Explore HiOA

Magazine froM oslo and akershus university college of applied sciences 2014

04 New knowledge, new practices08 Researching the welfare state 16 PhDs in health research

20 Innovation as teaching method22 Fruitful collaboration26 Living and researching in Oslo

Explore HiOA

New knowledge and new practices for a changing worldRector Kari Toverud Jensen's vision for HiOA is ambitious, yet one that she is eager to achieve – possibly with your help. (p. 4–7)

Ready to make a diffeReNce?

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at the foRefRoNt of social welfaRe ReseaRch

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liviNg aNd ReseaRchiNg iN oslo

HiOA is looking to recruit teachers and researchers with an international background. Meet three academics who have made the move to Oslo.

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health ReseaRch

see page 26

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iNNovatioN as teachiNg method

high-tech motioN aNalysis lab

Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences

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Contact:

NO-0130 Oslo, Norway

Phone: +47 67 23 50 00

E-mail: [email protected]

www.hioa.no/eng

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Visiting adress:

Campus Pilestredet:Pilestredet 46 Oslo

Campus Kjeller:Kunnskapsveien 55 Kjeller

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Publisher: Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus

Design and editing: REDiNK

Print: Allkopi

Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA) is Norway's largest state univer-sity college, with a student body of 16 000 students and 1 850 employees.

HiOA offers a unique range of profession-al programmes that qualify students for professions that will contribute to future welfare and value creation.

HiOA aims to edu-cate practitioners with high levels of professional abil-ity and high-impact skill sets, and to facilitate lifelong learning by provid-ing continuing and further education.

“We want to help change society. That means educating people not only to perform a job, but to push their professions forward and create new types of careers.”Frode Eika Sandnes, prorector for research and development at HiOA

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oslo and akershus university college of applied sciences

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Welcome to HiOA rEAdy tO mAkE A diFFErEncENew knowledge and new practices for a changing world. The vision for Oslo and Akers hus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA) is ambitious, yet still a vision that the rector, Kari Toverud Jensen, is more than eager to achieve – possibly with your help.

Written by: Valeria Criscione

Photos: Benjamin A. Ward

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Welcome to HiOA rEAdy tO mAkE A diFFErEncE

“We offer teachers who are both researchers and educators, and I strongly believe that staff representing these combined skills – especially in practical fields – will strengthen education.” kari toverud Jensen, rector at HiOA

iOA represents Norway’s largest university college with 16 500 students and 1 850 faculty members and staff spread over four faculties and 21 institutes.

“A considerable share of Norway’s educated workforce related to the welfare of society come from our college,” rector Kari Toverud Jensen points out. “We are giants in many ways.”

Despite its considerable size, HiOA is still a young university college, established through several mergers, the latest in 2011.

Goal: 90 PhD students by 2015. HiOA’s first rector explains that the rationale for the last merger was to strengthen the college’s educational profile and research ability. The merged schools were able to complement each other in several areas including health and education. Today the university college repre-sents the largest nursing and teaching college in Norway, based on studies dating back to 1818, when the country’s first birth midwifery were educated in Oslo (then Christiania).

“The new organisation gives us better possibilities to contribute to society and put more resources towards PhDs. By 2015, our goal is to have 15 PhD students in each of our six doctoral programmes,” says Dr Jensen.

HiOA is looking beyond Norway’s borders to find the talents that will help HiOA achieve its ambition.

“We can offer interesting opportunities for young academics who through teaching and researching want to make a difference for the better, for themselves – and for society.”

Practical-oriented studies. HiOA’s focus is on practical studies oriented towards the needs of society, everything from journalism and library science to occupational therapy and information technology.

“What makes us different is that we have bachelor programmes in practical areas where you can study up to doctorate level,” claims Dr Jensen. “We offer teachers who are both researchers and educators, and I have the strong belief that that staff representing these combined skills – especially in practical fields – will strengthen education”.

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Kari Toverud Jensen, rector at Oslo and Akers hus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA).

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The rector herself is testimony to the possibilities that lie within the combined educational institutions. She started her nursing studies in the 80’s at Ullevål College, which later became part of HiOA. After working several years as a manager of a nursing home, Dr Jensen pursued an academic career at the University of Oslo. Under the current merged structure, she could have studied for her Master’s and Doctorate degrees at HiOA.. A doctorate in Health Sciences was established in 2013, the sixth PhD programme at the college.

Close to everything. The main campus lies in the capital of Oslo, split between a historic brick brewery complex and the former National Hospital, and serves

the most populous and diverse region in Norway. The institutes cooperate with a wide array of businesses and institutions in their research and teaching efforts, ranging from Oslo University Hospital to the Norwegian oil service com pany Aker Solutions.

“As a young college, we are commit-ted to creating and maintaining close relationships with partners outside HiOA. You can do everything here and the college is close to everything,” states the rector.

As part of its plans, the college is working towards achieving univer-sity status, a move that would give it more freedom to expand its educational offerings and attract even more research projects internationally.

HiOA is the third largest high-level educational institution in Norway, measured by number of students. The university college is unique in a national context due to its wide range of professional programmes, its close ties with the respective fields of practice, and the opportunities it offers to specialise at both master’s degree and PhD levels. Its strategy for 2020 is based on the vision of “New know ledge, new practice”.

hioa will coNtRibute to knowledge development in society as a whole, by educating

practitioners with high levels of profes-sional ability and high-impact skill sets. HiOA aims to serve as an important contributor to policy making.

hioa woRks to achieve uNiveRsity status. Such a status would afford the academic

freedom and necessary leverage to meet the important research and educational needs of the society.

hioa’s additioNal values. Knowledge, critical reflection, source criticism, scientific method,

and the exchange of ideas are core values in higher education and research. in addi-tion to these, HiOA also has its own three values reflecting the organisation's culture and priorities. These values are: diversity, learning and innovation.

educatioNal goal: HiOA will be internationally recognised for its professional programmes.

ReseaRch aNd develop-meNt goal: HiOA will be at the forefront of professionally relevant

research and development.

goal foR exteRNal RelatioNs aNd disse-miNatioN: HiOA will challenge

and develop the professions in cooperation with business and society and will be an active agent and participant in the public debate.

goal foR humaN aNd fiNaNcial ResouRces: HiOA will be a learning and

innovative workplace that organises and develops activities and resources in a goal-oriented and effective manner.

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New knowledge, new practice

the stRategy foR hioa, 2020

1818 1994 2011 2014…dating back to 1818 when Christiania Fødselsstiftelse (Christiania Childbirth Foundation) started a school for midwifery. Since then, through mergers of some 23 colleges, HiOA has grown into Norway’s largest school for professional studies in higher education.

The most important merger came in 1994 following the university college reform in Norway, when small specialised colleges were organised into larger general university colleges.

The latest merger came in 2011 when Oslo University College and Akershus University College joined forces. The rationale for the merger was to strengthen the colleges’ educational profile and research ability. By merging the two schools were able to comple-ment each other in several areas including health and education studies.

1 January 2014 the Work Research institute (AFi) and Norwegian Social Research (NOVA) merged into HiOA, and the Centre for Welfare and Labour Research (SVA) was established.

two ceNtuRies of histoRy

hioafacts

Source: Statistics on Higher Education (DHB) and Current research information system in Norway (Cristin)

scieNtific publicatioNs – hioa 2013

12 152 1711.6 ECTS-credits produced

at HiOA in 2013staff (average

full-time equivalents)

As part of its plans, the college is working towards achieving formal status as a university. In Norway, research in higher education was traditionally conducted at one of the country’s four universities. Today most uni-versity colleges have research activities. Since 2005, four university colleges in Norway have received the status of uni-versity from the educational authorities.

accreditation as a university in Norway is assessed by the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education. The main criteria are the quality, extent and stability of scien-tific activities at the institution. The institution must also offer a minimum of four different PhD-programmes. The practi-cal significance of the status as a university is foremost that universities are self-accredit-ing when establishing Master’s and PhD programmes.

hioa is planning to apply for university accreditation int 2015/2016.

Moving towards university status

Other

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interna-tional

studies

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Technology

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Welfare and labour

studies

130

Business and admin-

istration

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Art and design

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Professional studies

research

35

Health sciences

175

information studies

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Journalism and media

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Pedagogy

110

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Norway's welfare state is the envy of many, but what does it actually take to build and sustain a well-functioning society in today's complex world, largely affected by a recent financial crisis?

At the forefront of SOciAl wElFArE rESEArcH

Written by: Caroline Svendsen


illustrations: Lars Fiske

Read more about:

the new centre for welfare and labour Research at hioa: Emerging as one of the strongest social scientific environment in the Nordic countries.

striking research in oslo: Does the welfare state make disadvantaged citizens more or less likely to be a part of the labour force?

poverty in a welfare state: Why is it shame - ful to receive social benefits?

rOOm FOr EvEryOnE

he state and welfare of its citizens has been the research focus for Dr Hagen for nearly 30 years. He is now heading the Centre for Welfare and Labour Research

(SVA) at HiOA, an umbrella body for the Work Research Institute (AFI) and Norwegian Social Research (NOVA) that were merged into HiOA in the beginning of 2014.

A strong social scientific environment. “Through this merger we have established what probably is the strongest social scientific environment in the Nordic countries, thanks to the research and knowledge existing within AFI and NOVA. We will now be able to com-bine analysis and research of labour market institutions with redistributive social policies,” says Dr Hagen.

We managed to catch up with the director despite his busy schedule to hear more about the newly created SVA and why this field of study is particularly important and relevant to our lives today.

“The key component of the Nordic welfare state's success is the combination of good labour institutions combined with a centralised wage settlement and small differences within the population itself,” he remarks.

Dr Hagen informs us that the research focus

How is it that the Nordic welfare system is so popular, despite the high taxes and different reforms that people have to tolerate? According to Dr Kåre Hagen, director for the newly established Centre for Welfare and Labour Research, the answer is simple: Because the system includes everyone.

Kåre Hagen is the director of the new Centre for Welfare and Labour Research at HiOA.

for the new centre will be mostly on social policy and living conditions with special attention given to social exclusion.

“We are especially interested in social inequalities, problems of inclusion as well as labour and housing issues,” he states.

A sustainable society model. Many see the Nordic welfare model as a utopian idea and something that is virtually impossible to achieve for emerging nations. Unsurprisingly, Kåre Hagen doesn't agree.

“The Nordic welfare states have historical roots, but the ability to carry out reforms in a peaceful manner is one of the main reasons that this has been a sustainable society model for so many years,” he points out. An example of one such reform is the recent pension reform in Norway.

“This was quite a radical pension reform carried out by the authorities affecting the pension levels of many, and yet there was little protest from the population,” Dr Hagen says, adding: “Norway is in the unique position that it can afford to experiment with huge social policy reforms.”

The high level of taxation is effectively what helps finance the welfare state. But Norwegians aren't complaining. Norway also emerged relatively unscathed from the

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�Established January 1st 2014 at HiOA

�is an umbrella body for the two research institutes the Work Research institute (AFi) and Norwegian Social Research (NOVA).

�AFi is a social science institute perform-ing multidisciplinary, action-oriented re-search. its aim is to pro-duce systematic know-ledge on working life.

�NOVA is the leading na-tional research institute on child welfare, youth, ageing and the elderly. its aim is to develop know-ledge and understanding of social conditions and processes of change.

�The two institutes will remain separate entities, organised as parts of the new centre

�Research assignments may be commissioned by both public and private sector clients

financial crisis and did not need to make any unpopular welfare cuts.

Not just due to wealth. In the director's opinion the reason that the Nordic welfare system still works and is widely accepted by the population is that the welfare state encompasses everybody, there are comparatively small wage differences, and a high level of social capital and trust.

But what do you say to people who claim that Norway's welfare state is due largely to our oil wealth?

“The reality is that we don't use a lot of our oil wealth as most of this income is put in an oil fund to benefit future generations. You also have to remember that Norway is one of the most expensive countries to fill up your car. Our politicians didn't give in to the tempta-tion to replace taxes with oil income. The level of taxation is ttherefore comparatively high in Norway,” Dr Hagen explains. “You also need to have sound finances on a state level and a com-petent workforce to actually excavate the oil. Norway has all that,” he points out.

Exciting times to come. As the director of the new SVA centre Kåre Hagen encourages anybody who is interested in social policies, economic development and how to deal with an ageing population to contact HiOA and

find out more. Candidates from abroad are particularly welcome.

“Due to the merger of the two institutes AFI and NOVA, SVA can offer several new and exciting opportunities and solid research facilities for PhD candidates. They will be able to immerse themselves in cutting-edge research and can participate in projects that interest them personally as well as have academic value,” he says.

The director already has some future research topics in mind: “I think the time has come now to pursue a research and training agenda which is more intimately linked to looking at the challenges that a future wel-fare system such as ours will face. Will it be sustainable in the long term,” he asks.

In an attempt to answer that question NOVA is hosting the annual ESPAnet conference in September 2014. This year the conference is entitled “Beyond the Crisis in Europe” and it will look at new opportunities for reconciling sustainability, equality and economic robust-ness. The conference will be held at HiOA and social welfare researchers from around the world are expected to attend.

“Exciting things will be happening at HiOA in the months and years to come, and I think it is going to be a very interesting place to be,” Dr Hagen concludes.

the centre for welfare and labour Research

(sva)

“Norway is in the unique position that it can afford to experiment with huge social policy reforms.”dr kåre Hagen

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POvErty, SHAmE And SOciAl bEnEFitSReceiving social assistance from the state is shameful to many, as they feel stigmatised by society. Erika Gubrium, the director of the research centre Sosialforsk, wants to improve the situation for social benefit recipients.

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ow do various forms of welfare structures promote or prevent health, well-being and/or the social in-

clusion of individuals? This is one of the research questions that the Social Welfare Research Centre (Sosialforsk) at HiOA is concerned with. Given the well organised Norwegian welfare system, Norway is a good place to conduct this research. This is where Dr Erika Gubrium enters the stage – an American set out to find out more about the pros and cons with Norwegian welfare systems.

The relationship between poverty and shame has been the focus of Dr Gubrium’s research since 2010. Together with Professor Ivar Lødemel, she started by working on the project, “Tackling pover-ty, shame and social exclusion: a study in seven countries,” financed in the UK and directed by Robert Walker, University of Oxford.

Dr Gubrium is now coordinat-ing a new project; “Poverty and Shame: Perspectives and Prac-tices Concerning Anti-Poverty Measures in a Global Context”. This project focuses on the struc-tural role of shame in the pursuit and practice of anti-poverty policy in various study sites: Norway,

H Dr Erika Gubrium is in charge of the research unit Sosialforsk.

China, India, Uganda and the US. “Part of my work in connection

with these projects has been to look at and analyse Norwegian policy documents. We want to in-vestigate what happens to those who fall into the cracks in the Norwegian social welfare sys-tem,” Erika Gubrium explains. Despite Norway's well organised and generous welfare state, where the aim is to take care of everyone, there are still people who are not receiving the help they need. It is important to find out why.

To this end, Gubrium and her colleagues have interviewed recipients of social assistance.

In her conversations with Norwegian recipients of social as-sistance, many attached a sense of shame from having to seek last resort financial help from the au-thorities. "They described feeling both ashamed and being actively shamed by society,” she explains.

Her newest research which has received funding from the Research Council of Norway aims to provide guidelines for how Norwegian social policy and practices can be improved.

When she first arrived in Norway in 2008, Erika Gubrium held a PhD in Sociology and the History of Education from the University

sosialforsk

The Social Welfare Research Centre ( Sosialforsk) is a research unit within the Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy at HiOA.

�Sosialforsk is closely linked to the PhD programme in Social Work and Social Policy.

�The centre focuses on research identifying and understanding the societal mechanisms at play in the processes of marginalisation, poverty and social participation, with welfare and health perspectives viewed in conjunction with this.

�Welfare and health services, professionals and service users are central subjects.

stantly evolving. “It means that we are now able to offer even more interesting projects at Sosialforsk and we have several postdocs. We are also involved in several in-ternational projects, for example dealing with health inequalities and different welfare systems. There are many myths concern-ing the welfare state. It is our aim to debunk these myths through research and provide policy mak-ers with a framework to provide better services to citizens receiving welfare benefits from the state.”

of Florida, and she had left a career in the US.

“After I moved to Norway it be-came very clear that it would be dif-ficult to use the expertise that I had in a Norwegian context,” she says.

A friend told her that HiOA had an international social and wel-fare programme that might be of interest to her.

“I decided to do a Master’s degree at HiOA in International Social Welfare & Health Policy, mostly to have something to do when I first came here. But it turned out to be a really good way to build a potential job network,” she says.

As a result of the Master’s she met interesting researchers and fellow academics and ended up doing a postdoc at HiOA. Needless to say she now reads and speaks Norwegian fluently. As part of her research she conducts interviews, arranges focus groups and analy-ses policy documents and news-paper articles – all in Norwegian. “For people who speak English, it is not difficult to learn to read Norwegian. It is more difficult to write Norwegian well, however,” she remarks. Therefore, quite a lot of her academic writing is carried out in English.

Gubrium points out that the college structure at HiOA is con-

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Read more: www.hioa/sosialforsk

“There are many myths concerning the welfare state. It is our aim to debunk these myths.”dr Erika Gubrium

Espen Dahl, a pro-fessor in health and social policies, has carried out extensive research in health-

related social exclusion and its ef-fects in Norway and other Euro-pean welfare states. “You could say that a lot of my research is about looking at social policy through an equity lens,” the professor remarks.

The results of his extensive research demonstrate that the likelihood of participating in the labour market among disadvan-taged groups increased as welfare generosity increased. This is good news for the welfare state, and contrary to long-standing beliefs that the welfare state makes disad-vantaged citizens less likely to be a part of the labour force.

“In Norway’s case we have seen that disadvantaged groups have been better integrated in the labour force than is the case in many other countries. Part of the reason for this is that the gener-

ous Norwegian welfare state gives them enough incentives to work,” Dahl explains. Most of the benefits of the welfare state are only avail-able to those who work, and this is known as the entitlement effect.

In a recent report commissioned by the Norwegian Directorate of Health, Dahl found that an increas-ing number of high school drop-outs could threaten the economic basis of the welfare state in the future.

“This report documents that there is a clear link between poor health, poverty, and the tendency to drop out of school early,” he ex-plains. The report also shows that among those who smoke, educa-tional levels tend to be lower, their health is poorer and they tend to have a decreased earning capacity.

“However, it's not as simple as getting all smokers to quit, be-cause that factor only explains around a quarter of the health inequality in Norway. It is impor-tant to qualify everybody for the labour market by giving them an

GOOd nEwS for the welfare stateDoes the welfare state make disadvantaged citizens more or less likely to be a part of the labour force? Professor Espen Dahl at the Faculty of Social Sciences has found surprising results on this matter.

Professor Espen Dahl at the Faculty of Social Sciences researches health and social inequali-ties, and he won the 2012 Research Award at HiOA.

education. Education also ensures that people take better care of their health,” Dahl says. His research also shows that children with parents who have little or no educa-tion are significantly more likely to become school drop-outs than their peers who have educated parents.

“In order to prevent a disadvan-taged child from dropping out of school, appropriate measures need to be implemented while they are still at nursery school. We also have to be aware of reducing child poverty,” Dahl explains.

His most recent research will be expanded to look at other countries in Europe, especially Spain and Greece, two countries that have been badly affected by the recent financial crisis and do not have well-functioning welfare states.

“We have formed an interna-tional research network so that we can cooperate in looking at health inequalities in other European countries. This project is expected to run until well into 2016.”

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34phd pRogRammes: uNdeRgRaduate

pRogRammes

post-gRaduate pRogRammes

hioafacts

� Digital Library Learning

� Early Childhood Education and Care

� international Social Welfare and Health Policy

� Multicultural and international Education

� Network and System Administration

� Product Design

� Universal Design of iCT

� Vocational Pedagogy (quota applicants only)

•behaviour Analysis•Health Sciences•Educational Sciences for

teacher Education•library and information

Sciences•Social work and Social Policy•the Study of Professions

english-taught master’s programmes

16 526students

41%

Edvard Munch

most famous studeNt:

Edvard Munch, Norway’s most acclaimed painter, enrolled in Christiania Tekniske Skole (Christiania Technical School), in autumn 1879. By the follow-ing year, the then 18-year-old Munch had decided he wanted to become a painter. He never graduated from Christiania Tech nical School, the precursor for what is today the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design at HiOA.

Nine per cent of all bachelor degrees in Norway are awarded at HiOA,

which makes HiOA the largest supplier of bachelor degree

graduates in Norway.

Source: Database for Statistics on Higher Education

1 of 10 of all graduates58%

58 per cent of the research is conducted by

women

female professors at HiOA

Photo: The Granger Collection / NTB scanpix

See more English-taught courses at www.hioa.no/eng/studies

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Written by: Caroline Svendsen

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he Faculty of Health Sciences at HiOA offers two PhD pro-grammes, each of them unique in its

own way: HiOA is the only educa-tional institution in Europe to offer all levels of degrees in Behaviour Analysis; i.e. Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral degrees. Whereas the new PhD programme in Health Sciences is special in its approach, emphasising health sciences as a research field in its own right.

The PhD in Health Sciences, i ntroduced in 2013, has an overall perspective taking into account that health is a complex and comprehensive phenomenon that involves interaction between physical, psychological, and social dimensions. The PhD programme has an inter- and multidiscipli-nary profile whereby health re-

searchers cooperate on develop-ing integrated knowledge-based health care services at individual and systemic levels.

Key elements in the programme are: evaluation, interventions in health promotion, preventive health care, epidemiology, treat-ment, rehabilitation, and care.

“The term ‘health sciences’ is more comprehensive than ‘ medicine’, something our new PhD programme reflects,” says Astrid Bergland, the academic head of the new PhD programme in Health Sciences.

“An important goal for us is to provide more research-based knowledge on assessment inter-vention, professional experience, and user involvement in health and social services. The result of the research should have an impact on clinical practice and policy,” Dr. Bergland underlines.

illustration: Berit Sømme

Looking to have an impact on clinical practice and policy, or contribute to a deeper understanding of people’s behaviour? Then one of the two health-related PhD programmes at HiOA may be right up your alley.

UniqUE

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possibilities within health research

Astrid Bergland, academic head for the PhD programme in Health Sciences.

Trine B. Haugen, Vice-Dean R&D and professor at the F aculty of Health Sciences.

ingunn Sandaker, programme coordinator of the PhD programme in Behaviour Analysis.

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ated with research groups at the faculty. We are open to candidates doing research on a topic that they have a particular interest in within the health sciences and we can also offer projects related to ongoing research in the groups,” Dr. Haugen says.

The PhD programme in Behav-iour Analysis was established in 2010. Professor Ingunn Sandaker, the programme coordinator, points out that advanced level

“Norway's health sector func-tions well, and there are good career paths for health profession-als. The research we do at the fac-ulty and in the PhD programme is highly relevant and promotes colla boration in the sector,” Trine B. Haugen points out. She is the Vice-Dean R&D and a professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences.

The target group for the pro-gramme comprises individuals with backgrounds in all the health-care professions. Potential can-didates may be admitted directly from studies or from work life in the case of professional practition-ers with Master's degrees seeking to enhance their levels of compe-tence and knowledge, or from re-search institutes involved in health science projects. Applicants from other professional backgrounds who wish to work in health science projects may also be admitted.

“The PhD students will be affili-

faculty of health sciences

Consists of seven departments and offers study programmes on all levels, including two PhD programmes.

The two PhD programmes are: � Behaviour Analysis

� Health Sciences

The faculty has about 5 300 students and nearly 530 staff members.

“The term ‘health sciences’ is more comprehensive than ‘medicine’, something our new PhD programme reflects.”Astrid bergland academic head of the Phd programme in Health Sciences.

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Twitter in anEmErGEncyHow useful are social media in a crisis? That is what Dr Harald Hornmoen and an international team of researchers are trying to find out.Written by: Caroline Svendsen

Photo: Luca Kleve-Ruud/Samfoto/NTB scanpix

knowledge of behaviour analysis touches all areas of human activity. Organisations and cultures consist of people and their behaviour.

“We cannot work efficiently with or within these systems without understanding how behaviour is affected, maintained or changed. This also applies to health and lifestyle is-sues; we know a lot about what is good for us, but this does not help unless we change our behaviour in ways that benefit our health,” she remarks.

Behaviour analysis can be used in clinical treatment, ideally in conjunction with other health professions. However, insights from behaviour analysis can also be useful in addressing challenges facing society as a whole, such as overconsumption of natural resources or combating climate change.

“One strength of our scientific community is the emphasis on documenting effects of inter-ventions. Society’s demand for empirically supported interventions is increasing. We see a common interest between academia and soci-ety in developing robust communities that can operate at the frontier of research and develop-ment,” she adds.

HiOA has an extensive international network. The researchers at the Faculty of Health Sciences often host conferences where their work can be discussed and presented to a wider audience.

“We welcome international academics and lecturers, and we think that students from other countries would benefit from doing a PhD here,” Haugen says. “Furthermore, it will also be fruitful to us to have an international perspective.”

Since both the research done at the faculty and the PhD programmes are internation-ally oriented, the teaching is given in English. The faculty has participated in several EU- funded projects and has extensive international collaboration with other researchers.

“We are open to candidates doing research on a topic that they have a particular interest in within the health sciences”trine b. Haugen, vice-dean r&d and professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences.

22 July 2011 Norway was struck by terrorist attacks. A new research project at HiOA will study the use of social media in this and two other emergency cases.

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M

the Rescue project

�international project, duration three years, starting autumn 2014. Project manager is Associate Professor Harald Hornmoen, Faculty of Social Sciences, HiOA

�Awarded a grant of NOK 7 million from the Research Council of Norway

�The research application was classed as exceptional

�Researchers from several international research institutions will participate, including: HiOA, FH Joanneum, Aberystwyth University, Åbo Akademi University and Bengler AS

�Key stakeholders will be represented in an advisory committee, providing input based on their knowledge needs. This includes actors such as: The Pandemic Flu Office of the Health Protection Agency (UK), the Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (Norway), the Red Cross (Finland) and The Austrian Press Agency

emergencies, in order to optimise their awareness of the situation,” Harald Hornmoen explains.

“Internationally there is already quite a lot of research being con-ducted on the use of social media in crisis situations. One of the things we want to do as a result of this project is to develop criteria and models for optimal and ap-propriate emergency communi-cation tuned to the specificities of the emergency events chosen,” he concludes.

ost of us are familiar with social media and use it every day to stay connected with the world

around us. Dr Harald Hornmoen, an associate professor at HiOA, is now heading a team of inter-national researchers going to investigate the public use of social media in crisis situations. “The aim of this research is to be able to suggest better ways of using social media in crisis and emergency situations,” states Dr Hornmoen, who has carried out extensive research as well as teaching in the field of media studies and journalism at HiOA.

The primary objective of the RESCUE project is to develop new knowledge of social media emergency communication, and on this basis develop recommen-dations and tools for using social media and methods for evaluat-ing social media content during emergencies.

The project will study the use of social media in three different emergency cases: the terrorist at-tacks in Norway in July 2011; the flooding in May and June 2013 in Central Europe; and the pandem-ic influenza (swine flu) during its “critical phases” in 2009. Apart from improving the understand-ing of how social media has been used by key crisis communicators and what impact it has had in these emergencies, the RESCUE project will identify strengths and weaknesses in usage patterns and the assessment methods that have been applied.

The second overarching objec-tive of the project is to enable improved social media interaction in emergencies and use of social media tools in emergency com-munication.

“A lot of our work is going to be about how key communicators can evaluate the credibility of and use social media messages in

“A lot of our work is going to be about how key communicators can use social media messages in emergencies.”dr Harald Hornmoen

Dr Harald Hornmoen

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e want to help change society,” says Frode Eika Sandnes, the prorector for research and devel-opment at HiOA. “That means educating people not only to

perform a job, but to push their professions for-ward and create new types of careers.”

Crossing disciplines in pursuit of a goal, he says, is the essence of entrepreneurship. It’s also a key to recent student innovations in medicine, robotics, social policy and boat technology.

Engineering the heart. Among the green-clad surgeons hustling between operations at Oslo University Hospital are four bachelor-level mechanical engineering students. They have found a less invasive way to repair heart valves.

Their focus is the mitral valve, whose string-like tendons stretch or rupture in some people, causing a partial reverse flow of blood. Along with cardiac surgeon Jacob Bergsland, the young engineers have developed a safer, cheap-er method of affixing a new tendon, with access obtained through an artery in the groin.

“Today this is a big operation,” says Bergs-land. “You have to open the chest and stop the heart, an enormous procedure compared to what could be possible with the new method.”

Nikolai Hiorth and three fellow students devoted a semester to the project.

“We came up with a variety of ideas, then let people with surgical experience judge what might work,” he says. “When you don’t know something is ‘impossible’, you have an advantage.”

He learned that cardiac medicine has some-thing in common with oilfield technology, which preoccupies many engineering students in this country of vast energy resources.

“Blood vessels are like a network of pipes,

Innovation as teaching method:

crEAtinG vAlUE tHrOUGH nEw idEAS Written by: Ane Bamle Tjellaug and Walter Gibbs


W

By freeing students and researchers to indulge their creative powers, HiOA has become a global fount of new ideas, designs and systems.

where pushing, pulling and rotating are the simplest kinds of mechanical transfer,” he says.

Serious play with Lego. Toy giant Lego gives real-world experience to the product design students at HiOA. Sigrid Hustad’s task was to bring the beloved Lego man to life, then test prototypes on a kindergarten class. “We were supposed to generate as many ideas as pos-sible,” she recalls, adding that the experience boosted her career prospects.

Lego creative director Erik Legernes is in-deed on the lookout for design brilliance. “If we’re looking to hire new designers and we find very talented students, I can promise a job interview,” he says.

Learning’s a game. As a veteran teacher, Steinar Aas knew that Norwegian schools have unused computer capacity. So while earning a Master’s degree, he created Enki. It’s a computer game that lets teachers observe as pupils solve math and English puzzles and de-velop creative avatars. The Research Council of Norway invested NOK 1.5 million in the project.

Another example of student innovation is the 2013 winner of Young Enterprise Nor-way’s national championship for student busi-nesses. Sjøsikker SB was founded by electrical engineering student Fredrik Eriksen and two friends. To improve safety on motorised boats they have developed a wireless kill switch that is now nearing production.

Not all innovators are technology wonks. At an “entrepreneur camp” for first-year nursing students, a city health agency posed a chal-lenge: How can nursing-home residents main-tain their old social networks? Brainstorming students proposed 40 ways.

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Nikolai Hiorth (in front) is one of four mechanical engineering students who have contributed to innovation in heart surgery, in close collaboration with car-diac surgeon Jacob Bergsland.

Ragnhild By

innovation comes natu-rally when instruction and research are oriented to the professions. Career counsellor Ragnhild By at HiOA even advises some students to start a busi-ness while studying, to better understand how the world works.

The goal, she says, is to create value – new products, better services, sturdier infrastructure. For students unsure of how to proceed, she may caution against thinking small.

“it could be that the thing you’ll end up working with hasn’t been discovered yet,” she says, in the hope they will then go out and discover it.

think big – and outside the box

“We want to help change society. That means educating people not only to perform a job, but to push their professions forward and create new types of careers.”Frode Eika Sandnes, prorector for research and development at HiOA

magine monitoring critically ill patients through a wireless sensor network. Or mapping the cerebral activity of a stroke patient with the help of near

infrared lights. Or even preventing pc-related shoulder aches. All this might be a reality in the near future, thanks to the new Motion Analysis Lab at HiOA.

Working towards a common goal. The lab opened in March 2014, as the result of a chance encounter in 2008 between Terje Gjøvaag, an associate professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences and Peyman Mirtaheri, associate pro-fessor in Biomedical Engineering. Their first meeting was coincidental, but the two doctors have worked closely together ever since.

“When we met, my first thought was: ‘Can we work together?’, says Gjøvaag, who holds a doctorate in exercise physiology. “At that time, I didn't know there was a biomedical engineer-ing group at HiOA. In a way, we were looking for each other in parallel.”

The two doctors’ common goal is to improve modern patient care. They shared the view that the best way to achieve that goal, would be to work together across disciplines. They estab-lished a cross-disciplinary research group called “Clinical Interventions and Biomedical Engi-

I

innOvAtivE cOllAbOrAtiOnIn HiOA’s high-tech Motion Analysis Lab the focus on interdisciplinary collaboration leads to important innovations.



neering” (CIB). Then Mirtaheri and Gjøvaag collaborated to create the Motion Analysis Lab, together with colleagues from four different institutes at HiOA. Gjøvaag leads the lab.

“Collaboration between different professionals is needed to meet the challenges of current and future healthcare systems,” says Dr Mirtaheri, who is in charge of the complementary Optical Lab at the Faculty of Technology, Art & Design.

High-tech lab. The new Motion Analysis Lab is stocked with NOK 4.1 million in high-tech equipment. Here the CIB group runs nearly a dozen research projects seeking to make lives better for patients with prostheses or neuro-logical diseases. Their most recent purchase, a functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), resembles a swimming cap with a lot of colour-ful buttons. However, the NOK 600 000 piece of equipment is a sophisticated optical device that can send near infrared lights through the skull into the brain to map the cerebral activi-ties of, for example, stroke patients.

Although the lab is equipped with the most advanced technological equipment, the lab is about a lot more than just equipment.

“Motion analysis labs are found in most hos-pitals,” says Dr Gjøvaag. “What makes this lab unique are the people connected to it.” The lab facilitates collaboration between different

motion analysis lab

� Opened in March 2014

� Situated in Katti Anker Møller’s building on campus

� A “playground” for testing new ideas

� Four institutes at HiOA took part in establishing the lab:

� institute of Ergo-therapy and Ortho-paedic Engineering Studies – Faculty of Health Sciences

� institute of Physio-therapy – Faculty of Health Sciences

� institute of industrial Development – Faculty of Techno-logy, Art and Design

� institute of Product Design – Faculty of Technology, Art and Design

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innOvAtivE cOllAbOrAtiOn

Dr Terje Gjøvaag (left) and Dr Peyman Mirtaheri at the Motion Analysis Lab are demonstrating their functional Near infrared Spectroscopy, a sophisticated optical device that can map cerebral activity.

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“Collaboration between different profession-als is needed to meet the challenges of current and future healthcare systems.”dr Peyman mirtaheri

professionals such as medical doc-tors; physiologists; chemists; ergo therapists; biomedical, mechani-cal, and orthopaedic engineers; and industrial designers – thus facilitating a unique type of research across disciplines.

A recent case example is a PhD project on an optical probe that detects light in deeper layers of tis-sues. This probe could be used to monitor blood flow and oxygena-tion of critical care patients and ne-onates. In the future, it could even be used for blood pressure moni-tors without a cuff, a technology for which the two doctors recently won a research award at HiOA.

“These ideas could not have been developed without the inter-disciplinary collaboration of the healthcare professionals and en-gineers. We can develop and test concepts that are real problems met by healthcare professionals,” says Gjøvaag.

Wireless future. One of the three main research areas that the CIB group touches is the development of optical and mechanical sensors that communicate wirelessly as

The strength of the Motion Analysis Lab is its manpower, according to Dr Terje Gjøvaag. Here he explains some of the Lab’s many high-tech features.

a sensor network. The other two areas involve application of reha-bilitation and prevention such as the energy expenditure during prosthetic use or factors that lead to muscular and skeletal disease in patients with shoulder pain – a common problem in our modern PC-obsessed society.

“Most of the future in healthcare will be dependent on sensors and wearable sensor technologies,” says Gjøvaag. “Wireless sensor networks could offload the bur-den of continuous monitoring of patients from the busy workday of health professionals.”

The most recent project in the Motion Analysis Lab was carried out by a Brazilian PhD student, Ana Paula Cunha Loureiro, from the Pontifical Catholic Univer-sity of Paraná. Her study focused on monitoring the activity level of well-functioning post-stroke patients with an accelerometer and testing their oxygen uptake and muscle strength through an isokinetic dynamometer.

International collaboration. The Brazilian collaboration is just

one of many projects the labora-tory has had with international academia. Mirtaheri and Gjøvaag recently received visitors from the University of Lodz in Poland, and met with the universities in Southampton, UK; Jönköping, Sweden; Potsdam, Germany; and the Lab for Engineering Educa-tion & Development at Boston University, the US.

The next step is to make the lab open to all academics and involve students at the four respective institutes. The laboratory has started with courses for select HiOA employees to establish a broader range of research pro-fessionals, who can later take their students into the lab as re-search assistants. The concept is to make the lab a “playground” for testing ideas, open for all disciplines involved. Currently, the lab is offering a course on optical gait analysis.

“This is a strategic investment that gives enormous potential for research,” says Gjøvaag. “If you get qualified for this type of equipment, you can do anything you want.”

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“Motion analysis labs are found in most hospitals. What makes this lab unique are the people connected to it.” dr terje Gjøvaag

Dr Birger Breivik, Department of Vocational Teacher Education.

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CANCer CAre pATieNTS who receive home care may feel more reassured, normalised and calm if they have access to digital communication tools to contact their nurse. For some patients, however, the electronic communication made them more concerned and vulnerable, and gave greater awareness of the disease than they wanted. Typically, the more the patient used the possibility to contact their nurse electronically, the more at ease the patient felt with using the tools, and the tools became a friend and sup-port. These are some of the findings in Assistant Professor Dr Gro Hjelmeland Grimsbø's doctoral thesis presented in January 2014.

Recently, Assistant Professor Dr Birger Breivik at the Department of Vocational Teacher Education presented his thesis on how Lego is used in teaching activities in vocational training in upper secondary schools in Norway. As industrial tech-nology is becoming increasingly complex, teachers face a challenge in transfer-ring complexity to the classroom. Lego Mindshare, or similar toys, makes it pos-sible to simulate technological solutions in the classroom in a cost-effective way.

Digital communication improves cancer patient care

lego as an educational toolHOmeleSS drUg AddiCTS have an increased risk of overdosing, but better diet could potentially save many lives. in her doctoral thesis, Dr Mone Eli Sæland, showed that malnourishment is an impor-tant determinant of health for drug addicts. Many of the drug addicts interviewed by Sæland described how they could go days without eating. Pain, anxiety, infections and depression are common among drug addicts, and are likely to worsen with malnourishment. This in turn, leads to lack of appetite. Thus, malnourishment can contribute to a destructive spiral.

Malnourishment leads to overdose deaths

kindergartens lack guidelines for cultural diversitymUlTiCUlTUrAliSm iS eNCOUrAged in the formal framework of the Norwegian Kindergarten Act. The families’ cultural background should be reflected in the activities of the kindergarten. Some cul-tural differences, however, may be very problematic for the staff to handle, such as different attitudes towards physical punishment of children, or gender equal-ity. Dr. Olav Hovdelien points out in an ar-

ticle in international Journal of inclusive Education that the formal framework for Norwegian kindergartens does not give any guidelines as to how management and staff are to manage conflicts arising from cultural differences. in conclusion, Dr -Hovdelien argues that while Norwegian early childhood education embraces cul-tural diversity, it remains unclear regarding the limits to the political implications.

Research iN bRiefTo find out more about research and development at HiOA, visit www.hioa.no/eng

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Photos: Benjamin A. Ward, John Hughes, Thinkstock and Svein Nordrum/NTB scanpix

Foreign academics living and researching in Oslo:

GlObAl tHinkinG, lOcAl livinGThey come from different countries and for different reasons: some for the family-friendly Nordic welfare model and Oslo’s beautiful nature, others for Norway’s attractive sound economy. But all who come to work at HiOA help fill the growing need for international academics within the applied sciences.

The fjord city project in Oslo has opened up the waterfront to the public.

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In the coming years, HiOA will need to recruit a large number of academics with a doctorate or equivalent. HiOA’s ambitious strategy,

emphasising more research activities, is in part the reason for this. In addition many faculty members are set to retire in the years to come.

Monica Knutsen Figueroa, Senior Advisor for international recruitment at HiOA is helping the faculties recruit academic staff members abroad. “We are a substantial supplier of professionals to the Norwegian workforce. Within sectors such as health, education and engineering, the need for the people we educate at HiOA is growing,” says de Figueroa. Thus, attracting academics from other countries is cruicial.

Meet three members of HiOA’s academic staff who bring the world a bit closer to Oslo.

“Oslo is so close to nature. You can take the train to ski, boats to the islands, and buses to the beach.”weiqin chen, china

Weiqin Chen has a busy schedule at HiOA as a professor in human-computer interaction/universal design and academic coordinator of a new Master’s programme.

But the young 40-something has found time to immerse herself in the Norwegian crime literature of Gunnar Staalesen and Jo Nesbø, swim off the Oslo fjord islands, volunteer to walk dogs at an animal sanctuary farm in Klemetsrud, and stroll the pocket parks with her Norwegian husband in their trendy urban neighbourhood of Torshov.

“Oslo is so close to nature,” says Chen, a PhD graduate in computer science from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. “You can take the train to ski, boats to the islands, and buses to the beach.”

Chen left her post as a research associate at Osaka University in Japan for a job at the University in Bergen more than a decade ago. She decided to move to Oslo in 2011 to work at HiOA partly because of love and partly because of the college’s lofty ambitions to achieve university status. She was further thrilled to find out that the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design had ambitions to have its own PhD programme.

“In the department of computer science we have this exciting Master’s programme in universal design of ICT and a research group with nice people and many inter-esting projects,” says Chen. “Re-cently we were invited to be part of an EU Erasmus+ project proposal.”

attRacted by hioa’s ambitioNs

Despite her busy schedule as professor at HiOA, Weiqin Chen still finds the time to enjoy Oslo’s nature.

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“It is good to be able to steer your day and find time to do things.”Alejandro Figueres, Spain

Alejandro Figueres set his sights on working in Norwegian academia because of his admi-ration for the Nordic welfare model and the country’s well-functioning economy. It add-ed positively to the equation that his partner Teresa, a fellow civil engineer, had just landed a full-time position in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

The 27-year-old Spanish civil engineer moved from Valencia to HiOA as lead engineer in the Department of Civil Engineering and Energy Technology last year. He learned Norwegian in just one month at the Nordic Centre in Alicante, a Spanish resort town popular amongst Norwegians. Many of their friends had emigrated from the high unemployment situ-ation in Spain to Chile or Brazil. But Figueres wanted a place that was closer to home and

fasciNated by the welfaRe modelcould offer an attractive work-life balance.

“If I had stayed in Spain and worked at an internship at a private building contractor, I would have worked from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.,” says Figueres. “This is something we really appreci-ate in Spain – to be able to steer your day and find time to do things.”

At the college, Figueres spends an average 10-12 hours per week teaching lab courses. The rest of his workweek is spent helping stu-dents with their projects. In their free time, the couple likes to explore the nature around their home in Drammen, a popular town located a half-hour train ride from Oslo. Drammen has attracted many international residents.

“We met many Spanish friends through a Face book page in Drammen,” Figueres says. “The page had 40 members. Now it’s up to 100.”

Alejandro Figueres (cen-tre) works as lead engi-neer in the Department of Civil Engineering and Energy Technology. Here he helps Annum iftikhar Akhtar and Babæk Abnar with their projects.

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American Lynell Chvala came to Norway expecting to stay two years. It’s now been 17 for the assis-tant professor at the Faculty of Ed-ucation and International Studies.

Chvala left her home state of Iowa for Oslo in 1997 to be near her Norwegian husband and to gain experience abroad as an English language teacher. She quickly learned Norwegian and has been teaching in HiOA’s Department of Primary and Secondary Teacher Education since 2006. She enjoys the flexibility that her position offers with both on-campus and on-line teaching possibilities. “In the US, there is also much more in-dividual pressure to publish. While in Norway, the culture is more about how we can work together to make it happen,” she says.

Chvalla is currently working on her doctorate in English lan-guage policy in lower secondary education while she teaches two courses, both in English. She has been able to do this with a young daughter at home, thanks in part to the well-structured Norwegian day care system and short com-mute in the relatively compact city of Oslo.

“One thing I really like about Norwegian society is that children are taken quite seriously here,” says Chvalla. “I see with my sister (in the US) that grandparents often take care of children because day care is so expensive and you never know what you’re going to get. It’s not part of the state system. Here it is, and there is quality assurance.”

Another perk for her is Oslo’s proximity to nature. The capital is often referred to as the Blue-Green City because it lies nestled between the majestic Oslo fjord and Nordmarka forest. “What I love about this city is that it has been designed for so many needs,” says Chvala, an avid run-ner. “Within short distance, you’ll always find a forest or a river.”

What to know before you go

laNguage

Foreign faculty members must learn Norwegian within two years after taking up employ-ment at HiOA. However, an increasing number of courses at HiOA are being taught in English.

language courses for academics

in cooperation with the Uni-versity of Oslo, HiOA can offer language courses for aca-demics:

Semester courses in Norwe-gian for Academics: www.uio.no/nora

Short courses in Norwegian for international Researchers: www.uio.no/norir

settliNg iN

practical help

Making the move to another country can be challenging. On behalf of HiOA, the inter-national Network of Norway (iNN), assists new foreign em-ployees with everything from visas, tax cards, and bank ac-counts, to housing, etc inn.chamber.no/ relocation-services

For more info on making the move to HiOA, visit: www.hioa.no/eng

Social networking

Visit: facebook.com/HiOAeng

There are also several Face-book groups for international students and employees at HiOA.

Jobs

Vacancies

Vacancies at HiOA are posted at HiOA Linkedin company page and at HiOAs job portal: hioa.mynetworkglobal.com

Norway for researchers

EURAXESS.no is Norway`s por-tal for mobile researchers, with practical information on jobs, funding opportunities, recruit-ment and career development: www.euraxess.no

“One thing I really like about Norwegian society is that children are taken quite seriously here.”lynell chvala, USA

Lynell Chvala is both a teacher and work-ing on her doctorate in English language policy at HiOA. She appreciates the way children are regarded in Norwegian society, something her daughter Stella (10 years) benefits from.

fRom usa with love

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Identifying as a pupil is better for learningCHildreN wHO ideNTify themselves with the role as pupils will accept boring tasks, and learn more from them than less motivated pupils. By actively engaging in school chores, over time the “good pupils” will develop better literacy and understanding of meaning. This in turn is a prerequisite for better learning.

Pupils who have parents with higher levels of education will often have better pre-knowledge, and are therefore better able to take advantage of school activities. This research project shows, how ever, that the pupils’ attitude towards their own role as pupils and the tasks they are given at school, can be more important for the learning outcome than the family background.

The findings are based on analysis of classroom observation and interviews with pupils, and are part of the ongoing research project “The Didactic Challenge of New Literacies in School and Teacher Education”, funded by the Research Council of Norway. For more information, see blogg.hioa.no/literacy.

Informatics students at HiOA are helping people without speech to use Facebook. The students used open source code to make Blissymbolics, an ideographic writing system, accessible via a normal keyboard. This is part of a larger project at the Department of Computer Science that aims to reinvigorate the use of Blissymbolics, which was originally developed for international com-munication. In the Nordic countries it has been used to help persons without speech to communicate. Until now, however, it has not been possible to use the symbol language on speech machines, PCs or tablets.

peOple OVer 40 identify with age groups that are younger than themselves. And people with lower levels of education feel younger than people with higher education. These are some of the findings of the research unit “Aging, health and welfare”, led by prof. Astrid Bergland at HiOA. “The explanation may be that highly educated people simply are more at ease with their actual age. it may also be that people with lower education are more likely to work in more physically demanding professions where being young and having a good physique, is more important as the work demands it”, says prof. Berglan. These findings are based on data from The Norwegian Study on Life Course, Ageing and Generation (NorLAG), a multidisciplinary and longitudinal study following 2 500 individuals aged 40–80 years.

facebook for people without speech

people feel youNgeR thaN they aRe

Energy-efficient cloud computingClOUd COmpUTiNg reqUireS a lot of energy, as each server normally handles between 10 and 100 virtual computers. Now researchers at the Department of Computer Science at HiOA have shown through experiments that it is possible to minimise the size of the virtual computers. The researchers, Alfred Bratterud and Hårek Haugerud, found that it’s possible to have 10 000 virtual computers running on less than 2 per cent of the computer processor (CPU). They also found that 110 000 virtual computers could run on just one server, hence dramatically reducing the energy usage.

Emotional attachment as design methodologyBy ANAlySiNg USerS’ emOTiONAl attachment to products, designers can increase the lifetime of products. Professor Tore Gulden at the Department of Product Design has developed a design methodology that examines how a product activates the user. The more the user is activated, the stronger the attachment to the product will be. This in turn will make the user take better care of the product, thus reducing waste. The development of the methodology was a transdisciplinary project involving design master students and a psychologist.

Research iN bRiefTo find out more about research and development at HiOA, visit www.hioa.no/eng

From left: Tobias Andersen, Jan Lysen Andersen, Kristen Ribu and Nina Bauge. Code by Velimir Jankovic.

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ars Klintwall, a Swedish clini-cal psychologist and PhD fellow in the Department of

Behavioural Sciences at HiOA, did a research internship at the Yale School of Medicine. He is currently working on publishing a paper he co-authored on “Moti-vation as a Predictor of Outcome for Toddlers with Autism” in an American psycho logy journal. The paper is based on his four months spent at the prestigious Ivy League university. It was made possible, in part, byHiOA’s Overseas Research

A viSit tOExcHAnGE idEASPhD fellow Lars Klintwall’s work on toddlers with autism earned him a research internship at the Yale School of Medicine – a visit sponsored by HiOAs Overseas Research Grant.Written by: Valeria Criscione

Photo: Private

hioa’s overseas Research grant

�HiOA’s Research Committee awards PhD candidates and postdocs a total of NOK 700 000 in overseas research grants annually, with a maximum of NOK 100 000 per applicant (NOK 150 000 for those travelling with family).

�Grant recipients typically travel to prestigious academic institutions in the US, Canada and Europe, such as the London School of Economics, Yale University, and the University of Western Ontario, for a period of one month to one semester.

�HiOA recently simplified the programme to speed up the application processing time to just two weeks. The main criteria are a connection to an advisor abroad, along with the support of a HiOA advisor.

Grant. The grant was used to cover housing and airfare costs and it helped facilitate the unique inter-national collaboration.

“It is a very good publication and it looks good on your CV,” says Klintwall. “It was interesting on a personal level to go to one of those schools you hear about. If I want to do a post doc, it is now absolutely possible.”

The journey started when Katarzyna Chawarska, Associate Professor at the Yale Child Study Centre, contacted Klintwall. She was interested in his research

methods in a paper he co-authored with his advisor at HiOA, Svein Eikeseth. Klintwall took the chance to ask her about the possibility of a research intern-ship at Yale.

It only took three months from his application was submitted in January 2013 until he was in place at New Haven to start his research. During his time there, het ook advantage of the many conferences at Yale and attended talks by interesting researchers – something he would never have been able to do in Oslo on that level. He also visited prestigious neighbouring institutions, such as the universities of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Columbia.

“The big difference in going to one of the big universities is that it’s like an ongoing conference,” says Klintwall. “There is always something going on. You can go to talks with researchers such as Alan Kazdin, the director of the Yale Parenting Centre. He is the author of one of the books used in the course I am teaching at HiOA.”

An internship abroad is a good way to exchange ideas. PhD fellow Lars Klintwall went to Yale on a grant from HiOA.

L

OSlO ANd AkerSHUS UNiVerSiTy COllege Of Applied SCieNCeS

www.hioa.no/eng

faculties

Faculty of Health Sciences

Faculty of Social Sciences

Faculty of Education and international Studies

Faculty of Technology, Art and Design

research centres

Centre for the Study of Professions

Centre for Welfare and Labour Research

National Centre for Multicultural Education

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Retur: Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied SciencesP.O. Box 4 St. Olavs plass, N-0130 OSLO, Norway

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