Being just a month shy of completing its 200th year, the University of Oslo has a long history of international outreach and collaboration. In light of its ongoing anniversary celebration, President Ottersen has emphasized the need for his University to establishing broader and deeper bilateral agreements with universities all over the world.
In his briefcase, President Ottersen brought the University of Oslo’s new Strategy for institutional cooperation. –We want to focus on fewer and larger agreements, and have singled out three major US universities as potential partners for us in this process.
One out of three
One of the universities President Ottersen is referring to is the University of Texas at Austin, the remaining two being University of Minnesota and UC Berkeley. According to Ottersen, and many national rankings, the Texas flagship university has a profile that combines great academic multitude with high academic quality.
There already is a clear academic link between the two universities; their respective Schools’ of Liberal Arts has cooperated for years, bringing faculty across the Atlantic Ocean to teach classes in subjects like Southeast Asian Studies and Middle Eastern Studies.
During his time in Austin, November 16th, President Ottersen met with representatives from several highly regarded departments at the university, including faculty from the Jackson School of Geosciences. Keeping in mind the recent funding agreement between Statoil and the Jackson School, the time was particularly ripe for the University of Oslo to hear more about the geosciences work at the University of Texas. President Ottersen also met the Dean Sager at the University of Texas Law School in a meeting both parties agreed was very fruitful. Part of the discussion evolved around a possible guest lecture from Dean Sager at the University of Oslo next spring.
200 years old, still making new friends
President Ottersen also met with Dr. Steven Leslie, Executive Vice President and Provost at the University of Texas. Dr. Leslie and President Ottersen engaged in a good discussion about the role of universities in sculpting the great minds of tomorrow, both agreeing that every university would benefit from a stronger international outreach.
-In many ways, the exchange of ideas, students and faculty is the key to keep developing as first-rate educational institution, Ottersen said before adding: -Even though the University of Oslo is 200 years old this year, this is not the time to rest on our laurels and say ‘ok, we’re so old and big, we can hold our own now’ - rather, this is as good a time as any to work to keep improving the academic level at our university, President Ottersen said while meeting Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Leslie.