This text is translated from Norwegian to English by UiOGPT
What are you currently preoccupied with?
After some pleasant and hectic months on parental leave, I am now in my third week as the Pro-Dean of Research at the Faculty of Social Sciences. It has been incredibly fun to get started and begin the work of getting to know the organization and colleagues at the faculty and around the university. I am looking forward to the continuation!
There are already several important matters on the agenda.
The continuous effort to strengthen doctoral training and ensure that the PhD candidates in the program are well and given good conditions for success in their roles is a priority. It is also important that we discuss what we mean by succeeding in such a position and in research in general. Most PhD candidates pursue exciting careers outside the university. This is great, and it shows that there is a high demand for research competence outside of academia. Here, the university has a central task in educating candidates with up-to-date knowledge in methodology, academic theory, and solidly rooted scientific thinking and integrity. To achieve this, our candidates must have access to relevant courses, and probably far more important, good mentors. That’s why it’s important for the university to facilitate both for the PhD candidates and their mentors.
The need to promote scientific methods and attitudes is perhaps especially relevant and highlighted by the extreme increase in the use of artificial intelligence and the spread of fake news through social and less social media. Although we still find ourselves in the technological starting blocks of this development, it has already become difficult to distinguish fiction from reality. Here, the university has a particularly important role in understanding how this development will affect society for better or worse and actively represent a mechanism to protect and further develop the knowledge society and democracy. There are good reasons to think that researchers at the Faculty of Social Sciences are particularly well equipped to address such issues.
Other issues that concern me are how the announced changes in the funding system of the sector will affect the conditions for research at the university and how we, together with the authorities, can ensure a good balance between long-term financing and predictability on the one hand, and flexibility and ability to adapt on the other. I am also concerned about research infrastructure and how the University, in collaboration with authorities and other institutions, can develop and make available tools for efficient data collection, analysis, and secure sharing of research data. This might seem a bit dry, but it has direct implications for many here at UiO.
Beside my work as pro-dean, I lead a research group associated with the Department of Psychology and the Oslo University Hospital. We study the brain and mental health. Using various approaches, we try to gain more knowledge about which factors protect or damage the brain. In recent years, we have been particularly interested in what we could call transformative life phases, and study children through their adolescence and puberty as well as aspiring mothers throughout pregnancy and post-partum, and we try to understand how the interplay between biological and environmental conditions affects the brain in these periods. This is an exciting research field marked by galloping technological development, including a strong focus on artificial intelligence and health data, extensive availability and sharing of research data, and a great need for interdisciplinary collaboration between biologists, social scientists, engineers, doctors, and psychologists. There are many skilled people involved, and it is inspiring to see the development that has taken place over the last 10-15 years. The PhD students who are working on their doctorates today are at a higher level than I was in the same situation. This is very promising for the future.
Of a more mundane nature, like everyone else, my primary concern is that the kids are well, and I am truly enjoying the daily life and delightful chaos of family logistics.
If you had to explain to an eight-year-old what you do at work in three short sentences, what would you say?
At the University of Oslo, we study all sorts of things to learn more about nature, people, and the society we live in. Research is important to understand everything that happens in the world and to be able to make changes. Those of us who are lucky enough to work at the University have an important responsibility to share what we learn through research with the students at the University and with all other children and adults who are curious about the world and how everything is connected. One of my most important tasks is to make sure that both aspiring researchers and those who are already working with research at the University can do the best job possible.
What motivates you at work?
It's fantastic to work with research at the University of Oslo, and I really love my job. It's motivating in itself to contribute to generating new knowledge that advances the world. It's also extremely interesting and educational to be a part of the leadership at a large faculty with such a substantial level of activity and diversity. The work requires insight into and respect for what can often be very different disciplinary traditions, and it's inspiring to learn about what is happening at the various departments and centers at the faculty. Leaders are required to lift their gaze and expand their perspective, and I am motivated by being able to focus both on seemingly narrow research-related details on one hand and at the same time can reflect on and influence long-term and strategic issues on the other. However, it's the collaboration and meetings with colleagues, fellows, and students that give me the most substance in the daily work life, and it's fascinating to work closely with so many talented and diverse people with different roles in different life phases.
If you were to become something completely different, what could it be?
I'm very satisfied with my job, but naturally, I also sometimes wonder how life would be had I chosen differently. After high school, I was enrolled as a student at the Faculty of Law at the University of Bergen. Mandatory military service in Oslo got in the way of the start, one thing led to another, and then that path was closed. Furthermore, I am fascinated by people who make unconventional choices in their careers, and who manage to prioritize interest and creativity over security. I am perfectly comfortable with a safe and stable job in the public sector, but I would also have liked to challenge my entrepreneurial skills beyond just research activities. As is probably common for many people with office work, I also periodically miss more practical tasks, and have great respect for skilled craftsmen who make things with their hands.
What do you do when you completely disconnect?
I enjoy being in the mountains and surprisingly like long uphill treks with hiking boots or skis, preferably far away from ski lifts. I wish I could do more of this. Otherwise, with several children and an equal number of activities, the days are so full that you gradually become good at disconnecting while being busy with something else.