The UiB Magazine 2019/2020
The UiB Magazine 2019/2020 is out now. Read about ocean- and climate research, the discovery of the world's oldest drawing, SDG Bergen, medical breakthroughs, innovative students and much more.
Main content
The UiB Magazine is an annual research and education magazine at the University of Bergen. The following are some of the articles you can read in this years magazine.
The UiB Magazine 2019/2020 can also be read online here.
On track with climate change
Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. Scientists from UiB have worked together with communities around Sylhet, in northeast Bangladesh, in search of new ways for understanding and adapting to the climate.
Scott Bremer wanted to test how scientists could work together with the local communities to produce high quality cimate science when he was running the TRACKS project.
“The aim of the project has been to re-learn how to understand and anticipate this new climate, to develop strategies and concrete actions for long-term adaptation for the locals”, says Scott Bremer, researcher at UiB.
- Full story here: On track with climate change
Pacific impact on the Arctic larger than expected
Pacific sea surface temperatures oscillate naturally between warm and cold periods lasting around 20 years each. When the Pacific is warmer than normal, it can contribute to higher winter temperatures in the Arctic.
This is shown in a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
"The results imply that a warmer Pacific Ocean in the following decades could accelerate the ongoing Arctic warming", says Lea Svendsen at UiB and the Bjerknes Centre, who has led the research.
- Full story here: Pacific impact on the Arctic larger than expected
Reducing harmful plastic pollution
Linn Merete Brekke Olsen, Remi Aleksander Johnsen and Anders Bjerga aim to enable more successful clean-up operations at sea.
“It is hard to imagine our society without plastic, which has many useful properties. But our throw-away culture has turned plastic into one of our major social challenges", says Linn Merethe Brekke Olsen, a PhD candidate at the K.G. Jebsen Centre for Deep Sea Research at the University of Bergen (UiB). She has been passionate about – and actively working on – the issues surrounding plastic for a long time.
As a result of this interest, she has started the company Bergen Greentech together with Anders Bjerga, who is also a PhD candidate at the K.G. Jebsen Centre, and Remi Aleksander Johnsen, managing director of Salt Pixel. They are developing new technical solutions to map and reduce the amount of plastic and other waste that finds its way into the sea.
Full story here: Reducing harmful plastic pollution
Out of the blue and into the green
Photo: Colourbox.
Offshore wind energy. This magic formula is mentioned when we talk about our future energy requirements. It is a good alternative to windmill parks located in unspoilt countryside. It is the solution to how the offshore industry can be used once the petroleum age is over. It is a huge, perpetual, renewable resource which is just waiting for us. So why are developments progressing so slowly?
- Full story here: Offshore wind parks
Psychology makes a difference for climate change
Researchers in psychology investigate our attitudes and actions towards energy transitions and climate change. They aim to use psychological science to improve how humans interact with the natural environment - and the changes in it.
- Full story here: Psychology makes a difference for climate change
10-page special section: SDG Bergen
The SDG Bergen initiative is presented in a special 10-page section in The UiB Magazine. SDG Bergen is a strategic initiative at the University of Bergen (UiB) to engage critically with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Initiated by Rector Dag Rune Olsen and the UiB Rectorate, SDG Bergen has contributed to positioning UiB as the premier SDG-oriented university in Norway. UiB's Vice-Rector Annelin Eriksen is the leader of SDG Bergen.
- Full story here: SDG Bergen: a strategic initiative
UiB archaeologists find the world's oldest drawing
Archeologist from UiB discovered the earliest known drawing in a cave in South Africa. The abstract drawing displays a red cross-hatched line pattern, created with an ochre crayon 73 000 years ago.
SI video2 - moving silcrete drawing from Blombos
"The drawing adds a completely new dimension to our ability to understand when early humans became like us. The drawing demonstrates that early Homo sapiens in southern Africa had the skills to make graphic designs in various media using different techniques at least 30 000 years earlier than first anticipated”, says Christopher Henshilwood, Professor at UiB, and Director of the Centre of Excellence at the University of Bergen, Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE).
- Full story here: UiB archaeologists find the world's oldest drawing
Brought brain surgery to Ethiopia
This arrow was successfully removed by the local surgeons.
At the beginning of the millennium, there was no one capable of undertaking brain surgery in Ethiopia. Today, thanks to Professor Morten Lund-Johansen at the Department of Clinical Medicine and his colleagues, there are 35 specialists able to conduct head operations.
- Full story here: Brought brain surgery to Ethiopia
Among the 50 most influential in health care
Due to the development of the Bergen 4-Day Treatment for severe anxiety disorders, TIME Magazine named psychologists Gerd Kvale and Bjarne Hansen as two of the 50 most influential persons in health care in 2018.
"The support of the Trond Mohn Foundation and the Kavli Trust ensures that we can continue our work, which will yield far-reaching benefits for the society", Professor Gerd Kvale says. Here Kvale and Hansen are flanked by Managing Director Sveinung Hole of the Trond Mohn Foundation and Managing Director of the Kavli Trust, Inger Elise Iversen.
Professor Gerd Kvale and Associate Professor Bjarne Hansen at UiB and Haukeland University Hospital have fundamentally changed the treatment of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Normally OCD takes months of therapy to treat. Kvale and Hansen’s model of concentrated exposure therapy - The Bergen 4-Day Treatment - gets the job done in just four days.
- Full story here: Among the 50 most influential in health care
Shame on you, robot!
Faceless robots are moving into our living rooms. They are clever, but not necessarily nice.
You most likely have a robot in the kitchen, in the car or in your handbag. It recognizes your face or your finger so you can turn on your phone, it gives you directions when you're driving your car, or it even recommends music that it knows you will love. You like it, and maybe you are even dependent on it, but does it have your best interests at heart?
- Full story here: Shame on you, robot!
Student innovation in knowledge clusters
Two UiB projects, based in separate knowledge clusters, have made it through the eye of the needle and been awarded NOK 1 million each in the Research Council of Norway’s STUD-ENT innovation funding scheme.
Left to right: From ShrimpVision: Tord Teigstad, Tarald Kleppa Øvrebø and Sjur Øyen (not present: Martha Benan) From Spellbound: Jonathan Lindø Meling, Joakim Vindenes, Trym Røed Arvesen, Audun Klyve Gulbrandsen, Ole Anders Smith and Adrian Tysnes.
This year’s award saw two student companies from UiB pass through the eye of the needle: Spellbound, led by Audun Klyve Gulbrandsen; and ShrimpVision, led by Tarald Kleppa Øvrebø. The two entrepreneurs are very grateful for the grants and have high ambitions for their projects.
- Full story here: Student innovation in knowledge clusters
