The how and why of UiB - and why it matters to you
At the University, meeting strategic and externally given goals and policies is a central part of the work of leadership and decision-making bodies. Their priorities have consequences for the organization as a whole – and you as a researcher. In this course, we are lifting the curtain to show you a glimpse of what is going on "behind the scenes". You’ll get to know how this complex system works, why it is designed the way it is, how performance is measured, and how you can work both with it and in it.
Main content
The main vision of the University of Bergen strategy 2023-2030 is that by the end of the term, UiB should be one of Europe’s leading universities, internationally recognized for high quality in research and education. Adding to the universities own strategic priorities, we are obliged to meet shifting policy demands and objectives from national and European governments and funding agencies. How does the university organize itself in order to approach our various externally and internally defined goals, how well do we perform and how does this relate to the daily work of individual researchers and educators?
Course objective
Participants will be able to engage in a debate on how to best facilitate high quality and high international visibility of UiB’s research and education, having gained the following learning outcomes:
- Knowledge of the university’s strategy and central national policy initiatives, as well as UiB organization and steering processes, and in particular, the various sources that constitute the knowledge basis for governance.
- Familiarization with the main policy instruments, both external and internal, that set objectives and goals for the university and its academic staff.
- An overview of decision-making bodies and decision processes of particular importance at the university level.
- An overview of relevant institutional assessment tools, as well as selected open international, national and local sources of information and data on institutional and group performance.
Course description
On an individual level, researchers themselves have the freedom to pursue their own academic interests and methodological strategies, as stated in the Norwegian University and University Colleges Act (§1-5). Still, priorities and opportunities are strongly affected by external factors, like public policy, culture, strategies etc.
This course will focus on how strategic priorities are made at the University of Bergen, what factors influence our room for action at a short and longer time span and how performance is assessed at an institutional level. Some of the issues we will cover are:
- The UiB strategy “Knowledge that shapes society”, and the corresponding development agreement with the ministry
- Background - the main policy instruments locally and nationally
- The government long term plan for research and education
- Various ongoing public policies initiatives, eg. new actions for dimensioning education, institutional funding reform etc
- The main decision-making bodies at UiB, how do they work and how can researchers influence them
- Tools for strategic assessment
- Discipline evaluations by the research council
- Database for statistics on higher education & friends
- Research documentation systems (Cristin, Cordis mm)
- Publication databases (WoS, altmetrics etc)
Target group
This course is ideal for PhD students, postdocs and researchers at the University of Bergen, and others who want to learn how UiB as an organization works and the broader context of the Norwegian research system.
Language
English
Duration
The duration of this course is 3 hours.
Facilitator
Bjug Bøyum, Senior Adviser at the Division of Research and Innovation (FIA), UiB
Nygårdsgaten 5 - Søndre Allmenning
