The Viking Lecture
The Scandinavian Vikings are famous for their long travels more than a thousand years ago. In their long wooden sailboats they traveled as far as Miklagard (Istanbul), Vinland (Newfoundland) and Serkland (Mesopotamia). Curiosity, grit and collaboration made these long journeys possible, and allowed them to bring new technology and know-how back home.
Every year we invite a prominent international neurosurgeon to give the celebrated Viking lecture. The lecture may include everything from a journey through time, back to the beginning of neurosurgery and its dissemination within medicine, to the innovation of cutting-edge surgical methods, wishes of the future as well as current research.
The community and connections developed during the week in Beitostølen are unique, and the fact that the Viking lecturer often allocates the entire week for the course provides ample opportunity for the participants to involve him/her in discussions, questions, networking and potential future collaborations.
We are proud that these distinguished neurosurgeons have honoured us with their presence in previous years:
2025 Marios Papadopoulos,
London
- Novel concepts in spinal cord injury
2024 Michael Taylor, Houston Texas
- The changing role of the neurosurgeon in the management of pediatric
posterior fossa tumors
2023 Claudius Thomé, Innsbruck
- Optimizing approaches to the spine - development and the future
2021 Andrew Maas, Antwerpen
- Biomarkers in TBI
2019 Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, Chicago
- Revascularization surgery - status, indications and technique
2018 Andres Lozano, Toronto
- Current and emerging indications of Deep Brain Stimulation
2017 Randall Chesnut, Washington
- The Evidence for ICP Measurement
2016 Iver Langmoen, Oslo
- Glioblastoma Stem Cells - from bench to Clinic
2015 Peter Vajkoczy, Berlin
- Combining clinic and basic science, examplified with our work on
Moyamoya Disease
2014 Michael Link, Mayo Clinic
- Rehabilitation of cranial nerve injuries after skull base surgery
2013 Peter Hutchinson, Cambridge
- Rescuing the injured brain
2012 Hugues Duffau, Montpellier
- Hodotopy, a new concept in surgery for low-grade gliomas
2011 Juha Hernesniemi, Helsinki
- Life and training in neurosurgery
2010 Johannes Schramm, Bonn
- Micro-neurosurgery for mesial temporal tumors
2009 John Pickard, Cambridge
- Altered states of consciouness following neurotrauma
2008 Nicolas de Tribolet, Geneve
- From the operating theater to the lab bench
