What can the University of Bergen offer its employees?

UiB is an International Work Place
UiB belongs to a global network of students, researchers and knowledge institutions. Since its commitment to internationalisation began in the mid-1980s, the University has gained a profile as an international university. UiB's objective is to continue to develop as an internationally renowned research university.

UiB's employees represent 70 different nationalities, and 16% of all its employees have a foreign background. UiB’s student body includes 1,300 students of foreign nationality.

UiB is the first Norwegian university to appoint a Vice-Rector for International Relations. It has developed its own action plan for international relations, which is based on the strategies and priority areas of its academic environments.

Good Management
UiB is a knowledge organisation that sets high requirements to academic quality and to achieving results. UiB therefore sets requirements to both the professional skills and leadership qualities of its management personnel. As well as providing courses for its management staff, it also offers opportunities to participate in coaching and mentoring programmes.

Good Work Environment
Research, education and communication are undergoing constant development. UiB is thus a dynamic institution, and this is contingent on providing employees with opportunities for development. It is important for UiB to create a good and challenging work environment for everyone associated with the institution.

Welfare
UiB has welfare cabins in Ustaoset and Hardanger, day care facilities and free admission to Bergen Museum. The Welfare Committee arranges social activities and offers discounted tickets to theatre performances and concerts. UiB has a range of sports and fitness activities, choirs and other cultural activities.

Health, Environment and Safety
UiB sets equally stringent requirements to quality in health, environment and safety issues as it does to research, teaching and communication. UiB has drawn up its own health, environment and safety action plan.

Competence Development
As an employee of UiB, you will belong to a competence environment that offers opportunities for both professional and personal development. Courses, seminars and further education programmes are arranged in both Norway and abroad. UiB also offers internal competence-building opportunities for technical, administrative and academic personnel. Nonetheless, the most important competence-building activities take place in everyday working life, through specific and challenging work tasks supplemented with good supervision by colleagues and managers.

Ethics

UiB wants to attract employees and students with high ethical standards. This is vital for our research, teaching and interaction with society at large. UiB's employees must take responsibility for communicating high ethical standards to their new colleagues. For more information see www.etikk.uib.no.

New Graduates
UiB has an agreement for a trainee scheme for new-qualified graduates under the regional programme called Trainee Vest (Trainee West). UiB also has several trainees in office and administrative skills, laboratory work, ICT and service electronics.

Environmental Management
As a leading knowledge organisation, UiB is obligated to take environmental considerations into account in all its activities. UiB is acutely aware of its external environment and environmental management. Environmental management involves identifying the environmental impact of an organisation’s operations and having environmental goals and action plans and measures to reduce the environmental impact of its operations. Our ambition is to stimulate engagement and environmental accountability by our employees and students through information and consciousness-raising initiatives.

Inclusive Working Life
UiB has entered into an agreement with the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service to facilitate a more inclusive working life. This agreement is intended to help reduce sickness absenteeism and disability rates and to ensure that the resources and work ability of individuals are developed and utilised in active work.

Employment Conditions
Normal working hours are 40 hours per week. In the case of administrative personnel it is 37.5 hours per week. Flexitime schemes have been introduced in most areas of the organisation.

Employees are entitled to 25 working days of annual holiday, and employees over 60 years are entitled to five additional days. All employees who are employed by the civil service and who work for at least 14 working hours per week are members of the Public Service Pension Fund. As a member of the Public Service Pension Fund you may apply for a housing loan of up to NOK 1.5 million. Membership of the Public Service Pension Fund also entitles you to membership of group life and occupational injury insurance schemes.

Leave of Absence
To strengthen employee competence, UiB may grant paid and unpaid leave of absence for the purposes of study, research or temporary work assignments in Norway and abroad. UiB may grant paid or unpaid short-term or long-term parental, care and compassionate leave to give employees greater flexibility in their work‒family situation.

Diversity
UiB has an important obligation to promote equality, equity and tolerance. Particular importance is attached to increasing the number of women in academic positions and to achieve a better balance in the recruitment of men and women in all disciplinary fields. Prerequisites for developing excellent research environments are academic breadth and diversity and high-quality research and education.

Introduction Course
As a new employee, you will be offered an induction course providing basic information about what it means to be an employee of the University of Bergen.