About the Falch Awards and lecture
The guest lecture features a researcher at Nobel Prize level or of a very high international standing.
The fund was established in 1952 under Søren Falch's will, and since then it has awarded various prizes to renowned researchers and doctors.
The senior prize (Søren Falch and ophthalmologist Sigurd Falch's award for outstanding leadership in medical research) is awarded annually and is a personal grant of NOK 150,000. Previous winners include Jarle Ofstad, Dagfinn Aarskog, Jon Lekven, Holm Holmsen and Rolv Terje Lie.
The junior prize (Søren Falch and ophthalmologist Sigurd Falch's junior prize for early-career researchers) is awarded each year as NOK 100,000 in operating funds, and is given to particularly talented researchers under the age of 40. Previous winners include Halvor Sommerfelt, Vidar Steen, Nina Øyen, Eystein Husebye and Guri Rørtveit.
Criteria for the Senior Award (set in 1991)
- Leadership within one's own research field
- A leading role in research development, researcher recruitment and competence building
- A leading role in the internationalisation of Norwegian medical research
- A research-policy leadership role
Criteria for the Junior Award (set in 1996)
- Depth, originality and methodological complexity
- Research findings that have led to applied results
The Falch Lecture
The lecture was first given by Professor Leroy Hood in 2001. Previous lecturers include the Nobel laureates Edvard Moser (2011) and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (2014).
The lecture is open to everyone interested.
Here you can see an overview of prize winners and lectures since the start (pdf).
The board (2025–2029)
- Marit Bakke, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
- Bettina Husebø, elected by and among the professors at the Faculty of Medicine. Deputy: Mihaela Cimpan.
- Jan Sommerfelt-Pettersen, appointed by the Medical Society in Bergen (Det medisinske selskap i Bergen). Deputy: Bjarte Askeland.