Dear friends: Those of you who did not know what a comprehensive university was before today's ceremony, certainly know it by now. It is truly fascinating to see and hear the diversity in our academic community.
And mind you - it is not a coincidence that the University of Oslo is exactly that—a comprehensive university.
The University of Oslo was established as a central part of the struggle for norwegian independence. A struggle that took over 150 years. The Royal Society for Norway's Welfare played an important role. Early ?1800?, the society announced a competition with a prize for the best paper on ?the value of having a Norwegian university?.
There were, as now, discussions about what value is; should it be instrumental - a useful technical university answering the immediate needs of the society - or something more akin a Humboldt model - looking further - an idea that was emerging at that time. Nikolai Wergeland won the prize with his dissertation Mnemosyne, named after the goddess of memory and remembrance. The dissertation concluded that we needed to build a first-class university; fully developed with all branches of science. Only then could Norway become a culture state. And the University of Oslo was eventually established—in 1811—as a comprehensive university.
I have been rector for 7 years, and nothing has given me more pleasure than the encounters with my colleagues across the diverse university— meetings which gives meaning to the word comprehensive. From freezing cold measurements of space weather in Antarctica, to the moment the keel of the Gjellestad ship, the first Viking ship to be excavation in 100 years, was lifted out of the ground south of Oslo (I was there), to the initiative when our language professors quickly established educational offerings in Ukrainian after Russias full scale invation of Ukraina, or the world championship in standing freezing still while listning to rytmical music at the Department of Musicology.
The breadth is important in itself. Our society - and we as people - need knowledge along many dimensions. Value has many dimentions. But the argument of Nikolai Wergeland, the man who won the competition and the prize, was equally that all branches of science are interconnected and mutually enriching each other ..
And so it is.
At a research station in ?vre Heimdalen - close to the mountains that you can imaging when you hear Edvards Griegs famous lyrical music - Dovregubbens hall - I heard Gro speaking with Arild. Arild is a specialist in the bluethroat bird. Gro specializes in French poetry from the 1500s. Arild mentioned that bluethroats are not very faithful and that extramarital affairs are quite common, resulting in a number of illegitimate offspring. He hesitated to use the word "illegitimate" as he did not wish to pass judgment on the birds' sex lives. Gro then explained that the French have a solution to this problem: in French (in more aristocratic circles), one can refer to, for example, a son born out of wedlock as "fils naturel" or natural son. They were welcome. Arild's reaction was priceless. His research shows that bluethroat birds with a father from a neighboring nest have a stronger immune system. The french aristocracy similarly needed new blood. New genes.
Mutual enriching they are. The fields of research at a comprehensive university.
The motion technology behind the world championship in standing still is patented and used to detect certain disorders in prematurely born children.
Awardees, honorary doctors
I am glad that we are not only celebrating outstanding researchers and professionals of my own age group here today but the entire generational project by honoring also PhD candidates and master's students.
And we celebrate the global academic community through you, our new honorary doctors. You are now a part of the Univ. of Oslo - wellcome and thank you so much for accepting our invitation.
