Department of Physics and Technology, UoB IFT-posten May 6th 2011

A Word from the Department Administration

The Student Council of the Department of Physics and Technology had a general meeting on Friday May 6. After the meeting a semester celebration was arranged.

We know that our BS students do not know the department and us well enough. This was a good opportunity to create more and better contacts across different branches and degrees.

News and General Information

Register for participation in Forsker Grand Prix (Researcher Grand Prix) until May 8

All PhD students should consider registering themselves for participation in Forsker Grand Prix 2011 within May 2! Follow the link for more information on criteria and registration. Forsker Grand Prix in Bergen will take place on Friday September 23.

• 10 young researchers, a scene, four minutes to tell about their research topics. The audience and the judges will decide who disseminates best.

Forsker Grand Prix was arranged in Norway last year for the first time. Bergen was the first with a final, and UoB’s PhD student Ann-Kristin Molde was victorious. Read more and see film on last year’s finale in På Høydens article from last year.

It was recently announced that also a national finale will be arranged this year. This will take place at Den Nationale Scene (The National Theatre) here in Bergen, a week after the local final.

Forsker Grand Prix is a part of the Forskningsdagene (Research days) which will take place during September 23 - 2. oktober. In case you wish to participate with other contributions you are encouraged to read more on the intranet. If you have any questions regarding Forsker Grand Prix or Forskningsdagene at UoB, contact Gro Malnes Øvrebø, The Department of Communications: tel. 83813.

1st Bergen meeting on PET chemistry and applications

The Department of Chemistry invites to a meeting on May 19 2011 which will take place in auditorium 2 in realfagsbygget (The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences). Participation is free of charge, however, registration is mandatory. Registrations should be addressed to Nina Berg-Johannesen with name, position, department/company, address and email. More information here.

NTVA invites to a meeting in Bergen:

• Øyvind Tuntland, Director, The Norwegian Petroleum Authority:
  Offshore sikkerhet – etter ulykken i Mexicogulfen (Offshore safety – after the accident in the Mexican Gulf)

On Tuesday May 10 2011 at 19:00 at Nansensenteret in Marineholmen, Thormøhlens street 47. After the meeting, there will be a simple meal with fish soup and social gathering. 
The price is 100,- NOK per person. Registration within 15.00 Thursday May 5. This is, however, necessary for only those who wish to join the dinner.

Seminar with CMR’s film about Odd Dahl

• Friday May 13 at 14.15 in auditorium B (cake and coffee from 14.00)

Odd Dahl was a man with many interests and strong commitment. In 1920s he joined Amundsen’s trips with the polar vessel «Maud» and became an indispensable person for the expedition. Dahl filmed and flew, but not least he solved significant problems in connection with the measurements of a variety of weather phenomena one had to deal with in the polar regions. Dahl and his colleagues have built the world’s first large high voltage device for (Van de Graaff-generator) cancer treatment in Bergen, the nuclear reactor in Kjeller and much more. Among others a fantastic story about a trip to the US in order to gather documentation from secret archives can be mentioned. More information about Odd Dahl can be found in a short biography from the Polar Institute and about the film in CMR’s film announcement.

CMR’s Communications Manager, Gunn Janne Myrseth, will give an introduction to the movie which is in Norwegian.

National Conference on the Future Education May 20

On behalf of the Ministry of Education, the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Oslo will be arranging a national conference:

• The future education.
  A national model for computational education in engineering and natural sciences.
• May 20 from 10.00 until 16.00 at Ole Johan Dahls hus (the new information technologies building):

The aim of the computational education is to integrate students with realistic problems already during the introductory courses. At the conference you will be able to hear why and how computational education has been introduced at the University of Oslo, what this means for the industries and how this could be implemented at other universities and university colleges.

Target groups:

• Employees related to science and technology in universities- and university colleges:
• Lecturers
• Researchers within Science Education
• Leaders
• Students
• Administrativ employees
• Industries
• Department Sector

Follow the links here for program and registration. We hope to see you and your colleagues at the conference.

Staff

New guidelines for registration of working hours and overtime for employees at UoB

UoB has now finished working out new guidelines for registration of working hours and overtime. The guidelines define those who are employed as department head, professor, associate professor, assistant professor, PhD students and postdoctoral students as employees in leading or especially independent positions, according to § 10-2(3), and are therefore exempt from the duty of registering working hours.

In practice this means that only employees in technical and administrative positions must register their working hours in flexible working hours form. We will be practicing the same routines as before, and will send the forms electronically to Elin regularly (each quarter of a year).

Letter from the University Administration can be read here, and the guidelines here.

Announcement of Stipend for Travel and Research Stay for PhDs (And Possibly for Postdocs) at The Norwegian University Center in St. Petersburg

The Norwegian University Center in St. Petersburg is announcing up to 5 stipends to cover 1-3 months research stay for PhD students from NTNU, University of Bergen, University of Oslo and University of Tromsø. Postdocs may also be considered. See more information here. Application deadline May 13 2011.

Professor Richard Thorn joins the Department of Physics and Technology as a Professor II in Measurement Science from 1st May. He started his career in Bergen as a Research Scientist at the then Chr. Michelsen Institute (Professor Erling Hammer was his first manager). Since then he has held academic positions at University of South Australia, Cranfield University, University of Derby, and most recently as Professor and Head of the School of Engineering and Science at Victoria University, Melbourne. He recently moved to the Technical University of Lodz, where he is a Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering. His research interests are process measurement with a particular focus on multiphase flow measurement.

PhD-news

Trial Lecture

Cand.scient. Stig Olsen will be giving the following trial lecture for his PhD degree:

· Gass i skiferleire - ressurser og utvinning (Gas in shale clay – resources and recovery)

· Friday 13.05.2011, at 10.15 in Room 546, IFT

All are welcome to listen!

The last issue of PhD-news, nr 2 2011, can now be downloaded. Please note that some updated information on the following issues is missing: the application deadline for Leader Summer Course is on May 6 and not April 30. The application deadline for Researchers Grand Prix is on May 8 and not May 2.

IFT in the Media

· Per Osland: Europhysicsnews 42/2 2011 EPS Strategy Plan beyond 2010 pages 4-8

· Jan S. Vaagen: En Christie stridsmann (A Christie Warrior) På Høyden May 2.

Publications (ISI)

· Teh WL, Sonnerup BUO, Paschmann G, Haaland SE: Local structure of directional discontinuities in the solar wind JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS Volume: 116 Article Number: A04105

· Ferno MA, Gronsdal R, Asheim J, Nyheim, A, Berge M, Graue A: Use of Sulfate for Water Based Enhanced Oil Recovery during Spontaneous Imbibition in Chalk ENERGY & FUELS Volume: 25 Issue: 4 Pages: 1697-1706