On November 15th, bioCEED invited students to a meeting on the topic “Which qualities are required for future jobs in biology?”. Representatives from companies in the various fields of biology were invited to share their opinion and to answer questions from the audience. Students from both bachelor- and master level showed up armed with questions and a genuine interest for the topic.
From left to right: Mari Vold Bjordal, Rakel Blaalid, Ørjan Totland, Gro van der Meeren, Vigdis Vandvik, Olaug Vetti Kvam og Geir Helge Johnsen. Photo: Ragnhild Gya.
The session was introduced by Gaute Velle, work package leader at bioCEED and leader of the project PRIME, who explained how different aspects of the educational programme are designed to gear up students for the challenges that await them at a potential future workplace. Two students who had previously been enrolled in BIO298 (Biology Work Practice) described their experience from the “field”: Marie Danielsen, from Nordahl Grieg Videregående Skole and Terje Alming, from the Institute of Marine Research. Torstein Nielsen Hole then presented the facts and showed relevant results from the bioCEED Survey 2015 on what employers recognize as importance qualities for employees.
Following a short break, a debate was organized, where Ørjan Totland, leader of the Department of Biology (UiB), Vigdis Vandvik, bioCEED leader, Gro van der Meeren, from the Institute of Marine Research, Geir Helge Johnsen, from Rådgivende Biologer AS, Rakel Blaalid, from NINA and Olaug Vetti Kvam from Skolelaboratoriet (UiB) answered questions from the audience. As the participants often came to agree on the various topics which were dealt with, the debate rapidly turned into an enlightening discussion with the audience.
Feedback from students was definitely positive as they found the theme of the day relevant and engaging, and the meeting with the representatives meaningful and useful.