A further NOK 64 million towards medical research
The board of the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation decided in a meeting on 2 December 2010 to award a total of NOK 64 million towards the establishment of four new K.G. Jebsen centres for medical research. Including the allocations that were made earlier in 2010, the foundation has, in the course of its first year in operation, made total allocations to Norwegian research of NOK 87.5 million.
In spring 2010, the four medical faculties in Norway and their academic environments were asked to nominate a limited number of research communities, which then applied for funding from the foundation. In this way, the foundation has ensured that the funds will go to research that is in line with the research institutions and academic environments’ own strategies and budgets.
Funds have already been allocated this year to the establishment of a centre on multiple sclerosis research in Bergen and a professoriate in ‘technical safety’ at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The expert evaluation of the applications received by the foundation in this round stated that:
‘The expert committee is impressed by the high quality of all the proposals. The translational approach was clearly described in all cases and many of the research groups could already refer to a well-documented history of fruitful research collaboration.’
This made the board’s decision difficult, but the work of the expert committee resulted in a clear recommendation that four of the applications stood out in particular. In alphabetical order, they are:
- Anne-Lise Børresen-Dale, the University of Oslo:
K.G. Jebsen Centre for Breast Cancer Research - Jan Haavik, the University of Bergen:
K.G. Jebsen Centre for Research on Neuropsychiatric Disorders - Finn Olav Levy, the University of Oslo:
Jebsen Cardiac Research Centre - Ulrik Wisløff, Norwegian University of Science and Technology:
K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine
These four have been offered a donation from the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation of NOK 4 million per year for four years. The donations to the four centres thereby constitute a commitment from the foundation totalling NOK 64 million. There is reason to assume that these donations may also trigger allocations from the state’s ‘donation enhancement grant’ scheme by 25% - i.e. a further NOK 1 million kroner to each project each year. In addition, the three universities themselves will make major contributions, which mean that these four research communities will have considerable scope. The four research communities are thus well equipped to tackle the important medical problems they will be working on over the coming four years.
The Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation is grateful for being able to contribute to promoting Norwegian translational medical research in collaboration with the medical academic environments. In this context, the foundation sees its role as being a supporter that can help research organisations to realise their own goals and strategies – and by means of this collaboration also help to improve the clinical services offered at our hospitals.
Links to news articles (in Norwegian):
Adresseavisa:
Kjempeløft for hjerteforskning
St. Olavs Hospital - Universitetssykehuset Trondheim:
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