School pupils meet researchers

The Friday of Anniversary Week will be devoted to school pupils. More than 500 10th-year pupils will be coming to NHH to learn more about what research entails and what goes on at NHH.

02.09.2011 - Lisbeth Heilund

'We are opening our doors to inquisitive youth,' says Kristin Risvand Mo, head of the Schools Day project, a project in which 10th-year pupils from schools in the Bergen area will be shown how research is carried out at NHH.

Pupils as guinea pigs

'Many people have heard of NHH, but not everyone knows what actually goes on there,' says Ms Risvand Mo. She has put together a programme for more than 500 pupils in collaboration with some of the best lecturers and researchers at NHH.

This is not the first time the pupils will be visiting NHH, however. They were also at NHH this spring to take part in a research experiment called the Choice Experiment. It is NHH's anniversary research project and part of Schools Day.

The research is being conducted by Alexander Cappelen, Bertil Tungodden, Erik Sørensen, Ingvild Almås and Kjell G Salvanes, all of whom are from the Department of Economics. They are looking at how young people make choices relating to education, and how this correlates with factors such as attitudes to risk, patience, willingness to compete and knowledge about different occupations.

'When the same pupils who took part in the experiment this spring come back on Schools Day, we will have an opportunity to present them with the results of the research they participated in. We will also tell them a bit about why we conduct research into questions like this,' says Ms Risvand Mo.

Popular science lectures

Once the school pupils have been told more about the research project they have taken part in, they will have an opportunity to attend popular science lectures given by the best lecturers and researchers at NHH.

'Researchers here at NHH have been very enthusiastic and they really want to reach young people with their research,' Kristin Risvand Mo tells us.

There will be eight different lectures, and the pupils have been given an opportunity to choose which of them they wish to attend, since some of them will be held at the same time.

Among the highlights we can mention are a lecture by Trond Døskeland on how to get rich by dealing in stocks and shares, and a lecture by Kjetil Bjorvand about poverty-related problems in Africa.

Guided tour of NHH

The pupils will not just be passive listeners, however, they will also take part themselves. After the lectures, research stations will be set up in the corridors at NHH. For example, the pupils will be able to test whether they can taste the difference between a cheap First-Price cola and the more expensive Coca Cola, or they can learn more about trading in stocks and shares by playing Skandiabanken's 'Stock Market Game'.

The 10th-year pupils will also be given a chance to get to know NHH's Basement venue and the Student Association's many sub-committees. One of the final items on the programme will namely be a guided tour of the school and a visit to the Basement.

'Buns and soft drinks will also be served, of course,' concludes Ms Risvand Mo.