Summer school continues to challenge

The sixth round of Bergen Summer Research School (BSRS) concluded on June 29^th after two hectic weeks of lectures, seminars and cross-disciplinary debates.

This year’s theme, ‘Food as a Global Development Challenge’, was divided into four courses, represented by economics, geography, terrestrial and marine biology, as well as micronutrient research. Over two weeks, 57 PhD students from 27 countries immersed themselves in issues relevant to food and food production – complex issues in need of scientific input from a number of disciplines.

Leading scholars from all over the world offered their insight on topics ranging from nature conservation; the UN millennium development goals; the state of marine ecosystems; and the research communication to the public. Read more about this year’s Summer School and keynote speakers.

- Comments made during the Summer School and through the evaluation are very positive. The participants seem to be very happy about the way the Summer School was organized. ‘Challenging’, ‘good for networking’, ‘excellent keynotes’ and ‘eye opening’ are descriptions made by some of the participants, says Howaida Faisal Abdelrahman, coordinator of BSRS at UiB Global.

Challenging
BSRS brings people together from different academic and cultural backgrounds, creating a unique opportunity for students from both the Global South and the North to connect and discuss their research with each other and with international scholars. The program is packed with parallel sessions as well as plenary events and public debates focused on interdisciplinary approaches to global challenges.

- I can understand that the participants may have found this year’s programme challenging. We wanted to give them the best academic content we could possibly offer and aim to balance with social, cultural and personal activities. This is always a challenge for the organiser. It is very useful to get the students’ evaluation. These are issues we will bring with us as we now start to prepare next year’s summer school, says Professor Gro Lie, Academic Coordinator of UiB Global. The Summer School is coordinated by UiB Global as a permanent annual activity at the University of Bergen.

The Summer School seeks to create a space for networking by combining lectures with common plenary events where participants from the different courses can come together and exchange knowledge, thoughts and opinions. An important aim has also been to reach out to the general public through open keynote-lectures and debate meetings.

- These objectives have been further developed and strengthened through the six summers we have organised BSRS. This has been an important collaboration between UiB and the other institutions of higher education and research in Bergen, and with invited scholars from abroad, says Professor Fløttum, who has been the driving force behind BSRS from its inception in 2007.

Next year: Governance to meet global challenges
Theme for next year’s Bergen Summer Research School is ‘Governance to meet global challenges’. The planning process is well underway and invitations to collaborating institutions, UiB faculties, departments, potential course leaders, and keynote speakers are in the process of being sent out. Scientific leader of BSRS 2014 is Professor Siri Gloppen at the Department of Comparative Politics.

- I am so grateful to Professor Vigdis Vandvik and Post Doc Inger Måren for their tremendous effort in making BSRS 2013 such a success. I am also very pleased with having Professor Siri Gloppen on board as scientific leader for BSRS 2014. ‘Governance to meet global challenges’ is a vast and fitting theme as we can draw on previous and recurring BSRS themes – global challenges such as poverty, climate, health, culture, migration, food, says Professor Gro Lie.