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Scandinavia`s first School of Health Innovation has opened

The School of Health Innovation will help new ideas to germinate and be developed more rapidly by our health researchers, and enhance innovative thinking and culture at the Faculty,’ says Hilde Nebb, Pro-Dean. 

The picture shows Prime Minister Erna Solberg talking with PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers from the faculty of medicine.

Prime Minister Erna Solberg talks to PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers from MED about the School of Health Innovation. From right: Geir Hiller Holom, Lavanya Thiruchelvam-Kyle, Louise Fremgaard Risnes, Krister Anderssen, Johanne Egge Rinholm and Pro-Dean Hilde Nebb. Photo: Kristin Ellefsen/UiO

The School of Health Innovation is an initiative by the University of Oslo (UiO), the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, and Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Stockholm, and has been developed in collaboration with the Nansen Neuroscience Network (NNN).

The School will enhance Scandinavian health researchers’ knowledge of innovation and entrepreneurship. 

– I consider initiatives such as this one to be absolutely vital to avoid losing out on a lot of innovation. We make both large and small innovations that have the potential to become bigger, but perhaps we do not realize that your particular idea may have that potential,’ says Prime Minister Erna Solberg about the School of Health Innovation. 

Tthe Prime Minister talked with PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers from MED about the new School of Health Innovation during an event 27th of October.

Toolbox for innovation

The universities behind the establishment of the school have worked closely with the business sector on course content. This has resulted in two courses that will provide tools and knowledge for entrepreneurs in the health sector.

The first course to be run is Health innovation and entrepreneurship, which starts in February next year. This course will teach students: 

  • How to use their background in health innovation to solve various societal challenges, and develop solutions and products in the field of medicine.
  • To develop a business plan based on an innovative concept, and to communicate it further to relevant stakeholders.
  • How to combine the roles of researcher and entrepreneur.

PhD candidate Lavanya Thiruchelvam-Kyle believes that the school will be of benefit to many health researchers. 

– For example, it isn’t always easy to know what to do if one has an idea, whom to contact and so on, says Thiruchelvam-Kyle.

In addition, the school will give researchers a picture of the type of career opportunities that exist outside of academia, and provide them with experience of collaboration with the business sector.

The picture shows representatives from the project group behind the establishment of the School of Health Innovation with Erna Solberg.
Representatives from the project group behind the establishment of the School of Health Innovation pictured with Erna Solberg after Thursday’s launch. From left: Jan Frich/UiO, Samer Yammine/KI, Hilde Nebb/UiO, Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Jan Terje Andersen/OUS and Bjarte Reve UiO/NNN. Photo: Kristin Ellefsen/UiO

Scandinavian cooperation

The courses are aimed at PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers from the medical faculties at UiO, NTNU, KI, University of Tromsø (UiT) and University of Bergen (UiB).

– We want our young researchers to learn more about what it means to be an innovator. The School of Health Innovation will help new ideas to germinate and be developed more rapidly among our health researchers, and enhance innovative thinking and culture at the Faculty, says Hilde Nebb, Dean of Research and Innovation at MED. 

The teaching is case-based, and will be conducted by leading academics, biotech companies and hospitals. The School will collaborate closely with Oslo University Hospital and with business clusters to facilitate innovation that will provide maximum benefit to patients, as well as value creation and new jobs. 

– It is important for us at KI to be able to offer our students and researchers opportunities to learn how to commercialize their ideas. The School of Health Innovation will help to provide them with the necessary tools. They will also learn how to translate research findings and innovations into clinical practice, says Marianne Schultzberg, Dean of Doctoral Education at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet (KI).

Read more

In the media 

The School of Health Innovation at Forskning.no (in norwegian).

Published Nov. 23, 2016 1:26 PM - Last modified Jan. 2, 2017 3:08 PM