From Thesis to Policy: GOV-Day 2025

The GOV-Day Committee, in collaboration with the Department of Government, was pleased to welcome colleagues, students, and other affiliates to the second edition of GOV-Day. Held on May 9 at Kulturhuset in Bergen, this year's event drew strong attendance, with solid participation throughout both the internal and public segments. 

"We were really excited about GOV-Day. Seeing it come to life was a joy. We were of course nervous, but it went above our expectations. This could not have happened without our amazing participants, who contributed to the program on the credibility of knowledge. We all hope this will become a recurrent event at the department, and we look forward to next year already", says leader and deputy leader of this year's GOV-Day Committee. 

Knowledge in Crisis?

The event kicked off with master’s students Ole Rognø, Elisa Størksen, and Oda Bolstad sharing their experiences of writing a master’s thesis, highlighting both their research outcomes, hacks and obstacles they have encountered so far in the process.

The master presentations were followed by a panel discussion, “Knowledge in Crisis,” on the credibility of knowledge, addressing questions concerning who decides what is considered credible knowledge. This debate featured NRK journalist and managing editor Bergit Svendseid, UiB media scholar and Professor in rhetorics, Jens Kjeldsen, and Associate Professor from our own Department, Hanne Kvilhaugsvik.

Hanne Kvilhaugsvik, Associate Professor at the department, thought it was a fun experience to join the panel, and comments: “There was a good discussion about the great challenges related to knowledge, both about how knowledge is created and how it is communicated and comprehended. It was interesting to hear about how the media industry works and to discuss how we who work in academia should approach and deal with uncertainty. I think it is also important to discuss the relationship between the university and the state, which is however not unproblematic, as well as discuss how we as social scientists advise others and suggest new political strategies and measurements”.

Attendees could then participate in an interactive “speed-date” session between research groups and students. This session was dedicated to students and colleagues discussing projects and, for BA students, connecting with potential thesis supervisors.

The day concluded with the annual March/Olsen Honorary Lecture, delivered by Professor Thomas Schillemans, who gave a key note revisiting the seminal work of March and Olsen and others in a talk titled: “Struggling Out of the Garbage Can: A Serious Research Agenda for Not-So-Funny Times.”  In his lecture, Professor Schillemans emphasized the vital role of academics in policymaking, underscoring the importance of equipping decision-makers with robust data and research-based insights to support their policies. His lecture was well received and sparked thoughtful reflections on the responsibilities and relevance of academic research in turbulent times.

This year's aim was for GOV-Day to become a fully student-led initiative, an intention clearly reflected in the active involvement of the student-led organizing committee and the well-executed conference. It proved a successful event that has firmly established itself, and we look forward to building on this momentum next year.

"This was a fantastic event and a great day", said Lise Rykkja, Head of Department. – "It is always rewarding to hear from our master’s students about their experiences and exciting to discuss potential master’s projects. The panel discussion and the keynote were also highly engaging – these are genuinely pressing issues in an increasingly polarised world, where expert knowledge, academia and independent media face increasing pressure".

A great thank you to this year’s GOV-Day Committee: Master students Johan Thanh Binh Ngyuen, Karoline Hermansen, Pernille Lie, Sofie Brobakk Bjørkhaug, Jacob Bysheim and Emma Østbye for organising this eventful mini-conference.