The penultimate University Board meeting of the spring was held at Campus Grimstad on Wednesday 8 May.
Condemning the hostilities
There is an ongoing discussion in Norway's higher education institutions regarding academic boycott of Israel, following the hostilities in Gaza.
Rector of UiA has previously condemned violations of international law in the Middle East.
63 employees have sent a letter to the rector and chairman of the UiA Board demanding a stance on four specific points:
- Immediate cessation of all institutional cooperation with higher education institutions in Israel, including formal research collaboration and exchange agreements.
- Review of all procurement procedures to avoid agreements with suppliers connected to the Israeli military or operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.
- Active support for the Palestinian higher education sector, particularly universities and colleges in Gaza.
- Active support for vulnerable Palestinian academics, like we previously supported Ukrainian academics.
These points are the same as those in the national call for academic boycott of Israel, which as of 21 March had been signed by 1,400 individuals.
The UiA Board did not adopt an academic boycott of Israeli educational institutions.
The resolution reads:
"The University Board of UiA condemns violations of international law and war crimes. UiA calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, the protection of civilians, and the safeguarding of educational institutions in conflict areas. As an educational institution, we will particularly emphasise the role of schools and universities in societies worldwide. Norway has committed to the United Nations declaration on securing schools in conflict areas. UiA strongly urges that this declaration be respected in the ongoing situation.
The Board notes that UiA does not have institutional agreements with any Israeli university and assumes that work on such agreements is not taking place.
The Board requests that the University Director review UiA's procurement procedures, as far as possible taking into account the government's recommendations against trade that contributes to maintaining the illegal Israeli settlements, as well as the hostilities in Gaza.
The Board requests that the University Director consider how UiA can contribute to relevant national initiatives to support the Palestinian higher education sector, particularly universities and colleges in Gaza.
The Board requests that the University Director continue the work of providing opportunities for Palestinian academics and students through programmes such as Scholars at Risk and Students at Risk."
Neuroscience laboratory to open soon
The University Board invited researchers Hanne and Tor Stensola to a dialogue meeting. They are experts in neuroscience and have studied under Nobel laureates May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser.
Originally from Kristiansand, the Stensola couple returned to Agder following a joint effort in southern Norway investing NOK 26.5 million to establish neuroscience as a field of study at UiA, where the board also contributed funds.
The research community conducts basic neuroscience research, primarily focusing on scent. According to the researchers, scent is a key to understanding how the brain creates representations and categories when confronted with novel stimuli.
The research team and their mice have settled into their new research laboratory at Campus Kristiansand and are ready to start experiments. They underlined their commitment to animal welfare, taking ethical and research perspectives into account.
The laboratory is set to officially open on 7 June. In connection with the opening, the Moser researchers, among others, will participate in an academic seminar. More information will be available on uia.no.
New principles for distributing recruitment positions
The University Board has the authority to strategically allocate six to seven recruitment positions each year in addition to those allocated by the faculties.
Recruitment positions refer to doctoral and postdoctoral positions.
The Board adopted the following guidelines for these allocations:
- Recruitment positions should be used and allocated in a manner that helps achieve UiA's strategic objectives, as assessed and prioritised by the Board.
- Four priority areas, but not only these, have been identified for allocating the University Board's recruitment positions:
- UiA’s priority research centres
- Thematic areas highlighted in UiA's strategy
- High-quality applications and success rates for major external funding initiatives for research and innovation projects
- Establishment and development of subjects and research areas
In another agenda item, the allocations for 2025 were decided as follows:
- Centre for e-Health
- Research Centre for Female Inclusion & Development in Exercise and Sport
- (FIDES)
- Udforsk
- UiA Offshore Wind (2 positions)
- Matric
- PROCHILD
- KI – anvendt samfunnsperspektiv
In addition, the Board has made an advance allocation of one research fellow position, which would have been distributed next year, to UiA's psychology initiative.
Selected items from the meeting
- The Board passed the proposed changes to UiA's quality system for education, with one amendment. A proposal made by one of the student representatives, to strive to have representatives on independent study courses as well, was unanimously adopted.
- Dean Gunn Bjørnsen was appointed as the new leader of UiA's Suitability Review Committee until the end of the year.
- The Board was informed about UiA's long-term budget containing projections of UiA's total revenue and expenses. The projections indicate negative development that requires attention, without the situation being critical at present.
- The Board authorised the rector to submit feedback to the Ministry of Education regarding workplace-based kindergarten teacher education programmes at UiA commencing autumn 2024.
- The Board received an update on the progress of implementing the new principles for time allocation for research and development (FoU) at the faculties.
- The Board was briefed on the progress of UiA's strategy work and provided its input to the draft during the ensuing discussion.
- The Board was informed about UiA's applicant numbers for 2024, which have previously been presented on UiA's website (Norwegian only).
All agenda documents are available for review (Norwegian only).