Research and academic activities
BI is a research-based school and research shall have a clear impact through publishing in internationally recognized journals. It shall be the basis for the students’ learning and must be reflected in everything we do as an educational institution. It is also expected that the research will have an impact on business practices and practices in public administration.
One of BI’s goals is that several of its disciplines be ranked among the best in Europe. This is important in order to strengthen our international reputation, our academic impact and the recruitment of faculty. It has been a high priority to recruit scientific staff who have obtained good results in their research and who have an international background. One of BI’s leading academic environments is the Department of Finance, which is one of the most highly ranked research environments by Nordic and European standards according to «UTD Top 100 Business School Research Rankings».
In 2019 we continued the work of strengthening BI’s research by concentrating on the research centres, an increased focus on publishing in recognized international journals and by making a survey on the impact of research on academia, business and public administration. BI’s researchers also develop knowledge on sustainability within their disciplines and contribute to an increased focus on sustainability issues in research. For the purpose of further development of the programmes, particularly in the field of ‘business analytics’, BI has decided to build up an academic environment within statistics and informatics (data science), and to establish an interdisciplinary research centre that will make use of sophisticated statistical method within BI’s disciplines. In the past year,
Berit Svendsen, head of the international activities of Vipps, was appointed BI’s first Adjunct Executive in Residence. In this role she will, among other things, take part in the development of new programmes.
Our academic activity is organized through eight departments(read more at bi.no/forskning). A list of all registered research projects of which BI is either the institutional owner or participating partner is available at the national research database Cristin.
RESEARCH CENTRES
In 2019 BI focused more strongly on its eight research centres, BI Research Centres, all of which represent spearheads within research. The centres shall produce high-quality research, publish in the journals we consider the most prestigious in their fields of study, on a continuous basis conduct and maintain a capacity for a high degree of externally funded research, both with a national and international focus, in cooperation with academic partners, business and society.
EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
In the past year the value of BI’s externally funded research projects totalled NOK 37.2 million, up 7.5 per cent as compared with 2018.
In the past year the value of BI’s externally funded research projects totalled NOK 37.2 million, up 7.5 per cent as compared with 2018. The authorities have also expressed the expectation that Norwegian education institutions shall increase the income from commissioned activities (BOA).
During 2019 BI has had a strong focus on increasing externally funded research activities, and on illustrating how our research may contribute to meeting current challenges in society and business. As compared to the previous year, the number of applications for external research funding increased by 70 per cent, and the number of applications only to the Research Council of Norway were up from 26 to 68.
BI was granted external funding for a number of smaller and larger research projects in 2019, both from the EU, the Research Council of Norway, as well as from business and sources of funding abroad.
An example of this is the H2020-funded project «ARTSFORMATION - Mobilizing the Arts for an Inclusive Digital Transformation», that has received funding of NOK 30 million and is coordinated by Professor Christian Fieseler. Our school is project owner and consortium coordinator for the three-year project that will be conducted in cooperation with eight international research partners.
In 2019 Associate Professor Andreas Fagereng was granted NOK 14 million as an ERC Starting Grant for the project «Inequality in 3D - Measurement and Implications for Macroeconomic Theory (3D-in-Macro)». Among other things, the project will explore the importance of economic inequality and heterogeneity in households.
In December BI was granted funding from the Helsevel-programme of the Research Council of Norway for the project «Measures for Improved Availability of Medicines and Vaccines», coordinated by BI Professor Marianne Jahre. The project, which received NOK 12 million, involves cooperation across several departments at BI and a large international academic network.
BI considers the preliminary results related to our faculty’s output in 2019 as good. Our goal has been to increase both international scientific publications and the share of articles in top-ranked scientific journals.
In 2019, too, the share of publication points for articles published in scientific journals is increasing. The share of publication points for publications in quality level 2 journals also shows a very satisfactory development.
The number of top publications (ABS4* and ABS4) remains at about the same high level as in2018.
The share of scientific output resulting from international cooperation remains at the same level as in the previous year
All publication figures for 2019 are preliminary figures (February). The final figures will be published in April.
AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS FOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
The purpose of distinctions and awards at BI is to recognise our employees’ achievements through an annual event at BI’s annual meeting and a celebration where both honour and a money prizes are awarded. The awards stimulate hard work, support strategic efforts and offer recognition and inspiration to the award winners and their academic environments.
Associate Professor Mark Brown was awarded the prize for Pedagogical Innovation for 2019. The jury commended Brown’s efforts to revitalize courses and teaching through an increased use of digital and interactive learning methods.
Professor Christian Brinch received BI’s Research Prize for 2019. The prize is awarded to faculty who have produced high-quality research and made positive contributions to their own academic environment and the general public, through voluntary work and other tasks.
HONORARY DOCTORS
BI had 15 honorary doctors in 2019. This is a recognition given to persons whose work in life has been of great importance. Read more about our honorary doctors at bi.no/forskning/aresdoktorer.
ENDOWED CHAIRS
In 2019 agreements were entered into to continue two of BI’s three endowed chairs, funded by the BAE industry (Buildings, Construction and Property) and by Tom Wilhelmsens stiftelse respectively. This means that BI had three endowed chairs in 2019:
Professor Ragnhild Kvålshaugen, financed by the BAE industry (Buildings, Construction and Property).
Professor Per Ingvar Olsen, endowed professorship financed by Tine and Nortura
Professor Torger Reve, Skibsreder Tom Wilhelmsens stiftelse’s professorship.
GSERM
In January 2019 BI, in cooperation with the University of St. Gallen, conducted 7 GSERM courses with a total of 114 participants representing 15 different nationalities. GSERM is an advanced two-week integrated course in method for PhD candidates, post-doctoral candidates and faculty, taught by recognized international lecturers.
BI’s DOCTORAL PROGRAMME
BI’s doctoral programme shall be driving a force for the development of our faculty. Continuous efforts are being made to increase the throughput in the doctoral programme. An increased focus on admission quality and follow-up of doctoral students during the programme over the last few years show positive results. A total of seven disputations took place in 2019, a decline from the top year 2018 when 15 candidates graduated. An increase is expected again in 2020.
We assume that the quality of the PhD programme is reflected in the quality of the institutions at which the candidates secure jobs. Good examples of this in 2019 include:
Chi Hoang, Nanyang Technological University
Jo Albertsen Saakvitne, Boston Consulting Group
Olga Mikhailova, NMBU (from 2020)
DISPUTATIONS IN 2019:
Adeline Holmedahl Hvidsten - The role of incompleteness in codesigning collaborative service delivery: A case study of electronic coordination in Norwegian health care (series of dissertation 7/2019)
Delphine Caruelle - The Interplay between Time and Customer Emotion during Service Encounters (series of dissertation 6/2019)
Chi Hoang - How the Human Schema Guides Consumer Behavior (series of dissertations 5/2019)
Wah Yip Chu - Essays in Empirical Asset Pricing and Investment (series of dissertations 4/2019)
Olga Mikhailova - Medical technological innovation processes (series of dissertations 3/2019)
Jo Albertsen Saakvitne - Essays on Market Microstructure (series of dissertations 2/2019)
Per-Magnus Thompson - All you need is love? Investigating leadership from leaders’ attachment experiences in close relationships (series of dissertations 1/2019).