Professor Birgit Kopainsky
Director, System Dynamics Group, University of Bergen, Norway
Professor Kopainsky is the director of the System Dynamics Group at the University of Bergen, Norway and a leading expert in System Dynamics. Bergen is the European hub in the field of System Dynamics and the Group offers the only full-time master program in the field worldwide. Professor Kopainsky is a prominent member of the System Dynamics Society. She has served on the policy council and on numerous committees and acted as organizing or program chair of multiple international conferences. In 2020, she became the first ever female president of the System Dynamics Society. She is currently leading the team that further develops and delivers training through the Society’s summer school.
Professor Kopainsky conducts and supervises research both in Europe and in the Global South and works with a wide range of stakeholders at local, national, and international level, mostly on issues related to sustainability transitions. She has been the PI or co-PI in multiple large interdisciplinary research projects with international partners from multiple disciplines. These projects have received funding from the EU Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, European Economic Area Financial Mechanisms, Norwegian Cancer Society, various bodies of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research, the Research Council of Norway, ETH Zurich World Food System Center, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Peder Sather Center for Advanced Studies at UC Berkeley, the University of Bergen and the University of Zurich. Additional frequent collaborators include international organizations such as OECD; UNEP; UNIDO; UN OCHA; IDMC; CGIAR and think tanks such as Toyota Mobility Foundation and Millennium Institute.
Professor Kopainsky’s particular expertise is in applying system dynamics modelling to sustainable and resilient food systems and other global challenges. In these areas, she serves as the scientific leader of the Bergen Summer Research School 2025, sits on the Board of Trustees of Millennium Institute, is part of the scientific advisory board of several large research projects, is a member of the steering committee of the National Research Programme (NRP) 82 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Swiss National Science Foundation) and a member of the working group “Perspectives of agricultural and nutrition research” of the German Science and Humanities Council.
Read more about Professor Birgit Kopainsky
Opportunities to connect and learn from Professor Kopainsky
Introduction to Quantitative Systems Thinking: Seminar Series, 6 sessions commencing 10 Feb 2026
Researchers in the Faculty of Health have been applying systems thinking qualitatively through systems mapping for over 10 years now, including notably using STICKE, Deakin-developed systems mapping software. One way to build on qualitative systems mapping approach is through system dynamics simulation modelling, which involves quantifying the system maps to generate further insight into where there could be leverage points for systems change.
Birgit Kopainsky, a global expert in applying systems science with communities to address complex health and environmental problems, is visiting Deakin and will offer a 6-session weekly interactive, applied online seminar on the basics of system dynamics simulation modelling. Participants are invited to come with a relevant research question, area, or project to get hands on support on how they might use modelling in their work.
Click here for more information and to register. Reach out to andrew.brown@deakin.edu.au if you have any questions.
Contact
Professor Kopainsky will be based at the Deakin Geelong Waterfont campus until 30 March 2026 and can be contacted on Birgit.Kopainsky@uib.no.
About the Faculty of Health Thinkers, Industry Expert in Residence (TIER) Program
The TIER program is designed to bring world leaders; senior, high level, strategic thinkers; from academia or industry to Deakin University for a 1-to-2-month period. Thinkers/Industry Experts in Residence (TIERs) are leaders in academia/industry who can bring a broad understanding of their field or industry sector in the context of future thinking and are willing to work in close collaboration with Faculty of Health staff across multiple disciplines. Read more.
Associate Professor Mona Jeffreys
Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Opportunities to connect and learn from Associate Professor Mona Jeffreys
Co‑designing Evidence‑based Long COVID Care in Primary Care, 10am Friday 13 March 2026 (Hybrid)
Join us for an insightful in‑person seminar focused on improving the management of long COVID in primary care through co‑designed, evidence‑based approaches.In this session, Associate Professor Mona Jeffreys will present findings from a New Zealand research project that brought together people with lived experience of long COVID and health professionals to co‑create a practical framework for primary care. The seminar will explore key challenges faced by patients and clinicians, the co‑design process used to address gaps in care, and the resulting framework covering diagnosis, early management, ongoing care, and supportive strategies.
The session highlights the value of lived experience in shaping healthcare practice and considers the implications for primary care, policy development, and future research.What You’ll Learn:
- Gain insight into the lived experiences of people with long COVID and the challenges they face in primary care
- Learn how co‑design and participatory research methods can be used to develop practical healthcare frameworks
- Explore key gaps in long COVID care identified through lived experience
- Understand the structure and components of an evidence‑based primary care framework for long COVID
- Consider implications for clinical practice, policy, and future research in Australia and New Zealand
10.00 am – 1.00 pm Friday 13 March 2026
In-person at Deakin Downtown or online.
Register for the online event here.
Register for the in-person event here. Tickets are limited for this in‑person event.
Contact
Associate Professor Mona Jeffreys will be based at the Deakin Burwood campus on Friday 13 March 2026 and can be contacted on mona.jeffreys@vuw.ac.nz.
Dina Renathe Løland
PhD student at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
I am a clinical diabetes nurse from Southern Norway and currently a PhD candidate at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL). My research focuses on mental and cognitive health outcomes following COVID-19 hospitalization, using Norwegian Intensive and PAndemic Registry (NIPaR) data to explore long-term trajectories and associations. Specifically, sub-study 1 examines differences between patients who received intensive care and those treated in non-intensive settings; sub-study 2 investigates differences between patients with and without diabetes, as well as diabetes-related associations; and sub-study 3 explores the prevalence of, and associations with, sick leave among patients with and without diabetes compared to the Norwegian general population.
Read more about Dina Renathe Løland.
Contact
Dina will be based at the Deakin Burwood campus and can be contacted on s226390655@deakin.edu.au.
