Molde 20-23 October 2025
Navigating Practice-Near Research: Opportunities and Challenges
Practice-near research can be conducted within one’s own professional domain or in collaboration with other fields. This means the researcher may operate in a context that is either familiar or unfamiliar. Developing knowledge in such settings requires close collaboration and dynamic interaction between the researcher and practitioners. This, in turn, demands the ability to navigate the delicate balance between closeness and distance - a complexity that researchers must learn to manage thoughtfully.
At the Molde Symposium, we delve into the nuances and challenges of practice-near research and its significance in advancing knowledge about professional practice. What defines a “field,” and how do we understand the diversity within it? These questions raise important ethical, methodological, and practical considerations. From 20–23 October 2025, the symposium aims to foster a broader, deeper, and more reflective understanding of the field itself, the researcher’s central role, the dynamics of collaboration, and the ethical and epistemological implications of knowledge production.
Another key theme of the symposium is research communication —how we share and translate research into professional and public contexts. In dedicated workshops, PhD candidates will explore and practice strategies for effective communication of their research.
This year, the Molde Symposium also introduces the Research Fair, where PhD candidates and members of the PROFRES Think Tank are invited to present the relevance of their research to working life and professional practice. This will be followed by a Think Tank session for deeper dialogue and reflection.
We warmly invite all PROFRES candidates to take part in this collaborative knowledge exchange, where themes will be explored through lectures, group discussions, and hands-on activities.
Preliminary programme (NB! Subject to change)
MONDAY 20 OCTOBER 2025, campus:
11:00 Bus from the airport/hotel to campus
11:30 - 11:40 Welcome and introduction to Work in progress by Professor Birgitta Haga Gripsrud, Director of PROFRES, UiS
11:40 – 12:30 Lunch in the canteen
12.30 – 16:00 Work in progress
14.45 – 15.00 Coffee break
16.00 Fresh air or shuttle bus to hotel (fram.no)
17.30 – 18.45 Philosophical salon with James McGuirk at Scandic Hotel Seilet
18:45 Shared departure from hotel to dinner venue
19.00 PROFRES organized dinner, self paid
TUESDAY 21 OCTOBER 2025 - Scandic Hotel Seilet and campus:
07:00 - 08:00 Suggestions for morning activity: Morgensvømming Moldebadet
09.00-10.00 Keynote: Establishing a field – a historical account of nursing in the Nordic countries by Terese Bondas, Professor Emerita UiS
10.00 – 10.15 coffee break
10.15-12.00 Keynote: Practice research in your field – appreciative, critical, and constructive by Catrine Torbjørnsen Halås, Professor Nord
12.00 – 13.00 Lunch
13.00 – 15.45 Workshop parallell sessions: presentation techniques (coffee break 14.45-15):
- Using the voice med operasanger Nils Harald Sødal. Sted: Hotellet
- Pitching med Protomore grunderlab. Sted: Kunnskapsparken
- Samspill med publikum og bruk av powerpoint, med prof. i norskdidaktikk Karianne Skovholt, USN. Sted: Hotellet
- Presentasjonsrollen med skuespiller Linn Christine Wennersten. Sted: Hotellet
- Improviserende forskningsformidling med Jørgen Moltubak. Sted: Hotellet
- Podcast – presentasjon av egen forskning i podcastformatet. Sted: Innbyggerlaben, Molde kommune
Evening at own disposal.
Dinner suggestions: Glass restaurant, Guru (indisk), Smile (thai og sushi), Køl, Rød (Bare blå), Egon restaurant ved Thon hotel Moldefjord, Sabrura (Amfi Roseby).
Suggestions for physical activity: Molde klatresenter, badstu med sjøbad (obs bør bookes på forhånd: Nausta.no Roabadstue), rusle langsmed Sjøfronten, gåtur gjennom den grønne korridor
Mulighet til å bli med på tur til Storlihytta/Varden
WEDNESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2025 - Scandic Hotel Seilet:
10.00 – 12.00 Keynote: Exploring the Future of Interprofessional Collaboration: Insights from the PINCOM Model and Mixed Methods Research, by Atle Ødegård, Professor HiM
12:00 -13:00 Lunch
13:00 - 15:00 Free time for working, writing, leasure, swimming, shopping or whatever
15:00 - 19:00 Research fair - Shaping future welfare, led by Charlotte Wegner, Professor Aalborg University and leader of PROFRES ThinkTank. Includes tapas serving and mingling
THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER 2025 - Scandic Hotel Seilet:
07:00 - 08:00 Suggestions for morning activity : Morgensvømming Moldebadet
09.00 – 11.45 Forskerrollen og refleksivitet by Karianne Nyheim Stray, Postdoctor USN, Jeanette Varpen Undhjem, Associate Professor HiM and Mariya Khoronzhevych, Associate Professor HVO (coffee break included).
09:00 - 10:00 Innledning (inkl. presentasjon av refleksjonsoppgave til walk and talk)
10:00 - 11:00 Walk and talk
11:00 - 11.45: Plenary session
11.45-12.45 Lunch + Candidates’ corner/ Staff meeting
12.45 - 13.00 Summary of the symposium by Birgitta Haga Gripsrud
13.00 Departure
Organizing Committee:
Johanne Alteren, Ingunn Mundal, and Ingrid Johnsen Hogstad, Molde University College. Phd- Candidates: Laila Solli Reitan and Anette Dalmo Moltubak. Administrative advisors: Camilla Melhuus Line, Øyvind Nystøl, and Bjørn Eikrem, University of Stavanger, University of Agder, and Molde University College.