Three of the award winners: Kristin Skare Orgeret, Semih Gonen og Robert Buch.
OsloMet researchers honoured
The winners of the R&D Award, the Dissemination Award, the Innovation Award and the Award for promising researchers have been named. The prizes were awarded at OsloMet's research day.
Three individual researchers and one research group received awards for their efforts during OsloMet's research day on 30 November. The awards go to employees and research communities at OsloMet who have excelled in research, innovation and dissemination over the past year. New this year is a separate award for promising researchers.
This year's award winners are
- Kristin Skare Orgeret, Department of Journalism and Media Studies, was awarded the Dissemination Award.
- Gustavo Borges Moreno e Mello, Department of Computer Science, was awarded the Innovation Award.
- Semih Gonen, Department of Built Environment, was awarded the Award for promising researchers.
- Robert Buch and his research group Organizational Psychology, Oslo Business School, were awarded the R&D Award.
"I would like to thank each and every one of the award winners for their efforts and congratulate them on their well-deserved awards", said rector Christen Krogh.
Krogh handed out the awards together with vice-rector Per Martin Norheim-Martinsen.
"I am particularly happy to see how all the award winners work with research and innovation that contributes to improving society in various ways. Together, they represent the great breadth of research topics at OsloMet", says Krogh.
Read the jury's reasons for the awards below.
A celebration of OsloMet's research
The annual Research day is a celebration of research and researchers at OsloMet. Alongside the award ceremonies, the audience was presented with short introductions from OsloMet's research and innovation projects, including OsloMet Holmlia, a research and innovation project on brain activity during walking and balance and several projects within the topic of climate policy and governance in cities.
Oleksandra Deineko, Scholars at Risk researcher at NIBR, spoke about OsloMet's collaboration with the Kharkiv National University and the research projects this collaboration has resulted in.
Deputy Mayor in Oslo, Abdullah Alsabeegh, and Head of business in Lillestrøm kommune Maria Hermansdatter Hoff were also present and presented their expectations for the collaboration with the university in the future.
The Jury's reason for the awards
The Dissemination Award
Winner: Professor Kristin Skare Orgeret, Department of Journalism and Media Studies.
The candidate is an active and committed communicator of her professional knowledge related to media, power and journalism. Through dissemination of research and participation in the public discourse, she contributes to increasing attention to, and knowledge of, important topics for democracy and social life. The candidate conveys complicated material in an easy-to-understand manner, is "uncluttered, concrete and concise", and is frequently used as an interview subject and commentator in the daily press, NRK and TV2 in a number of areas related to the media and democracy, freedom of expression, conflict, safety for journalists, war and peace processes in general and to more case-specific topics such as terror in France, media coverage of #metoo or African political communication.
The candidate has been a permanent member of NRK's Friday panel since 2019 and regularly contributes to NRK's Helgemorgen where she comments and analyzes current issues from a media perspective. The candidate distinguishes herself by being as dedicated and engaged in mediating through national media as she is in mediating in a course for a small group of female journalists from Mali, or mediating to Norwegian youth, for example. She combines communication and research in an excellent way, and thus brings knowledge to constantly new groups outside OsloMet.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the candidate has used her expertise on the media's role in war and conflict to inform the public. She is a permanent expert in 'NRK answers about the war in Ukraine', has participated in all the major news broadcasts on radio and television a number of times, given interviews on television, in radio and newspapers, written chronicles and participated in debates about the information war, digital platforms and propaganda, about the situation for critical journalists in Russia and about President Zelenskyi's speeches and use of social media.
Through solid dissemination efforts over time, the candidate lifts media-related issues up and onto the Norwegian media's agenda and into the social debate in general, and in this way she helps to build a bridge between research and the public sphere. Through her involvement, she contributes to creating arenas for dialogue and reflection and to increased attention and knowledge of challenges and opportunities linked to the media's role in society.
The Innovation Award
Winner: Associate professor and AI group leader Gustavo Borges Moreno e Mello, Department of Computer Science.
The candidate has made an impressive effort to develop and strengthen the collaborative ties between the AI group and other research group and teams across the department and TKD faculty.
The candidate has been instrumental in the establishment of highly innovative and unique environments in Norway, such as the quantum computers and the Ocean Lab. He started the seminar series on Intelligent Health and Smart Cities. The candidate has contributed to the creation of NeuralMet, a student driven organization for students in AI, with particular focus on students’ collaboration with industry and start-ups.
His initiatives went beyond TKD faculty, launching e.g. the AI Journalism together with the Department of Journalism (SAM) and being a pioneer in new bridges between OsloMet and the private sector. The candidate has initiated novel ways of working with the news media to support investigative journalism and help foster transparency and democratic participation. Under his leadership, the AI Lab has supported investigations led by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, NRK, Faktisk.no and others. The team has helped improve investigative methodologies and introduced methods from data science to journalists.
The candidate has also together with Gründergarasjen initiated a Bootcamp for students and employees at OsloMet to provide them with the skills and competence needed to develop new start-ups and innovation projects.
The candidate’s effort and initiatives have been an important contribution to building a culture for innovation at OsloMet among employees and students.
The Award for Promising Researchers
Vinner: Dr. Semih Gonen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Civil Engineering and Energy Technology.
The candidate is a very active Postdoctoral Research Fellow with six journal articles, three of which are in Level 2 journals, and five conference papers he published during his 18 months at OsloMet. In addition to his postdoc project, he has been working on various exciting topics, such as monitoring the vibrations of Munch’s paintings and drive-by monitoring of bridges. He is also developing his collaboration with international experts.
Two main fields of the candidate’s studies at OsloMet affect society in two ways. His work on the structural health monitoring (SHM) of bridges is directly related to the safety of the citizens, as demonstrated by recent bridge collapses in Norway, the functioning of the transportation system and the economy. SHM using the vibration response of bridges helps early detection of damages and maintenance strategies in terms of safety and economics. It could also alleviate the need for significant repair works that result in bridge closures and increased carbon footprint. As a result, not only the bridge collapses are prevented but also the economic competitiveness of the country increases due to more resilient infrastructure.
The candidate’s studies on Munch’s paintings embrace Norway’s cultural heritage and help preserve it. The candidate together with colleagues are mapping the effects of impacts and vibrations on Munch’s paintings during their transport and display at the Munch Museum. The paint loss caused
by these vibrations is a loss of the cultural heritage and huge amounts of resources are spent on consolidation works every year.
The candidate is a young very active, knowledgeable and friendly researcher. He tries always to share his experience with his colleagues and other researchers at OsloMet. He always motivates them and tries his best to keep a friendly and positive working environment.
The R&D Award
Winner: Professor Robert Buch and his research group Organizational Psychology.
The candidate and his research group are distinguished by extensive, high-quality research. The candidate became OsloMet's youngest professor five years ago, has a very high research output and a number of publications at level 2 and in the Financial Times' list of the world's best journals. The research group consists of a research team dedicated to manager-employee relations, human resource management (HRM), work motivation, health and well-being, virtual teams and processes, working climate and performance.
The research group's goal is to publish empirical, theoretical and applied contributions of high international quality. Using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, they collaborate with both public and private organizations to promote healthy and productive workplaces.
The candidate's work contributes to understanding the well-being of people in the workplace. He also studies the relationship between leaders and followers, with some breakthrough theories and studies regarding the importance of the social relationship between leaders and employees. This contribution promotes socially responsible managers.
In addition to delivering research at a high level, the candidate also contributes to the dissemination of research and knowledge through several syllabus books and through general dissemination in the media.
The candidate is a colleague who helps everyone around him to succeed. He is not the lone wolf who only works with the star researchers elsewhere. He takes colleagues on research projects, helps colleagues when they are stuck, and also motivates everyone around him to excel in research. This has helped to build a solid research group.
