) in order to recognise and stimulate teaching development work. Students can nominate two candidates before the deadline of 20 January. Students can nominate two candidates before the deadline of 20 January.

Briefings

• Transferral of outstanding holidays from last year: Employees who have not used up their holidays from 2023 can apply to transfer them in the self-service portal. Up to 14 days of holiday may be transferred to 2024. Read more on our website for employees. Deadline: 31 January

• The 2024 annual plan was adopted at the Faculty Board meeting on 12 December. Download the annual plan for the Faculty of Medicine (2024-2026) here. Read more about the decision and minor adjustments to the Faculty’s strategy document in the meeting minutes.

• The Anders Jahre Awards for Medical Research: Submit your nomination for the upcoming Anders Jahre Awards for Medical Research, which are given for outstanding medical research 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 nomination deadline is 1 February.

• A new innovation programme for students in the Oslo region will result in more start-up companies. UiO and UiO Growth House are leading the new collaborative project that will strengthen the student innovation culture in the Oslo region.

• External cultural activities for employees: Discounts on theatre performances and Christmas concerts are available to UiO employees. Enjoy discounted prices and take the youngest of the family to see HC Andersen’s The Nightingale at the National Theatre. The last performance will be in March.

• Excavation work at Domus Medica, see information from Sykehusbygg and phase plans.

• UiO: 2023 at UiO in Norwegian. 

• The Great Norwegian Encyclopedia (SNL) is always in need of new academic authors, and researchers from UiO are welcomed with open arms by the editorial staff. UiO employees are responsible for 23,452 articles in the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia. Read Uniforum: UiO articles in the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia were read 19.5 million times in 2023

Management Meetings

Leadership Forum: Overview of meeting dates. The next meeting is on Tuesday 23 January. Agenda items and documents may be submitted until 12:00 on the last Thursday before the meeting. Minutes of the previous meeting can be found here.

Overview of Faculty Board meetings (PDF). The agenda and minutes can be found here.

University Board meetings in 2024. The meetings are live-streamed and open to anyone who would like to attend. The next meeting takes place on 6 February.

Oportunities and Deadlines

• See all important deadlines regarding applications for research funding in Funding opportunities

• Keep track of the annual cycle for award announcements. There are currently lots of important announcements with tight deadlines. Nominate your outstanding partners and colleagues!

• Open call for proposals from UiO:Life Science: Support for initiatives at UiO that are compatible with UiO’s life science strategy for research, innovation and education, with the goal of securing and strengthening international competitiveness in life science.

Courses and events

See the University of Oslo’s course calendar for an overview of all available courses. See also updated overviews of courses from UiO:IT and the Medical and Science Library. 

• Upcoming public defences

• The postdoctoral programme’s course overview has been updated. The first courses start in March, but you can apply now. We recommend that all postdoctoral fellows at MED complete these courses that can help and support future careers.

• January 8-12: Digital Scholarship Days. For anyone keen to explore digital tools and methods, from programming and data management to open science. Workshops tailored for both newcomers and seasoned scholars, covering a wide range of digital scholarship techniques. Workshop registration is open.
• 11 January: Final seminar for the Rethinking Cancer Survivorship research project. Organised by Rethinking Cancer Survivorship (CANCUL) and the Society, Health and Power (SHEP) research group. 
• 17 January, 15:00-17:00. The faculty will gather in Domus Bibliotheca: The Future Healthcare Service: What do we do when we run out of people? 
• 22 January on funding: UiO and Oslo Science City are delighted to invite you to a meeting with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to discuss funding opportunities.
• 25 January. UiO, SINTEFF and Oslo Science Park invite you to a breakfast meeting: Sign up for Impact Breakfast 25 January on chatbots, VR, social relations and mental health.
• 25 January. The Medical Library invites you to the first Open Science Lunch of the year: Registered Reports: Publish regardless of the result.
• 1 February is the application deadline for the School of Health Innovation’s course 1 spring 2024. Learn how to commercialise research and ideas, and learn how innovation can be useful in clinical contexts. The course is free of charge and aimed at PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, as well as young associate professors, lecturers, clinicians and researchers. 
• 6 February between 16:30 - 20:00. Put the date of the seminar in your calendars: “An anti-racist medical faculty?” organised by the faculty’s Committee for Gender Equality and Diversity.
• 13 and 14 February: Norway Life Science Conference 2024: Unlocking the Potential of Health Data. Registration is open.
• On 15 February, the faculty will be contributing to this year’s event ‘Boys and Life Sciences’. An inspirational day for boys. Students from biology, psychology, pharmacy, clinical nutrition and medicine will be talking about their subjects.

Research News

You can also follow what is happening at the Faculty of Medicine via facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Klinmed: The super protein that can outmanoeuvre the coronavirus (in Norwegian). Norwegian researchers have designed a protein that can block all variants of the coronavirus. It offers hope for patients with a weakened immune system in the fight against COVID-19.

Podkast UiO: Should all rapes be reported? (in Norwegian)Norwegian researchers have designed a protein that can block all variants of the coronavirus. It offers hope for patients with a weakened immune system in the fight against COVID-19.

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