- Rector of the University of Oslo, Svein Stølen
- Mayor of Oslo, Marianne Borgen
- Buddy Secretariat, Maren Dahle og Andres Øverbø
- Leader of the Student Parliament, Oline Sæther
Svein Stølen
Rector of the University of Oslo
Dear new students! First of all, I would like to welcome you to the University of Oslo. Congratulations on gaining a place at Norway’s best university!
A special welcome to our international students. You bring new perspectives that we are eager to learn from. I hope you will enjoy your stay and make many new friends. The University of Oslo knows no boundaries, and I hope/am sure that both you and our Norwegian students will profit from working together and getting to know each other.
It is a great honour to welcome you at the actual University Square. Seeing several thousand students fill the University Square for the welcoming ceremony is one of the highlights of the year and makes my heart race a little faster. As you can see, we’re all dressed up today. The gown and chain and ceremony – with symphony orchestra and large choir – are part of the university’s tradition and history, a tradition and history that you will now are a part of developing further.
Today is about you, about the studies you are now starting, about your future. But your future is also society’s future – it is you who will lead the way in a world with both familiar and new challenges. We hope that what you learn and experience during your studies will help you make good choices. Our aim is that you who study at the University of Oslo gain more than a good education: That you strengthen your critical sense, gain a global perspective and become engaged in society around you. That you become a thinking, but also a considerate person.
For 211 years, the University has contributed to the development of Norway and the world. And this is something we will continue to do. With world-class researchers and lecturers, Norway’s strongest students and numerous subjects and programmes of study, we have a good starting point to contribute to resolve various complex challenges to society. The questions may be uncomfortable, the answers rarely easy, and may even be controversial. This means that in your studies you will be exposed to and be required to discuss theories and ideas you may strongly disagree with. You will learn to meet counter-arguments and face people holding opposing views. You will be included in challenging questions, in a diversity of opinions and in difficult discussions. Constructive discussions and criticism and free formation of knowledge are a part of both the University’s and society’s DNA.
International collaboration is an important part of the academic community you are now becoming a part of. Exchange schemes result in new knowledge and new perspectives that both society and working life need, and are important for your personal development. The University of Oslo has several hundred exchange agreements with universities all over the world. Seize the opportunity! Be curious and use the opportunities that the University and Oslo have to offer. Get in touch with each other, work together, and help each other. It is important for learning and academic development, but it is also important for creating security, community spirit and belonging. Moving to a new city and starting a new everyday life can be both lonely and daunting. Therefore:
Involve yourselves in the study environment and in student organisations. Visit the Career Centre for advice. Talk to each other and include each other. Your involvement can also trigger involvement in others. Your fellow students are the best partners in the learning process, but chances are that they will be your friends for life. Perhaps you will even meet the love of your life here at the university of Oslo.
We wish you the best of luck, and look forward to following your progress. Norway and the world needs both your hearts and minds. Thank you for choosing the University of Oslo.
Marianne Borgen
Mayor of Oslo
Dear students
As Mayor of Oslo, it is a great pleasure for me to warmly welcome you all to the start of studies and to welcome you to the City of Oslo.
Oslo is an important student city. We are proud to have so many students in the city, because you help to make Oslo a city of knowledge, with research and innovation. The City works closely with both the University and the business community.
You have every reason to have great expectations for Norway's oldest and largest university.
Oslo is Norway's Environmental Capital and aims to become a zero-emission city by 2030. We are investing in public transport and making cycling and walking easy and safe. We think about the climate and the environment in every choice we make in Oslo — and I hope you will also help to make Oslo cleaner and greener.
Let me take this opportunity to welcome our international students. It is an honour that you have chosen to study in Oslo. You have come to a city with a great University, a fascinating history, beautiful natural surroundings, — with the Oslo fjord and the forests that are embracing the whole city. I hope you will enjoy your stay in Oslo.
Oslo is a diverse and exciting city. We have recently opened a wonderful big library in Bjørvika in addition to all the exciting local libraries, a new Munch Museum and a new National Museum. I want to mention Ekeberg, Tøjen Park, the seafront walk from Aker Brygge to Sørenga, the bathing place at Huk, the new city beach in Bjørvika, all the saunas or trails in Oslomarka and along the Akerselva river. Oslo is a city with fantastic possibilities in culture, sport and outdoor activities. This year we have over 30 festivals in Oslo.
So use the time to get to know the city, get to know new people and be open to diversity and differences.
Oslo aims to be an open, inclusive and generous city, where we are there for each other. A city where everyone should experience security, inclusion, involvement and trust, and that security and generosity we create together, and Oslo is a safe city.
But on the night of Saturday 25 June during Pride week, there was an attack here in Oslo, which targeted the queer, killed two people, and injured many. It not only hit the queer, it hit all of Oslo. Going forward, we will stand together against hatred and hateful expressions. Because we know that hateful attitudes can also lead to dangerous and deadly acts. Therefore, we must fight all forms of hatred and discrimination together. So stand up and tell, when you experience them - no matter where. We must fight this together every single day.
Study time is exciting, but can also be demanding. Take the time to make new connections, be open and inclusive — Get to know new people. Take good care of each other!
Our society needs you, who are students today. We have great unresolved tasks in the field of the environment and climate. Many areas of the world are characterised by unrest and poverty. We have experienced a pandemic, there is war in Ukraine, a rising nuclear weapons threat, huge streams of refugees and we are seeing human rights being violated in very many countries. I hope you will all spend time engaging in these issues, using your wisdom and energy to help find solutions.
We will create the future together!
Thank you for choosing Oslo as your place of study. Good luck and once again, — welcome to Oslo.
Maren Dahle og Andres Øverbø
Buddy Secretariat
Andres:
Dear students, new and old.
Our names are Maren and Andres and we are buddy leader coordinators at the University of Oslo. It means that we have spent almost a year planning this - the start of studies! First of all, we would like to thank our buddies and buddy leaders, whose work in welcoming new students is invaluable. Thank you for your dedicated efforts!
So, to the new students. Today, you have started at the University of Oslo and your studies are underway! The aim is to kick things off in the best possible manner with the Start of Studies Week. This will help you get to know each other, Oslo, the University, and student life.
Maren:
There will be quizzes, games, parties, getting to know each other, excitement and a lot of laughter. A weeklong celebration of entering into student life.
And as experienced, wise and ‘old’ students, we would like to give you four pieces of advice this week.
The first piece of advice is to use the Start of Studies Week for all it is worth, and to get involved with everything. It provides you with great experiences, good memories, and good friends. You should be exhausted at the end of the week!
The second piece of advice is to dare to say hi to people and try to get to know each other. Everyone is in the same boat, and it can be a bit scary. However, in order to be brave, you have to be a bit scared first! Besides, finding a new best friend today and over the next few days will never be as easy!
The third piece of advice is to really enjoy the next few days, because they pass by really quickly! Take pictures, make memories and enjoy yourselves. You are always going to remember your buddy group.
Andres:
And our last piece of advice is don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. All students have been new students at some point.
We are really looking forward to seeing you around the campuses over the next few days. And if you see one of us, don’t hesitate to come over and have a chat!
Have a great Start of Studies Week,
-
See you later!
Oline Sæther
Leader of the Student Parliament
Dear fellow students – welcome to the University of Oslo! Today is a day to celebrate – we celebrate that more than 10,000 students are beginning their studies here at our University.
Dear fellow students – welcome to the University of Oslo!
Today, I am greeting you as leader of the Student Parliament – the students’ highest governing body. The Student Parliament is proud to represent such a diverse, skilled and engaged body of students as the one we have here at the University of Oslo.
Five years have passed since I stood where you are all standing today, as a new UiO student. I remember well what it was like. I was excited and motivated, but also nervous. Nervous about meeting my fellow students and nervous about whether I would be a good student.
Today, I would like to say to you what I wish someone would have said to me five years ago, and that is:
Don’t be a good student.
As a student, you are no longer part of a class. You don’t have a form teacher. You are your own boss. This means that student life is full of freedom; there is no 10% absence limit and no bad marks against your name.
When I started at the University of Oslo, I did everything my lecturers said I should; I read all of the syllabus, I did my assignments, I attended all my lectures. I was a good student.
Being a good student is easy; you simply have to do as you are told.
However; being a good student, is it worth it?
In my opinion at least, I find it more rewarding to be a critical and inquisitive student — a student who doesn’t follow the rules without knowing they are worth following. From the dawn of time, students have helped to develop future societies; by asking questions, and by challenging the status quo.
That is why I say; don’t be a good student. Be brave. Put yourself in the driver’s seat of your own life; even though it is easier to switch life onto autopilot, dare to take responsibility and question your own existence. Move out of your comfort zone; seek out the conversations where you are challenged on what you think you know. Perform as best you can; but dare to trust that everything you learn while you are a student is not always reflected in the exam grades you are given.
Life as a student is a rich life; but you have to dare to seek it out. Don’t be a good student; be a brave one.
Dear students; lots of luck.