Guide to UiB

If you have moved to Bergen from within Norway or abroad, we would like to help you get settled and begin enjoying life here.

Below is a collection of links to help with all aspects of moving, from registering for tax to finding a good sports club.

Welfare

The university’s employee welfare pages can be found here. The Welfare program includes reduced cinema tickets, access to UiB-owned cabins, etc.

Childcare

Sammen (the student organisation) offer discounted childcare to UiB employees – click here

Sports and Hobbies

The university hosts almost 100 student organisations and sports clubs.

View student organisations here (UiB employees and PhD students are entitled to join these clubs).

You can also join the UiB employee’s sports team who compete with other organisations and businesses across Bergen (ubil.w.uib.no n.b. website is in Norwegian).

  • Discounted gym membership for UiB employees at Sammen (student organisation). Includes swimming pool, climbing wall and fitness sessions.
  • DNT is the national trekking organisation that offer maps, routes and advice for hiking in Norway.
  • Bergen Klatreklubb has two centers and offers outdoor climbing events and advice.

Music & film

International

The university offers a helpful page to sort everything important for immigrating to Norway.. UiB also offer introduction seminars to international employees every semester.

Below are the help pages for most important aspects of moving to Norway:

Norwegian lessons

UiB offer free language courses to UiB employees. If you can’t attend the courses held by UiB you may be able to enroll in a language organized by a third party and have UiB reimburse the course fee. For example,

There are also free online courses.

several other ways to learn Norwegian in Bergen:

Trade Unions

Unions offer assistance in case of trouble at the workplace. For example, access to lawyers, help with conflict resolution and representation in case of restructuring at your workplace. Unions may also offer access to insurance, bank loans and representation in salary negotiations.

The primary trade unions are listed here. We recommend joining one before you have any issues you need their help with.

Mental Health

The PhD profession is a double-edged sword. It provides a level of freedom seldom found in other positions, but it also presents many challenges. For example, being responsible for a project that you work on mostly alone for several years can be overwhelming. It can be next to impossible to estimate how the project is progressing and it is easy to feel guilt  for not making more progress or working harder. Furthermore, it is hard to compare your progress with that of your peers since all projects are different. As a result there are several issues that many – if not most – PhD students struggle with at some point, e.g., impostor syndrome or depression. Having a great supervisor can alleviate these issues. However, many of us work with supervisors that are great academics but perhaps not as good when it comes to supervise graduate students.  

Reading about the experiences of your peers is a reality check that may ease the feeling that you are the only one facing problems during your PhD. We give some testimonial suggestions below. In addition, if you feel like these issues are keeping you from leading the life you want or perhaps cause you to consider quitting, you should seek professional help. Mental health issues in academia – and especially in PhDs and early career researchers – are very prevalent and solutions do exist. Do not hesitate to contact the services mentioned below if you feel like you need help.  

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