university of bergen

UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN
COLLABORATIONS
WORLDWIDE
FIRST-CLASS
EDUCATION
CUTTING-EDGE
RESEARCH
CITY CENTRE
LOCATION
A SHORT HISTORY
ABOUT UiB
The University of Bergen (UiB) is an internationally recognised
research university. Academic diversity and high quality are
fundamental for us. UiB is the most cited university in Norway.
1825
1865
1948
1970
1980
2015
Bergen Museum is established
on the initiative of Wilhelm
Frimann Koren Christie,
who was president of the
Norwegian parliament
– Stortinget.
The new Bergen Museum
building opened. Today this
is the main building of the
University of Bergen.
University of Bergen officially
opens with three faculties in
place: Faculty of Humanities,
Faculty of Mathematics and
Natural Sciences, and
Faculty of Medicine.
Two more faculties are
established: Faculty of Social
Sciences and Faculty of
Odontology. The latter was
fused with Faculty of
Medicine in 2008.
Another two faculties open:
Faculty of Law and
Faculty of Psychology. Today
there are six faculties at the
University of Bergen.
The opening of the new
assembly hall at the University
Museum of Bergen. The new
hall will become a meeting
point between the university
and the city of Bergen.
There are six faculties at UiB and there are a total of 14,000 students
at the university. Around 1,550 of these are international students.
We employ 3,500 staff. PhD candidates are paid employees of
staff, making the doctoral degree at UiB particularly attractive
for rising talent. About one in three graduating doctors are from
outside Norway.
UiB’s leadership have designated two focus research areas –
marine research and development-related research, with plans
to add climate research as a third area. Our main research areas
highlight Bergen’s centuries old position as a city of trade and
commerce, where shipping, fisheries and oil have brought the
world to Bergen and connected Bergen with the world outside.
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FACTS & FIGURES
THE BASICS
EDUCATION
FUNDING
Six faculties
Faculty of Law
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Faculty of Social Sciences
Faculty of Psychology
Education offered by UiB
• 86 Bachelors degree programmes
• 108 Masters and professional study programmes
• More than 1,900 courses
• 6 PhD programmes (covering all areas of research at UiB)
• 28 Research schools on PhD level
10%
RENOWNED SCHOLARS
4%
OTHER
INCOME**
RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF NORWAY
12%
74%
EXTERNAL
FUNDING*
Gerhard Armauer Hansen
This physician discovered the bacterium that
causes leprosy in 1873 and put Bergen on the
world map of science.
GOVERNMENT
FUNDING
Vilhelm Bjerknes
14,000 students
3,500 staff
250 doctorates conferred every year
Physicist and meteorologist who is considered
the founder of modern weather forecasting.
14,000
* Public agencies, organisations, EU and the business sector
** Sales revenues and reimbursementes
STUDENTS
Knut Fægri
One of the world’s leading botanists in the
twentieth century, he received the Millennium
Botany Award in 1999.
International staff and students
10,000
4,000
1,550
BACHELOR DEGREE
STUDENTS
MASTERS DEGREE
STUDENTS
INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS
Stein Rokkan
Leading researcher, organiser and administrator
in national and international organisations in
the political and social sciences.
STAFF
TOTAL:
14%
11%
21%
30%
STUDENTS
ACADEMIC
STAFF
DOCTORAL
CANDIDATES
SUPPORT
STAFF
23%
PHD+POST.DOC
POSITION
3,500
Ida Blom
36%
Pioneer in women and gender studies and
founder of Europe’s first centre for gender studies
in the humanities in 1985.
ACADEMIC
STAFF
27%
ADMINISTRATIVE
STAFF
Fredrik Barth
Founder of the Department of Social
Anthropology at UiB and known for his study
of microeconomics and entrepreneurship.
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CITY OF CULTURE, NATURE & STUDENT LIFE
The University of Bergen (UiB) is located in the city centre of
Bergen. Bergen is the second city of Norway with a population of
260,000 and has long been a Scandinavian centre of trade. The city
was officially founded in 1070 and from the end of the Thirteenth
century the Hanseatic League used the city as a trading port for
export of fish resources from Norway to continental Europe. The
city rests between the picturesque fjords of Western Norway.
One of UiB’s stated goals is to reach out to the city of Bergen and
other m
­ unicipalities in the region, as well as the private sector
in a part of Norway ­renowned for its natural wonders. Visitors
to Bergen often mention the scenery surrounding the city, and
with UiB centrally located the seven mountains that surround
the city are all within walking distance after a hard day’s work or
studying. ­If you are more of a marine enthusiast, there are plenty
of options to go fishing off the islands that surround the city.
The diversity of cultural activities is another pull for visitors, with
the annual Bergen International Festival in May a highlight. The
Bergen International Film Festival (or BIFF) has become famous for
its strong documentary programme. The performing arts scene
has long been amongst the most adventurous and innovative in
Europe. In the last few years this has been joined by a thriving fine
arts scene, amongst others leading to the international biennial
of contemporary art called Bergen Assembly. For those about to
rock or dance, there is a vibrant club scene with world-leading
artists within rock and electronic music coming out of Bergen.
At UiB we try to play our part in creating the next generation of
cultural exports from Norway, thanks to the Grieg Academy at the
university, where world-class piano player Leif Ove Andsnes got
his education. In Bergen, both classical culture and pop culture
go hand in hand with the wonders of nature.
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RESEARCH IN FRONT
EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL GRANTS
Another indicator of UiB’s rising international status, are the advanced grants awarded by the European Research Council
(ERC) to seven researchers at UiB. ERCs are awarded to researchers working on projects that are highly ambitious, pioneering,
and unconventional.
Advanced algorithms
Have you ever been told by your cars’ GPS to continue down
the high street, when you know that turning right is a short cut?
You should know that this is an algorithm at work. Professor
Fedor Fomin and the Algorithms Research Group at UiB work
hard to develop new mathematical theories to provide better
algorithms – and solutions.
Ocean organisms
There are millions of viruses and other organisms in a litre of
water, and the interaction between them is complex. The ­research
group Marine Microbiology, headed by Professor Frede Thingstad,
want to get a better understanding of the complexity of how
organisms in the ocean interact.
NORWEGIAN CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE
The diversity of world-class research at UiB is reflected in the research groups awarded status as Norwegian Centres
of ­Excellence (SFF) by the Research Council of Norway.
The first SFFs were established in 2002 and UiB received funding
for three such centres for a ten-year period:
In 2007, UiB’s Centre for Geobiology was also awarded SFF status.
And in 2012 UiB received funding for three new SFFs:
• Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research
• Centre for Medieval Studies
• Centre for Integrated Petroleum Research (CIPR)
• Centre for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child Health
• Birkeland Centre for Space Science
• Centre for Cancer Biomarkers
Hearing voices
Schizophrenia can make you hear voices in your head, but where
do these voices come from? That is one of the questions Professor
Kenneth Hugdahl and the Bergen fMRI Group try to answer. ­fMRI
= functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. A particular focus for
the group is the study of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia.
Early man’s symbols
The TRACSYMBOLS project, headed by Professor Christopher
Henshilwood, looks at how environmental changes influenced
key behavioural features of Neanderthals and early Homo
sapiens in Europe and southern parts of Africa. Henshilwood’s
archaeological finds in South Africa have shed new light on early
human’s abilities to adapt to climate change.
Solving diabetes
What roles do diet and genetics play in the development of
obesity and diabetes? This is one of the questions Professor Pål
Rasmus Njølstad at the Department of Paediatrics at Haukeland
University Hospital is working on, based on his studies of mothers
and children in Norway relating to diet and genetics.
Space is the place
Professor Nikolai Østgaard’s ERC project is to study so-called
terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs), a recently discovered exotic
phenomenon with unknown effects on the atmosphere. The ERC
project constitutes one of four main topics that the Birkeland
Centre for Space Science focuses on. The centre is also one of
UiB’s Centres of Excellence (SFF).
Equality in Crisis
Professor Bruce Kapferer is the most recent addition to UiB’s
ERC stable. How does greater inequality create dividing lines
in society? That is one of the central issues of his new research
project called Egalitarianism: Forms, Processes, Comparisons.­
His project aims to study egalitarian structures and processes
and the underlying values that inform these.
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GLOBAL OUTREACH
UiB is an internationally recognised university with longstanding ties with research and education institutions
around the world.
The University of the
Arctic is a network of
universities, colleges and
other organisations committed
to higher education and
research in the north.
BERGEN
UiB is a member of
the Coimbra Group
and Utrecht Network.
European-wide networks
that both are vital for our
research and education
work on the continent
and beyond.
The Nordic Centre
at Fudan University in
Shanghai is a key part
of UiB’s outreach in East Asia.
In 2013, UiB also introduced
a new bachelor programme
in Chinese.
With an increased focus on globalisation, UiB has risen sharply
in international rankings such as Times Higher Education and
QS. In 2005 UiB was number 320 in the QS rankings, but by 2013
UiB was ranked number 151.
One area where UiB excels is in the area of citations for research
papers. In the 2013 QS rankings, the university was number 69
in the world for citations.
UiB is a member of several international networks and
organisations. The map on the right shows a selection of our
international outreach.
A natural extension of our international activities is the rise in
students and staff from all over the world at UiB. Eleven per cent
– or around 1,550 – of the 14,000 students currently enrolled at
UiB are from outside of Norway.
Of the 1,550
foreign students currently
at UiB, around 230 are from
Germany alone. No other
country sends so many of
its students to UiB.
A guest researcher
programme has been in
place between University of
Washington-Seattle and UiB
for more than 30 years,
with a particular emphasis
on PhD exchange.
UiB is a member
of the Worldwide
Universities Network (WUN),
which comprises 17 researchintensive institutions spanning
6 continents. UiB Rector Dag
Rune Olsen is on WUN’s
steering board.
UiB is a
founding member of
Cape Town-based SANORD,
which is comprised of 42
universities from countries
in Southern Africa and the
Nordic region.
The Nordic Centre
in India is a consortium
of leading universities
and research institutions
from the Nordic countries
and is important for
UiB’s work in India.
In 2013, UiB celebrated 25
years of collaboration with
Makerere University
in Kampala, Uganda,
one of our main international
institutional partnerships.
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University of Bergen
P.O. Box 7800
N–5020 Bergen
Phone: +47 55586900
E-mail: post@form.uib.no
Web: uib.no/en
Content and Layout: Division of Communication, UiB / Cover Photo: Paul Sigve Amundsen
OUR LOGO
UiB has chosen the Eurasian eagle owl for its logo. In Norway the owl has traditionally been considered a wise bird, and this thus
chimes in well with the stated goals of a higher research institution. In Norwegian the owl is called hubro. Bergen Museum – now the
University Museum of Bergen – used the hubro as early as the 1830s. UiB adopted this logo when the university officially opened in 1948.