Foto: Eivind Senneset
Wednesday this week, I was invited to a seminar with the Fisheries and Marine Biology Group. After lunch, 16 (!) presentations were given by various members of the group, covering topics ranging from the invasion of foreign species along our coast, hypoxia in Norwegian fjords, to how Brexit has impacted Norwegian mackerel fishing. The impressive quality of the presentations provided a glimpse into all the fantastic research being done at BIO. The group chose to hold their lunch-to-lunch gathering at the Marine Biological Station at Espeland, by Raunefjorden, 20 km south of Bergen. “Espegrend,” as it’s popularly known, is managed by BIO and contains several specialized laboratories and research facilities for marine studies. The station also has seminar/lecture rooms, offices, three boats, a large kitchen, dining/common areas, and accommodation. Whereas I returned to the city after the academic program concluded, the group began cooking together for the evening’s dinner. Most stayed overnight to continue the program the next day. Perhaps many other groups at BIO should consider our Marine Biological Station as a local alternative for both professional and social gatherings. Thank you for the invitation – it was fascinating and educational to participate!
BIO coordinated one infrastructure application last year (National Initiative on Research Infrastructure, RCN), but unfortunately, we didn’t succeed this time, though we are thrilled for the four applications from our faculty that did! For BIO, it is crucial to have access to modern, up-to-date infrastructure to keep our research at an internationally high and relevant level. Well before the next application round, we at BIO again must do thorough work to identify and describe our infrastructure needs in strategically important areas of our research. This is a long-term task, and we will start the application development process well in advance to be as competitive as possible next time.
Have a great weekend, everyone 😊
See you soon.
Ståle