Going digital: Norway’s 4th National PhD conference in Global Health

The annual PhD conference has been linked with the annual Globvac conference, which assembles most Global Health researchers from across Norway. The Globvac conference itself should have been held 13-14 May 2020, but was cancelled because of COVID-19. It has now been replace by a series of webinars that will be held, one per month, over the course of autumn 2020.

The Norwegian Research School of Global Health (NRSGH) and the conference committee (including both researchers and PhD candidates) had to change their plans from a face-to-face gathering to a digital gathering. The NRSGH website states that the annual conference is the School’s main national event.

This year it was held 29 and 30 September 09:00-12:00 via Zoom, with face-to-face dinner gatherings in Trondheim, Tromsø, Bergen and Oslo. Around 60 people registered to participate.

NRSGH Director, Elisabeth Darj, explains that the work of NRSGH continues, despite COVID-19 restrictions. She says that the School aims to provide a central hub for the community of young, Norwegian-trained global health researchers.

All PhD Candidates studying a topic in Global Health are invited to be a member of NRSGH. The School arranges PhD courses, provides mobility grants, and more (read more from their website). Darj explains that this year’s special digital conference, was organized by PhD candidates for PhD candidates. She invites any interested student to volunteer to be on the organizing committee for the 2021 conference!  She adds that the experience is an interesting and rewarding task to add to one’s CV.

Guest speakers

• Morten Cranner, Dramatikkens hus, Oslo
• Fanny Duckert, University of Oslo
• Johanne Sundby, University of Oslo

PhD graduates

Maria Lisa Odland, MD, PhD
Current position: Research Fellow Global Health, Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, UK

Abdi Ali Gele, PhD
Current position: Researcher, Health Services Research, FHI (Norwegian Institute of Public Health)

Ragnhild Elise B. Johansen, PhD
Current position: Head of research, Section for Trauma, catastrophes and forced migration - adults and elderly, NKVTS (Norwegian centre for violence and traumatic stress studies)

Hege Langli Ersdal, MD, PhD
Current position: Head of research, Simulations and Global Health, Stavanger University Hospital and Professor II at Stavanger University.

Sheri Lee Bastien, PHD
Current position: Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Science, NMBU (Norwegian university of life sciences)

Solbjørg Sjøveian, MPhil
Current position: Assistant director, Section for Research, Innovation and Higher Education, The Knowledge Bank, NORAD