NOVA University membershippartnership

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NOVA-BOVA Conference Oct. 16-18, 2003, Vilnius,
Lithuania NOVA University in the Nordic
Education Space and the NOVA-BOVA co-operation
and future NOVA Rector Paul Jensén
Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Outline

• NOVA
• Member institutions
• New Strategy Main aims and focus areas
• NCM investigations
• Evaluation

• NOVA-BOVA
• Rector meeting 2001
• Main results up to now
• Future opportunities
• NOVA Strategy International co-operation
• Rector Meeting 2003

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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NOVA University
Network

• The Nordic Forestry, Veterinary and Agricultural
  University Network
• The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University,
  KVL Denmark
• University of Helsinki, Faculty of Agriculture
  and Forestry Finland
• University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary
  Medicine Finland
• Agricultural University of Norway, NLH Norway
• The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, NVH
  Norway
• The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,
  SLU Sweden
• Hvanneyri Agricultural University, LBH - Iceland

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Main aims

• NOVA shall
• establish and support resource-efficient
  co-operations.

• create added value
• by combining the intellectual resources of the
  member institutions to obtain critical mass

• in order to deliver higher quality in teaching
• at equal or lower costs, than each of the member
  institutions can deliver on their own.

• consolidate the Nordic ability to compete
  worldwide.

• be a speaking partner to the industry.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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NOVA focus areas at MSc level
Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Key objectives of Bologna declaration concerning
co-operation on BSc/MSc area

• To adopt a system of easily readable and
  comparable degrees.
• To adopt a system, essentially based on two main
  cycles, undergraduate and graduate.
• To establish a system of credits such as the
  ECTS system as a proper means of promoting the
  most widespread student mobility.
• To promote mobility by overcoming obstacles to
  the effctive exercise of free movement.
• To promote an European co-operation in quality
  assurance with a view to developing comparable
  criteria and methodologies.
• To promote the necessary European dimensions in
  higher education, particularly with regards to
  curricular development, inter-institutional
  co-operation, mobility schemes and integrated
  programs of study, training and research.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Research (PhD) Courses 2003
Topic Course title Credits Course period
Radio Ecology Radio Ecology 5 ECTS 6-17
January 2003, (2-6 June 2003) Animal
nutrition Farm animal nutrition and Feed
Technology 3 ECTS 10-20 June 2003 Plant
breeding In Vitro Cultures and Plant Breeding 6
ECTS 3-9 March 2003 Crop production science Crop
Physiological Aspects of Climate Change 9
ECTS 24-28 April 2003 Animal breeding Quantative
Genetics in Animal Breeding 4,5 ECTS 4-15 August
2003 Veterinary Epidemiology Postgrad course in
Veterinary Epidemiology 6 ECTS Reproduction Domest
ic Animal Reproduction 2 ECTS 25-29 August
2003 Plant Pathology Plant Disease Epidemics in
Space and Time 6 ECTS Summer or Fall
2003 Horticulture Sustainable Production in
Horticulture 8 ECTS Forest Pathology Microbial
Communities and Population 5 ECTS 22-28 May
2003 Informatics in Agricult. Reasoning under
Uncertainty in Agriculture 6 ECTS 10-21 August
2003 Bayesian and Graphical Methods Agro
Ecology and Values, Ideology, Science and
Organic Farming 4 ECTS 15-19 September
2003 Organic Farming Ethology Aggression and
Social Strategies 3 ECTS Bioethics
Plants Ethics and Application of Gene Technology
in 6 ECTS 2-5 June 2003 and Agriculture/Plant
Breeding 10-12 September 2003 Econometry Utili
zation of Panel Data in Agriculture 6 ECTS 2-12
June 2003 Statistics in Genetic Re. Statistical
Genomics 6 ECTS 9-21 June 2003 Pig Heard
Health-Welf. Production Systems and Disease
Complex 3 ECTS 11-15 August 2003 Bio Fibre
Technology Bio Fibre Technology Plant Fibres 6
ECTS October 2003
Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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NOVA Strategy

• Concentrate on MSc level education, using a few
  areas as
• forerunners, focusing on NOVA courses, periods
  and blocks, and
• on teacher co-operation.

• Implement the Bologna declaration goals in NOVA
  work and at all
• NOVA member universities.
• Focus on the development of PhD courses.

• Advance international co-operation successively
  on an equal basis,
• to be based on external funding of joint
  activities e.g. Internet-based
• education.

• To an increasing extent rely on external funding
  of NOVA activities.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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NOVA participation in NCM investigations

• Development of A Nordic room for education and
  research in agriculture and forestry
• 2 reports 2002 and 2003
• Research funding, model areas in higher education
  and organization.
• New working group to include also Food an Fish
  sector.

• White paper to make Nordic countries one of the
  world-leading regions in research and innovation
  A 2010 vision!
• Organization and Funding
• Ready November 2003

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Evaluation of NOVA

• Second half of 2005
• 10 years after start
• 2 years after adoption of current strategy

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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NOVA-BOVA networkRector Meeting in August 2001

• Extract from Statements and conclusions
• Concluded that
• The work carried out and the results
  obtained in the
• NOVABA co-operationhave created an
• outstanding professional network and a very
  good
• platform for the future BOVA and NOVA
  co-operation.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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NOVABA
Nordic-Baltic co-operation programme in
agricultural, forestry and veterinary sciences.
1996-2001

• Involved all NOVA and BOVA universities.

• Focused on short intensive MSc courses in
• the Baltic countries.

• 47 courses during the 5-year period
• 170 teachers, 840 students.

• External funding mainly from NCM.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Rector Meeting in August 2001

• Extract from Statements and conclusions
• a considerable interest in a continuation of
  the co-operation as well as a possible extension
  of the co-operation.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Rector Meeting in August 2001

• Extract from Statements and conclusions
• The future co-operation has to be based on
  equality
• and External funding should normally be applied
  for by joint applications

• Dissolved NOVABA December 2001

• Established a new organization with an operative
• Co-ordination Committee from Jan 2002,
  consisting of
• one member appointed by each member
  institution.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Primary tasks of Co-ordination Committee

• To raise funds
• To develop action plans
• To decide on prior future activities
• To develop disciplinary networks
• To control budgetary matters
• To report its activities

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Activities and main results March 2002 October
2003

• Disciplinary networks - 8 identified 3 active

• Co-operation at MSc level - Working group
• - Identification of potential disciplines
• - Workshops at conference
• - Report Dec. 2003

• Short NOVA-BOVA MSc courses - 5 organized courses
  
• 3 planned courses
• - Application to NCM

• Baltic participation in NOVA PhD courses 2003
  (NorFA support) - 63 Baltic PhD students
  until Oct 2003

• Information services and visibility - BOVA
  website launched in the beginning of 2003
• - 9 NOVA-BOVA news
• - NOVA-BOVA conference

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Activities and main results March 2002 October
2003

• Fund-raising activities - External funds
  Totally 455.900 euro
• (exclusively funding from
• K A Wallenberg foundation)
• - BOVA started to consider financial
• contribution.

• Administrative capacities - BOVA
  secretariat (LUA, Kaunas)
• in June 2002 (Wallenberg money)
• - Co-ordinators

• Meetings - NOVA-BOVA CC 4 meetings
• - Secretariats, working groups etc
• - Rector Meeting 15 Oct. 2003

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Activities including other Baltic Sea countries

• Feasibility study (NCM)
• A Virtual Research Institute for Sustainable
  Agriculture in the Baltic Sea Region (VIRESAB).
• Final report (ANP 2002708)

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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VIRESAB report Suggestions

• Research and higher education primary tasks.
• Activities network universities and research
  institutions in the Baltic Sea area, reaching out
  to governmental institutions as well as farmers.
• Tasks include information on research activities
  and results, initiation of research projects,
  development of courses at undergraduate and
  graduate levels, making use of new information
  and communication technology.
• Helpdesk function for project formulation and
  financing.

• Governed by a Board of Trustees including
  financial and political stakeholders, and a
  Stakeholder Committee representing the members.
• Based on thematic working groups organized into
  two networks The Education Network and The
  Research Network, each led by a co-ordinator.
• Financing primarily from EU sources, but also
  national contributions.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Activities including other Baltic Sea countries

• Feasibility study (NCM)
• Expression of interest (EU)
• Virtual University for Sustainable Agriculture
  around the Baltic Sea (May 2002)
• To identify research actions ready for specific
  programme topics as a basis for the preparation
  of work programmes for the 6th framework
  programme for research.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Project application to NCM (2002)
Establishment of a Virtual University for
Sustainable Agriculture in the Baltic Sea Region
(VUSABALT).
Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Extract from VUSABALT application
Based on present NOVA-BOVA organization, a new
virtual university network is established to
strengthen the European scientific capacity to
improve rural development and land use in the
Baltic Sea region, engaging a consortium of
institutions in agriculture, forestry an
veterinary sciences. This will be done with
optimal use of new available technologies for
information and communication (virtuality) and
based upon recommendations of Baltic 21. The
output will include courses on MSc and PhD
levels, research co-operation and information
materials related to the goals of the project.
Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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VUSABALT
Funding for 2 years for

• Developing model courses based on methods of
  distance learning.
• Preparing applications for EU financing of
  VUSABALT.
• Extending the geography for the co-operation with
  focus on Russia, Poland and Germany.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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VUSABALT Two initiatives

• Euroforester European Master in Forestry in the
  Baltic Sea Region
• Funding from EU (SLU) and NCM (VUSABALT).
• SLU, KVL (?), EAU, LLU, LZUU, Russia, Poland,
  Germany.

• Agro Biotech Research Network in the Baltic Sea
  Region and Nordic Countries
• Grant application to NorFA for a planning
  meeting,
• NOVA-BOVA and ScanBalt.
• Including Russia, Poland and Germany.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Future alternatives
1996 NOVABA 2002 NOVA-BOVA 2005
? NOVA-BOVA termination NOVA-BOVA continuation
VUSABALT concept development - including selected
partners from other Baltic Sea countries
Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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A SWOT Expanding NOVA-BOVA cooperation to Russia,
Poland and Germany

• Strengths
• NOVA-BOVA has rich experience in multinational
  cooperation
• NOVA-BOVA has functioning structures, e.g.
  rector boards and CC
• BOVA side people are skilled in Russian and
  often can cope easier with cultural differences

• Weaknesses
• The administrative staff of NOVA-BOVA is
  overloaded
• A radical change in institutional development
  may be opposed by a number of people within the
  existing structures.
• Internal financing on the BOVA side still is
  unresolved, which complicates the negotiations
  for financial inputs from new partners

• Threats
• Coordination may become more difficult and
  time-consuming
• Additional costs for coordination and meetings

• Opportunities
• Increasing funding opportunities from a number
  of donors
• Easier to step over the threshold of the
  critical mass, e.g. in developing disciplinary
  networks
• Potential to build up new cooperation activities

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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Reasons to continue expansion

• NCM priorities including the White paper.
• Entrance of Baltic Sea countries into EU.
• Nordic Baltic Sea region of great interest for
  the industry.

Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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NOVA Strategy International Co-operation
NOVAs continued acitivties towards the Baltic
countries MSc and PhD courses and networking
If NCM still have a major focus on Baltic
development and NOVA will be chosen as their
tool.
Evaluation of the NOVA-BOVA collaboration
ultimo 2004.
Paul Jensén, oct 2003
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NOVA-BOVA Rector Meeting October 15, 2003
Paul Jensén, oct 2003