Oslo and comeback

What a past week full of seminars. I had no time to write anything nor to sit down and think of a good post to write as I was busy with readings, lectures, presentations and dinners.

This week I travelled to Oslo for a 2 day seminar. This seminar was attended by most of the new and some of the old PhD Law Student from the Norwegian Universities: Oslo, Tromsø and Bergen. All in all, we were close to 70 people in an intense session of Fundamental Rights and Private Law.

We had 3 talks by guest professors:

Dr. Chantal Mak from the University of Amsterdam; Prof. Dr. Michael Stürner from the Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder); and Postdoctor Stig Solheim from the Univesity of Tromsø. All these talks dealt with the relation between fundamental rights and private law, particularly contract law and the principle of proportionality.

Then we had 8 presentations of different research projects. These talks were held by different students, including me, and served to gain an idea of what other people are working on at the moment as well as receiving feedback from the group that attended the seminar.

The presentation

I was supposed to be one of the speakers from the University of Bergen, along with other 3 colleagues, and, to be honest, I was terrified. My project is still very “raw” and I had little or no time at all to prepare. I had prepared some slides and had a clear idea in my mind of what to say but I had no chance to do any rehearsal before the “show started”.  I spoke close to one hour (including the feedback session) and was very happy with the outcome. I was able to transmit in a somewhat clear fashion what the project is about, the deficiencies of the same and the challenges ahead.

The feedback was excellent and, I had not a single question from the audience (maybe I was able to sell my project) but rather comments and suggestions on different routes to take. Thank you all guys for your remarks, they are very helpful!

The food

The Oslo seminar was an awesome experience because of the people, the topics and the food. Food in Norway is amazing (if you do not take into account that strange custom of eating a cold and quick lunch). We had a fantastic dinner with excellent wine, nice chess and elephant jokes conversations and tasty Norwegian delicacies.

Oslo

Do not ask me how Oslo looks like. I have no idea! I can only say that the airport is very cool and modern, but I still have not seen the first building of the capital of Norway. It is a shame, but also good that I have to go back and see the city. Oslo I am looking forward to visiting you again soon!