Election platform: Team Ursin/Krauss

Rationale

Europe in general, and Norway in particular, lack competitiveness. At the same time, Norway is one of the world's most prosperous industrialized nations and serves as an international beacon in areas such as gender equality, civil rights, peace, and sports. The country's natural resources and economic wealth per capita are almost unparalleled globally. With these assets, Norway has both the duty and the potential to be at the forefront of education, science, and innovation¡ªkey building blocks for competitiveness. The University of Oslo (UiO) can play a vital role in addressing today's significant societal challenges. UiO has vast opportunities and human resources to develop innovative solutions requiring high expertise and rapid technological development, including new digital tools. A UiO that invests strongly in robust and innovative teaching, fundamental and groundbreaking research, as well as innovation, value creation, and industry collaboration, can significantly contribute to positioning Norway as a leading nation in Europe and the world. Only a society that is technologically advanced through research and innovation can influence the socio-ethical and regulatory debates and legislation. A guiding principle must be academic freedom and the university's independence.

We, the rectorate team "Ursin/Krauss," see great opportunities and challenges in developing UiO into a global center of excellence for teaching, science, and innovation.

To achieve this position, UiO must rank among the best universities according to international rankings, such as the "Times Higher Education" ranking. University rankings may be criticized for lacking a robust scientific foundation and for not providing a holistic picture, but the universities that perform best in these rankings attract donations and are often perceived as the most desirable places to study and work. Achieving a top international ranking requires not only stable and responsible management of existing structures but also a strategic focus on increasing external funding and capital while developing innovative solutions to advance education, research, innovation, and industrial development.

Background

The University Board's 2023 annual report describes UiO's financial situation as challenging, and the board expects the economic situation to become even tighter in the coming years. Many departments are now heading towards deficits, which is not sustainable. In this context, we must shift from the current, relatively static financial model to a more dynamic one, accompanied by necessary structural adjustments inspired by top international universities. This transformation will enable the untapped potential of research, innovation, and teaching environments to be realized.

There are many excellent teaching environments, including, but not limited to, the Centers for Excellence in Education (SFUs), which have worked diligently for years to develop programs and teaching methods. The rectorate will collaborate with teaching environments to ensure quality and showcase this excellence while also creating structures to leverage this expertise and these capabilities in a national and international context.

UiO has many strong research environments and should be a place that attracts the best talents. The culture of curiosity-driven research and the "bottom-up" organization of strong research environments is something UiO must continue to build on. At the same time, there must be room for strategic "top-down" initiatives, balanced with "bottom-up" organization. In both directions, we aim to foster closer collaboration between research environments, the innovation ecosystem, industry (including the institute sector), and investment communities. The goal includes stimulating and facilitating applied research, innovation, and the establishment of private companies that utilize research (frameworks, incentives, support systems, ecosystem, etc.), without distracting the strong basic research environments from their excellent curiosity-driven work. Achieving this will require the rectorate to listen carefully to "bottom-up" initiatives, which can open the door for well-founded and externally funded "top-down" initiatives. For both approaches, resources must be used strategically to attract substantial new resources. This is crucial and requires the rectorate to work diligently with government authorities, foundations, industry, and other relevant stakeholders.

General

To elevate UiO into the top 30 universities worldwide within 30 years, the new rectorate must work intensively to supplement existing state-based funding with both increased and new external funding sources. Increased funding should contribute to further advancements in education, research, and innovation at UiO to achieve or maintain international top standards. Reaching this goal requires close collaboration among technical, administrative, and academic staff internally, as well as the addition of external resources and high-level networks.

Measures

• Establish an external top leadership group tasked with developing a strategy to achieve a significant boost in funding, teaching, research, innovation, and value creation, with the goal of placing UiO in the top 30 group according to international rankings.
• Work towards building a substantial endowments following international best practices, while ensuring UiO retains its clear national anchoring.
• Create a balanced approach between ¡°bottom-up¡± initiatives and strategic ¡°top-down¡± efforts.
• Maintain robust operations, teaching, and research while developing support functions and networks that promote excellence, societal impact, value creation, and commercialization.

Teaching

According to the Universities and Colleges Act, one of the purposes of universities and colleges is "to offer higher education at a high international level."

Teaching requires both a solid foundation and inspiration from engaged and outstanding researchers and educators. UiO should aim to join the league of top universities in teaching, in terms of ambition, content, and geographical reach.

Measures

• Promote robust education that meets society¡¯s workforce needs, while also fostering innovative teaching solutions.
• Teaching at UiO should be research-based and continuously evolving. All courses, even at the most basic levels, should include elements of current research and guidance from educators actively engaged in research.
• Work for continuous quality assurance in collaboration with teaching environments.
• Explore increased practice-oriented teaching and placement programs for interested students.
• Develop and expand active teaching alliances (including financing models) with leading universities and institutes, including through active staff exchanges and joint development of open online courses (MOOCs) that can be integrated into teaching at all partner institutions.
• Promote strong opportunities for student exchanges.
• Strive to establish UiO as an international provider of teaching services ("Campus Oslo") for universities in development, under a fee-based arrangement (e.g., in the Middle East/Asia) or as part of a foundation to be established (e.g., for universities in low-income countries).
• Continue expanding the significant work of current Rector Svein St?len in European and international academic networks (Circle U, The Guild, African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), Global University Academy).
• Provide students with genuine influence by establishing a student-assisting Vice Rector for Teaching.

Research

According to the Universities and Colleges Act, one of the purposes of universities and colleges is "to conduct research and academic and artistic development work at a high international level."

Outstanding research requires an environment that attracts the best and promotes quality across all levels of the academic spectrum. Excellent research demands significant funding.
UiO is currently ranked 116th in the "Times Higher Education" ranking ¨C this is not good enough. Therefore, funding, infrastructure, and human resources must be significantly strengthened. This is only partially possible within the current system of government funding and external financing. Additionally, attracting top international researchers at all levels requires an active and competitive recruitment strategy. Simultaneously, the situation for existing staff must be improved.

Measures

• Establish institutional endowments based on international models to attract world-class professors and administrative staff and offer internationally competitive startup packages.
• Diversify and expand the research funding system at UiO by attracting industry players, foundations, and creating a forward-looking system that enables significant investments in research, research infrastructure, and human resources.
• Develop and expand research alliances with leading universities and institutes with clearly defined budgets and goals.
• Provide departments with incentive funds to recruit internationally leading professors and key personnel with attractive funding schemes.
• Focus on career development for all types of staff.
• Establish a fast-track system for the development of EU applications and other international funding applications, with active support from personnel with in-depth knowledge of the administrative aspects of the application process. Assess structures for operational support.
• Enable increased convergence within UiO, including supporting interdisciplinary initiatives.
• Ensure access to effective data management tools, privacy protection, and robust information security at UiO by further developing innovative solutions like Services for Sensitive Data, Nettskjema, etc., to enable responsible processing of personal data in research.
• Strengthen training, awareness, and support for research ethics, research integrity, and "open science."
• Cultivate understanding and expertise in artificial intelligence. A knowledge-based introduction of artificial intelligence should aim to improve and simplify. IT can act as a driver for excellence in research, dissemination, teaching, and innovation, while also enhancing administrative processes.

Innovation and Sustainable Development

In accordance with the Universities and Colleges Act, one of the purposes of universities and colleges is "to contribute to environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable development."

Facilitating inclusivity for all is a structural responsibility.

Innovation and value creation require an enabling environment, legislation, human capital, and substantial funding. Norway is ranked 21st on the "Global Innovation Index" (GII) 2024, compared to Switzerland (1st), Sweden (2nd), and Denmark (10th). This is not sufficient, and the University of Oslo (UiO), as Norway's largest university, must take a leading role in improving the country's innovation ecosystem.

UiO not only has a legal responsibility to conduct research but also to ensure that research results are utilised. This responsibility is not adequately implemented today. We aim to establish mechanisms that enable us to both generate disruptive research and ensure that such research is further developed and applied. Building on existing initiatives, we will ensure sufficient capacity and expertise in innovation, entrepreneurship, and financing. The focus will also be on establishing internal frameworks that facilitate the translation of research, influencing external conditions where possible, and ensuring that UiO is well integrated into the innovation ecosystem.

To ensure the valorisation of research, we must also provide researchers and students with the right vocabulary and mindset, as well as make the process straightforward to navigate.

Measures

• Ensure inclusivity across gender, cultural diversity, and functional abilities.
• Implement clearer inclusive measures for diverse groups within UiO's work on equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• Establish a technical/administrative innovation support apparatus at UiO to assist in the development of early-stage ideas with societal benefit potential.
• Facilitate the realisation of innovative projects by linking segments of industry and the local ecosystem focused on the application and commercialisation of research more closely to research environments at UiO.
• Advocate for a new commercialisation model at UiO that safeguards inventors' interests, is transparent, and provides predictable frameworks and agreement terms.
• Build expertise in transforming innovative ideas into value-creating products and solutions, including programmes introducing students to innovation and entrepreneurship.
• Develop an innovation financing system at UiO by attracting external resources, with an increased focus on supporting high-risk disruptive projects and implementing new, more results-oriented and flexible ways of allocating funds.
• Work towards investigating the establishment of a technical institute modelled on, for example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Dissemination and Visibility

In accordance with the Universities and Colleges Act, one of the purposes of universities and colleges is "to disseminate knowledge about their activities and promote understanding of the principle of academic freedom and the use of scientific and artistic methods and results, both in teaching students, in their own activities, and in public administration, cultural life, and industry."

Scientific dissemination and visibility at a high level are crucial for a university with ambitions to be among the top 30 globally. Dissemination is also a vital task for UiO in challenging times with a significant need for research-based, reliable information for the public.

Measures

• Maximise media dissemination of scientific research and innovation conducted at UiO, including through traditional and social media, as well as other innovative platforms.
• Provide scientifically based contributions to political decision-makers. Exploit opportunities for research-based input on current political issues. Be willing to convey knowledge that may be unpopular or controversial.
• Expand the dissemination of art and culture, further highlight UiO's art collection and museums, and increasingly use them as part of UiO's overall dissemination efforts.
• Develop UiO as a strong international brand. Make the university highly visible both nationally and internationally through innovative and creative public relations.

Team

The team, like the programme, is unconventional and focuses solely on quality, international exposure, and targeted efforts.

The Ursin/Krauss team is the only rectorate team that includes genuine representation of technical/administrative staff, real representation of students, and scientific staff in both permanent and temporary positions, spanning multiple career stages.

• Giske Ursin is a medical doctor, director of the Cancer Registry of Norway, divisional director at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and an adjunct professor at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences. She is internationally recognised for her research on women¡¯s health. She has served on numerous national and international councils and committees and is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
• Stefan Krauss is a medical doctor, professor, and leader of the Centre of Excellence for Biohybrid Technology. During his time at the University of Oxford, the scientific journal Nature recognised one of his research findings as one of the 24 most significant milestones in developmental biology.
• Heidi Beate Bentzen is a jurist and researcher at the Centre for Medical Ethics at the Faculty of Medicine. She has also been a researcher at the Faculty of Law.
• Beate Rygg Johnsen is a biochemist and section manager at the Growth House for Value Creation. She has extensive experience from the private sector. In the rectorate team, she represents the technical-administrative staff.
• Harald Eia is a sociologist and science communicator. He is known for his popular science presentations of complex topics.

We are in discussions with potential candidates for the position of Vice-Rector for Education. Additionally, we plan to include a student as Assistant Vice-Rector for Education.