Trung Tuyen Truong
I have been working at Department of Mathematics since 2017, first as an Associate Professor, and from 2023 a Professor.
I have experience in both research, teaching and managing. My research is in both theoretical mathematics, computational mathematics and AI and their interconnection (e.g.: developing new and efficient methods to help train Deep Neural Networks and classify medical images, or using AI to help mathematical education in primary schools). My research has been supported by organisations as Research Council of Norway and UiO’s Growth House. My collaborators include both researchers in academia and industry. Since my PhD study, I have been teaching many different courses, advising several Master’s and PhD students as well as postdocs, in both Mathematics and Computer sciences. I was cofounder and CEO of a company registered in Norway, and currently a cofounder of a team creating a platform to help users with optimization and root finding methods.
I have experience in many different working cultures: as undergraduate student in Vietnam, a PhD student and postdoc in the USA, continuing as a postdoc in South Korea and Australia, and as a faculty member in Norway.
As a representative of the permanent academic staff, I will bring in an open-minded and interdisciplinary approach, supportive of interactions between theory and applications, and between academia and the society at large.
Nominators for Trung Tuyen Truong
- Trung Tuyen Truong
Arne Bang Huseby
Arne Bang Huseby (f. 1958) is a professor in risk- and reliability analysis at the Department of Mathematics. https://www.mn.uio.no/math/personer/vit/arne/index.html
Many years of experience have given me a very good overview of the Faculty. I consider it a great privilege to be part of an environment with so many skilled researchers, educators, and colleagues. I have been employed at the Department of Mathematics since 1982. In 1986, I was appointed as an Associate Professor, and since 2011, I have been a Professor. I have served as Head of the Department of Mathematics for three terms: Spring 1997, 2000-2004, and 2009-2016. I was a member of the Faculty Council during the periods 1994-1997 and 2000-2004. Since 2020, I have been a member of the Faculty’s
Appointment Committee. From 2021 until the summer of 2023, I was a member of the advisory board for the dScience Center. In the fall of 2023, I became Deputy Director, and in 2024, I have served as Director of this center. I am also the leader of the COFUND program DSTrain and I am a member of the steering committee for the FRONT 3 project. I have taught at all levels in statistics, probability theory, and risk and reliability analysis. I have supervised 40 master’s students and 11 doctoral students.
I have also held positions outside the University. From 2006 to 2014, I was on the board of the Abel Prize, and from 2018 to 2023, I served on the board of the Norwegian Computing Center. In the periods 1988-1990, 2000-2004, and 2009-2023, I was a member of the National Council in Mathematics, and from 2018 to 2022, I was on the board of this council.
The Faculty leadership envisions the University holding an autonomous position in society, with free and open research and education of candidates who can meet the needs of the future. If I am elected to the Faculty Board, I aim to contribute to realizing this vision. Quality in research is inextricably linked to openness and knowledge sharing, and researchers should have the freedom to follow their curiosity. Research should be accessible to everyone, promoting openness and collaboration across disciplines and borders. This ensures that research results can contribute to further development and innovation in society without unnecessary barriers.
The most significant challenge we face as a society today is related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. As researchers, we have a clear responsibility to help achieve these goals. The STEM fields play a key role in this regard. I therefore support the Faculty’s focus on research with a strong sustainability profile.
Interdisciplinary collaboration creates new perspectives and solutions. By connecting methodological fields like statistics and informatics with natural sciences and technology, complex problems can be solved more effectively and innovatively. The Faculty has long been at the forefront of this development. In the COFUND program DSTrain, synergy between methodological fields and natural sciences and technology is a central element. Interdisciplinary collaboration holds enormous potential, and I will therefore work to strengthen this. Our education should be adapted to the needs of tomorrow, with innovative methods and high quality. A good learning environment is essential to motivate students and facilitate their receiving the best education and developing academically. Our Faculty has contributed significantly to this through the InterAct initiative and through the SFUs (Centers for Excellence in Education) CCSE and Inted. Teaching with a computational focus and a clear emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration has become a strong brand for the Faculty. The interdisciplinary COFUND programs, CompSci and DSTrain, can be seen as continuations of the Faculty’s teaching strategy aimed at research training.
Unfortunately, we are experiencing that the framework conditions for our sector have changed in a negative direction. At the same time, it has become increasingly challenging to obtain research funding through the Research Council and the EU. In this situation, it is important to recruit the best candidates, both academically and pedagogically. The strategies of the departments related to recruitment are crucial here. The Faculty’s leading position in basic research entails that we have a national responsibility for a wide range of disciplines, and this responsibility must be upheld. At the same time, we must have recruitment strategies that can capture trends and provide a basis for genuine academic renewal. Before positions are advertised, it is important to assess the availability of candidates. The use of search committees is an effective tool in this regard. Experience shows that it is easier to attract talented candidates to a recognized and well-functioning academic environment. Therefore, the research groups must be ensured a central role in strategy development, in the announcement phase, and in the subsequent recruitment process.
Working towards a better gender balance requires targeted measures, especially to counteract the dropout of women in academic positions. This can include mentorship programs, flexible work arrangements, sabbatical periods, as well as academic and personnel support at all career stages. Young researchers, regardless of gender, must be given time to develop strong networks as platforms for their academic careers, and it is important that they are not unduly stressed in this process. To support this, an interdisciplinary forum for newly appointed associate professors and researchers should also be established.
Increased focus on competition for research funding means we need to improve the quality of submitted applications. In this context, the University could learn from the research institute sector, where application work is much more often viewed as a collective responsibility and where leadership is heavily involved strategically. It is important that researchers do not operate solely as individual entities when applying for projects. Where appropriate, groups should collaborate and share experiences. This is especially important for younger researchers who often need guidance to improve the quality of their applications. Local administrative support in the application processes can relieve researchers and ensure that applications are competitive and meet the requirements of the calls.
The Faculty’s research section also plays an important role in this regard. The postdoctoral fellows employed in DSTrain are offered secondments with companies as part of their career development. There is great interest in the STEM fields in industry and business, so a large number of companies have agreed to host our candidates. We encounter similar attitudes in the partner program in dScience. I believe that there should be a strong focus on collaboration with external companies. Secondment opportunities could advantageously be extended to PhD students and postdoctoral fellows more generally. This would contribute to valuable knowledge exchange and innovation. At the same time, it would give our candidates more diverse professional experience and increase the chances of funding for research.
Nominators for Arne Bang Huseby
- Geir Storvik
- Ingrid K. Glad
- Fred Espen Benth
Anita Torabi
Vote for me and I will be your voice in the faculty’s board!
I make sure that our opinions as scientific staff at the MN-faculty are heard, discussed, and understood regardless of any disagreements coming up. I hope I have your trust and vote in this election to serve as your representative in the faculty’s board.
Short about me:
I have previously served in two boards for high ranked institutions within academic profession and higher education, both at the University of Oslo and University of Bergen. Through these positions, I have gained a lot of experience from decision-making meetings and serving in different committees, which have also inspired and motivated me to be a candidate in the MN-faculty board. I have experience as safety representative, geoscience research leader, interdisciplinary project leader, as I was a researcher for many years (2004-2019) at Uni Research and NORCE in Bergen. Since 2019, I serve as a professor in geoscience at the University of Oslo.
Although, for the most part of my career I worked as a researcher, teaching, and supervision of students at different levels have always been my passion. In my current position, I bring my research-based knowledge into my teaching, helping the students to learn up-to-date knowledge, which is relevant to the society.
My interest is both in basic and applied research; therefore, I use my fundamental research to contribute to a green energy transition and a more sustainable future. Among the applications in this direction, I can mention projects that I have led or been actively involved in CCS (carbon capture and storage), geothermal energy, and natural hazards.
I am an open and outspoken person who cares about the work environment locally and on the MN-faculty and surely ethics at work and in science. Therefore, I make sure and stress that HSE and work environment are taken seriously.
It is especially important to me to advocate diversity, equality, and inclusion. This is important for the MN-faculty as an international working environment now and in the long run in the future. If I am the one you elect, I will work towards these values for a better work environment at the faculty.
Nominators for Anita Torabi
- Helge Hellevang
- Trude Storelvmo
- Ivar Midtkandal
- Ingrid Anell
- Alvar Braathen
- Nazmul H. Mondol
Stephanie C. Werner
Stephanie, who received her PhD from Freie Universität Berlin in 2005, arrived at University of Oslo in 2009. She is now professor for geophysics and planetary sciences, and co-leading the SFF Centre for Planetary Habitability (PHAB). Since Stephanie arrived, she was a member of three SFFs (PGP, CEED and now PHAB), and was director for the NFR funded Norwegian Research School Dynamics of the Earth and Planets (DEEP) between 2016 and 2024. While her ambition and curiosity lie in exploring planets in the solar system and beyond, it is also important to her that students and PhD candidates receive the best stimulation and the opportunity to study new fields like planetary sciences, exoplanet research or astrobiology (topics that did not exist before at UiO). One of the major drivers of her career were curiosity and the opportunities given to her to explore new fields.
It is the individual interest that brings research forward and in the past this was stimulated by the faculty, for example, in encouraging young researchers to apply for prestigious grants. However, it appears that these kinds of actions are mostly directed towards the benefit and prestige of the faculty, but does not necessarily improve the situation of the applicant with respect to future employment safety at UiO. One of the goals shall be to accountability, and not to lose those with curiosity for the new, ambition, and success in grant applications who will help shaping the profile of the faculty.
Current pressure on earning (related to study point production) and the notion of societal relevance clearly counteracts curiosity driven research. Quality control and not mass production should be one of the key parameters in higher education institutions, which want to win many high profile and prestigious grants, especially for a university which aims to be among the best in Europe. We need to take care of those who can make this happen.
Institutional leadership and responsibilities cannot be seen independent from education and research. To create employability in various sectors the goal must be cross-disciplinary and trans-departmental education, but it also requires individual expertise.
Stephanie contributes to research in more than 100 articles in earth and planetary sciences (including in journals like Nature, PNAS and Science) and has an h-index of 45, and led several NFR, EU and ESA grants, but she takes time to participate in institutional and educational leadership:
- 2016 – 2024 Generic and scientific Portfolio development for early career scientists with in the Norwegian Research School Dynamics of the Earth and Planets
- 2015 – 2017 Faculty Management Board (non-permanent representative three years in a raw)
- 2015 – 2017 Undergraduate /Graduate Study Program Planning Committee (InterAct)
- 2014 → Program and Tuition Committee, (PUU), Department for Geosciences
Stephanie C. Werner stands for curiosity driven research, quality instead of quantity in education and an accountable future for ambitious young research talents.
Nominators for Stephanie C. Werner
- Trond H. Torsvik
Marianne Fyhn
I am a professor of physiology and neuroscience at the Department of Biosciences (IBV). Since I joined the department in 2010, I have been extensively involved in research, teaching, dissemination, and administrative work. Through my interdisciplinary research, I have collaborated with various institutes and faculties at UiO, and I have a broad network of national and international researchers with whom I work. I have led several large research projects and have been a board member of the Research Council of Norway’s (NFR) portfolio boards for Enabling Technologies and Groundbreaking Research, as well as a national research school and various other roles. These positions have provided me with a deep insight into many of the challenges facing researchers, students, and our sector.
I feel privileged to have such a fantastic job, but I am concerned about the financial outlook and want to contribute to making sound priorities going forward. It is crucial to secure the framework conditions for our core tasks – research and education – even if it means prioritizing them over investments in areas such as innovation and communication in a challenging economy. My vision is for the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MN) to be a leading provider of knowledge, offering our students an exciting and challenging education, providing opportunities for talent development, succeeding in competitive arenas, and producing excellent research that attracts talent both nationally and internationally.
I am particularly committed to ensuring the necessary framework conditions that allow for experimental research, ideally in conjunction with computationally intensive activities. I am skeptical of the current distribution model, which seems to contribute to the depletion of experimental research and education. Therefore, I will work to adjust this model in a way that better supports our research and teaching activities.
I believe that MN and UiO should be attractive workplaces for both our own and international talents so that we can continue building excellent environments with a strong breadth of expertise. I will work to ensure bottom-up initiatives while also promoting broader faculty initiatives where interdisciplinary collaboration is essential for solving complex problems. As a former section leader and a member of the institute board, I have gained a good overview and understanding of our organization’s operations. I value collaboration and am convinced that, together, we can achieve the best possible research, education, and innovation. I emphasize compliance with laws and regulations, but we should also strive to minimize self-imposed rules where they are unnecessary.
I see great opportunities for the Life Science Building, especially in terms of collaboration and shared resources. However, I am concerned about funding for the activities within the building, especially given the economic challenges facing the MN faculty. I will work towards thorough, knowledge-based, and participatory restructuring processes to ensure that MN thrives both academically and collegially. I wish to contribute to shaping a future where the MN faculty continues to be a beacon of research, education, and innovation, through strategic priorities and cross-boundary collaboration.
Nominators for Marianne Fyhn
- Anders Malthe-Sørenssen
- Andreas Carlson
- Cecilie Morland
- Dag Olav Hessen
- Geir Kjetil Ferkingstad Sandve
- Thomas Bondo Pedersen
- Finn-Eirik Johansen