Dear staff,
As Hanna mentioned in her MED-nytt in December, and Hanne in her editorial on the new economic reality in last year's MED-nytt no. 19, both the faculty, UiO, and most universities in Norway now face tighter budgets. We are continuously working to align the faculty's finances to this new situation.
A new economic reality at MED
At the Faculty of Medicine, we also see the consequences of reduced funding due to various budget cuts, including not being compensated for the high increase in prices and wages. The financial year 2024 ended with an under-expenditure of 33 million kroner, but the financial 'buffer' we carry into 2025 is significantly reduced compared to previous years.
Monitoring finances at our units
The faculty leadership is monitoring the financial development at our departments and units. Several departments are heading towards a deficit, as the financial 'buffer' is spent more rapidly than anticipated. Particularly at Helsam, there is extensive work underway to balance income and expenses over the next few years. We would like to thank the staff and leaders for the tremendous, impressive work carried out.
Work on internal financial distribution model
This spring, we will assess adjustments to the faculty's internal distribution model, which allocates the funding we receive from UiO to our units. This work is based on the new distribution model at UiO, adopted by the University Board in 2024. Some of it's features are incentives particularly concerning credit production and EU research applications.
Work on decentralised campuses for medical students
Since 2020, the faculty has received 55 new medical study places. Most of them were earmarked decentralised study places for medical students, namely in S?rlandet and Innlandet. UiO Campus S?r was opened in August 2023, now developing to cover the final three years of study. Plans to open UiO Campus Innlandet from 2027 is well underway.
Financially, decentralised teaching is more costly than centralised teaching. A large part of the costs incurs in the early phase of implementation, while the funding for the study places is gradually allocated over a 10-year period. In the long run, the financial burden we face in establishing the decentralised campuses will be compensated, and we continue to work diligently to fulfil this important societal mission.
HELP offers experience sharing for our educators
The Section for Health Sciences Education (HELP) is working to establish a meeting place for experience sharing and discussions about teaching and education for the faculty's educators. This initiative has received much positive feedback.
HELP recently held two workshops as part of UiO's interdisciplinary initiative "AI Across" which has established the online resource Artificial Intelligence (AI) at UiO. Additionally, they conducted a sharing seminar on AI (in Norwegian), receiving very positive feedback from the participants. Both the workshops and the seminar received great interest, many participants, and engaging discussions.
The next event is a workshop on artificial intelligence (AI) on 10 March in Norwegian. It is still possible to register!
If educators need support for a development project or wish to focus on or discuss a specific topic, you are encouraged to contact HELP: by sending an e-mail to helsevitenskapelig-pedagogikk@medisin.uio.no
Happy winter (holiday)!
Some of you have slightly quieter days or some holiday this week, and we hope you take the opportunity to use the lovely winter weather for a bit of relaxation from all the good and important work being done across the Faculty of Medicine. Thank you for the great work you continuously do. We can all be proud to work at this faculty.
Best regards,
Hanna and Hanne
Photos from Norway Life Science 2025
Thank you all for your attendance at Norway Life Science 2025. The conference's core themes were the development of research and innovation in life sciences. The first person I met was a fresh UiO student with big ambitions for research and innovation, which is very promising! The next was our Professor Ole Andreassen, who had the honour of explaining his research to HRH the Crown Prince. Panel discussions contained many leaders aiming to advance this work, and the networking activities continued into late evening. I agree with the following slogan from one of the leaders from the business sector: Innovation is a contact sport! This work can only be carried out together.
Hanne
