Translated by UiOGPT
UiO, or The Royal Frederick University as it was called back then, was founded in 1811, and the celebrant will mark its 213th anniversary on September 2nd. The annual celebration is an event where various academic achievements are celebrated and the university's many awards are presented in the Aula. The event in the Aula is open but requires registration.
This year, honorary doctors will also be appointed at the celebration. Two of the total 17 individuals who will be appointed as honorary doctors at UiO on September 2nd have been proposed by academic communities at our faculty. TIK has proposed Marion Fourcade. Fourcade is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. She works within the field often referred to as "Science and Technology Studies," STS, and her scientific contributions are particularly related to economic sociology. Her other research interests include digitalization, including the political economy of the digital economy and the digitalization of states. Fourcade's comparative analyses of compensation procedures in major oil spills have also provided new insights into valuation practices.
Anders Dale has been proposed by PSI. Dale is a professor of neuroscience, cognitive science, psychiatry, and radiology at the University of California, San Diego, and is considered one of the most prominent and influential brain researchers internationally. Dale's scientific contributions span a wide range and have led to several breakthroughs in research on the brain's structure and function and how various diseases affect the brain. Throughout his career, Dale has contributed to methodological innovation in brain research and has been instrumental in developing the Freesurfer software, which is a free, open-access, and one of the world's most widely used analysis tools for brain imaging data. Dale's efforts and inclusive research practices have led to extensive and successful collaboration between various institutions, including UiO and several other Norwegian universities and healthcare institutions.
Trond Pettersen is also among those being appointed as honorary doctors at the celebration. Pettersen has been proposed by the rectorate. He is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and has collaborated extensively with the University of Oslo, especially ISS at our faculty. Pettersen's research interests are social and economic inequality, and he has focused particularly on how discrimination by employers affects gender differences in employment, wages, and promotions. He has also studied how changes in family patterns affect such differences. Pettersen was one of the founders of the Peder Sather Center for Advanced Study at Berkeley, which facilitates academic exchange with Norway.
Although the appointment of new honorary doctors is central to the celebration, several awards are also given. Uzair Ahmed from C-REX receives the King's Gold Medal for his sociological dissertation on Muslims and political violence. Ahmed's dissertation is an important contribution to research on radicalization. Through, among other things, extensive interview material where Ahmed has conversed both with Muslim men who support political violence and Muslim men who do not, Ahmed analyzes the diversity in how these men make sense of the choice to support or reject political violence.
UiO also has a sustainability award that is given at the celebration to the students who have submitted the three best master's theses on sustainability-related topics. One of these three is Andreas Lekkos, who is a social anthropologist. Lekkos receives UiO's Sustainability Award for his master's thesis on energy transition on the Greek island of Astypálea, where he spent seven months on fieldwork. Central to the study is the tension between how the local population themselves understand sustainability and the effects of a collaboration between the Greek state and Volkswagen to turn the island into a laboratory for future green energy solutions.
All honorary doctors give open honorary lectures. Pettersen's lecture takes place on September 2nd; Fourcade's on September 3rd, and Dale's on September 4th. Everyone is invited – come and partake in the celebration of the honorary doctors' scientific contributions. But the meeting with the honorary doctors also has a forward-looking side. It will also provide good opportunities to strengthen valuable contacts and pave the way for future collaboration with strong professionals.