This year, the Olav Thon Foundation awards six national prizes for excellence in teaching in higher education. The awards are conferred upon university teachers at the universities of Oslo, Bergen, Agder, South-Eastern Norway, and NTNU.
Each award recipient receives NOK 500,000, as well as a medal and a diploma.
In addition to the teaching awards, the Olav Thon Foundation provides support for Nordic research collaboration in medicine. A total of three Nordic research projects are each awarded NOK 16 million over a four-year period to conduct research on, among other topics, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The researchers are affiliated with several Nordic universities and university hospitals in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
The award ceremony will take place in the University Aula on 5 March, followed by a formal dinner at Hotel Bristol.
Recipients of the National Award for Excellence in Teaching:
- Professor Jostein Bakke, Geosciences, University of Bergen
- Docent Morten Brekke, Mathematics/Natural Sciences, University of Agder
- Professor Lars Herfindal, Pharmacy, University of Bergen
- Professor Karina Bakkeløkken Hjelmervik, Mathematics, University of South-Eastern Norway
- Associate Professor Marit Valla, Medicine, NTNU, Trondheim
- Professor Odd Martin Vallersnes, Medicine, University of Oslo
Nordic Research Projects and Principal Investigators:
- REVIVE-PD – Regenerative Extracellular Vesicles in Parkinson’s Disease delivered intranasally to target neuroinflammation and disease progression
Director and Professor Charalampos Tzoulis, KG Jebsen Center, University of Bergen, Norway; Researcher Christopher Einan Kvistad, Haukeland University Hospital, Norway; Professor Maja Jagodic, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. - Tau hyperphosphorylation in neuronal development and degeneration (TaNDD): A Nordic translational study
Professor Tormod Fladby, Akershus University Hospital, Norway; Professor Henrik Zetterberg, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Professor Heikki Tanila, University of Eastern Finland, Finland. - The Role of Dysfunctional Sleep Vasomotion in Neurodegeneration
Professor Rune Enger, University of Oslo, Norway; Professor Koen Vervaeke, University of Oslo; Professor Maiken Nedergaard, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.