Science Faculty Magazine No 2 2017 - English by Faculty of Science - University of Gothenburg

Faculty of Science 2 | 2017

SCIENCE FACULTY M

Global goals for sustainability, a matter of concern for all RESEARCH&EDUCATION

Rebecka Jörnsten looks for answers in statistics RESEARCH

RESEARCHER FREDRIK PLEIJEL

Sees nature in a new way

EDITORIAL SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE Science Faculty Magazine is for those interested in the University of Gothenburg and in particular the work at the Faculty of Science.

EDITOR Camilla Persson +46-31-786 9869 camilla.persson@science.gu.se

EDITORIAL STAFF Carina Eliasson Robert Karlsson Tanja Thompson

PUBLISHER

Gustav Bertilsson Uleberg

LAYOUT

Camilla Persson

COVER

Polychaete worm Photo: Fredrik Pleijel

ADDRESS

University of Gothenburg Faculty Office of Science Box 460 405 30 Göteborg Sweden E-mail: info@science.gu.se

Exakta

ONLINE MAGAZINE

www.sciencefacultymagazine.com

SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

We hope you will enjoy this glance into the Faculty of Science. The Science Faculty Magazine’s target group ranges from Faculty staff and alumni to business and industry, public actors and politicians with an interest in mathematics and the natural sciences.

his issue of Science Faculty Magazine takes the United Nations’ global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as its point of departure. The Faculty of Natural Sciences is actively working to draw attention to research and education related to the SDGs. In this way, we are helping with the fulfilment of these goals by contributing with research that lays the groundwork for scientific and well-grounded decisions and education that is preparing tomorrow’s decision-makers to promote sustainable development. More information on these efforts is available at www. science.gu.se. THE 17 SDGS are intertwined in a complex way and

address economic, social and environmental sustainability. Although scientists are focusing on issues related to individual goals, there is also a need to examine how attainment of one goal affects the others. This issue presents examples of research relating to goals 3 and 11 as well as education related to goal 4. ONE SUCH EXAMPLE is population growth. Can the Earth’s resources sustain many more people and, if so, what does this imply for how we live and what we eat? Population growth leads to ever-increasing competition for fresh water, food and resources, which in turn can result in severe conflicts and wars. Today more than half of the world’s population lives in cities or urban areas, and in the West the proportion is even greater. Urbanisation and its effects are important areas of research that could provide the basis for po-

NYHETER

licy decisions on how cities should be designed to be sustainable and benefit people. Read about evaluating ecosystem services. ANOTHER AREA OF RESEARCH that is affected is cul-

Cultural heritage as a starting point for sustainable cities

tural heritage. How should it be defined? Is it just old buildings, or do we also need to consider other aspects and what has shaped today’s society? The question is very relevant in relation to inclusive, safe and sustainable communities. ARSENIC IN THE GROUND is absorbed by plants and it poisons people who eat the plants, but how does it operate at the cellular level? You can read about this in the current issue and also how the absorption can be avoided, either through modification of the plants that are grown so that they do not take up toxic metals or by purifying the soil by growing plants that take up metals. One way to effectively disseminate knowledge about the natural sciences is through the use of science centres such as Universeum. This is especially true when it comes to teacher training, where good educational tools are an important way of interesting students in science and sustainable development, but also of linking these issues to social aspects in society. In 2017 two honorary doctorates were appointed in such diverse areas as artistic research and research on the impact of climate change on the Third Pole. Read more about this and many other things in this issue of Science Faculty Magazine. THE YEAR 2017 HAS BEEN very intensive, with a series of important issues affecting the long-term evolution of the Faculty of Science. With holly’s greenery and beautiful red berries, I wish you ample time for reflection as the year comes to an end and optimism for the future for a productive 2018.

Arsenic – a hidden threat in food

The environmental strategist who wants to make a better world

Elisabet Ahlberg, dean

The Nobel Prize: Three SCIENCE FACULTY 2017 researchers talkMAGAZINE about DECEMBER the prizes

THE RESEARCHER

WITH A FOCUS ON BIG DATA As a biostatistician, she works in an environment of constant and rapid change. New Research Award winner Rebecka Jörnsten sees challenges with our new big data existence.

inter has begun to tighten its grip on Gothenburg, and Rebecka Jörnsten’s office at Campus Johanneberg is so cold that she’s wearing not only a heavy cardigan but also gloves indoors. She huddles up, smiles and squirms somewhat self-consciously when she’s about to answer the question. "It feels really great, of course, to have received the award. I interpret it as an appreciation of the fields of statistics and biostatistics, the importance of which is constantly growing with the challenges of analysing large volumes of data. I’ve worked extensively in these areas.”

IT’S MID-NOVEMBER and the day after Rebecka Jörnsten received the Faculty of Sciences’ Research Award. The explanatory statement indicates that among other things she introduced the big data paradigm in the formerly more traditionally oriented statistics environment in Gothenburg.

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Historically, access to data has been a problem for statisticians, but in recent years that has changed radically. Today there are huge amounts of data available, providing entirely new opportunities and challenges for Rebecka Jörnsten and her colleagues. “With small amounts of data, it can be difficult to draw conclusions that are statistically significant. With large amounts of data, it becomes ‘too easy’ if you don’t think about the big picture. Big data can be difficult to work with since it often is unbalanced and compiled in a motley fashion from different sources.” ALMOST NINE YEARS have passed since

Östergötland native Rebecka left Rutgers University in New Jersey after 14 years in the United States to move back to Sweden. She got a job as a researcher at the Department of Mathematical Sciences. The large statistics division at the department attracted her. “It was important for me to join a team that had the kind of dynamics that exists here, that all subjects are represented. And I liked Gothenburg’s small-town charm. But at first I thought it was strange that people smiled at me so much. I thought, ‘Have I spilled something on myself?’” IF BIOSTATISTICIAN Rebecka were to

describe her research in a word, it would be “model selection”. To be more specific, this involves developing statistical models for large-scale data and how the models should be compared, visualised and interpreted. One of her major collaborations is with researcher Sven Nelander at Uppsala University on the development of network models describing genomic variations among different types of cancer. The goal is to find biomarkers that can predict how individual patients will respond to treatments for various types of cancer. A SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

biomarker can be described as a measurable indicator of a biological condition. “One of the best things about being a statistician is precisely that it’s possible to find opportunities for collaboration with researchers in many different fields. For example, I’m in a medical collaboration about how music can be used as an alternative form of treatment.” SHE CURRENTLY is leading a team with two

doctoral students, and the group will grow further. She has received research grants that will be used to expand with two doctoral students and a post doc, but says it’s difficult to find good people. “Trained statisticians are very attractive on the labour market, and when they’ve finished their education, they quickly find employment. At the same time it’s hard for

Rebecka Jörnsten Age: 45 Family: Daughter Ingeborg, 4.5 years old Place of residence: Central Gothenburg Occupation: Professor of Biostatistics and Applied Statistics at the Department of Mathematical Sciences. Leisure time: “I play violin in a Suzuki association with my daughter. I also played all the way through high school so this allows me to get started again.” When I'm most happy: “When I do something with my mother and Ingeborg. And when we have brainstorming meetings in my research group. Or when a student comes up after a lecture saying ‘I hadn’t thought about it in that way,’ that makes me very happy.” Talent: “I'm good at cooking. Not baking since that requires me to do everything perfectly or the results are a disaster, but other cooking is fun.”

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me to envision building up a huge lab. I like the smaller setting and having direct personal conversations.” While the large amounts of data create new opportunities, developments within academia also have moved towards faster and larger volumes of published results. Which, in turn, makes it more difficult to find the right things, and places higher demands on criticism of one’s sources and critical thinking. She compares this with how things were when she was a doctoral student. “Then I went physically to the library and picked out a journal with an article that I wanted. Today it goes so terribly fast. Enormous amounts of results are published in a growing body of scholarly journals, and it becomes very difficult to have an overview of how much there is and what the hidden gems are.” SHE BELIEVES THAT IT can be hard for researchers to know if they are at the forefront or being left behind, which can be a stressful. The increasing availability of data and results is something Rebecka Jörnsten emphasises for her students, and this leads to new development of statistics courses. “I always try to make my courses as ‘hands-on’ as possible so that the students get to both learn something and apply it. Then a student can do a lot with actual data already on the first-cycle level, and later in courses do challenging analyses on large volumes of data from different fields. But just as in research, you have to look at the available material with a critical eye. Codes and online results are not always a guarantee of quality.” TEXT ROBERT KARLSSON PHOTO MALIN ARNESSON

The Sustainable Development Goals On 25 September 2015, UN member countries adopted Agenda 2030, a universal agenda that encompasses the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The global goals and Agenda 2030 are the most ambitious agreement for sustainable development that world leaders have ever adopted. The SDGs consist of 17 goals, and in this issue we have chosen to focus on three of them and our research and education connected with them.

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality. Major progress has been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio and the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, many more efforts are needed to fully eradicate a wide range of diseases and address many different persistent and emerging health issues.

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives and sustainable development. Major progress has been made towards increasing access to education at all levels and increasing enrolment rates in schools particularly for women and girls. Basic literacy skills have improved tremendously, yet bolder efforts are needed to make even greater strides for achieving universal education goals. For example, the world has achieved equality in primary education between girls and boys, but few countries have achieved that target at all levels of education.

Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social development and much more. At their best, cities have enabled people to advance socially and economically. The challenges cities face can be overcome in ways that allow them to continue to thrive and grow, while improving resource use and reducing pollution and poverty. The future we want includes cities of opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more.

ď ľâ&#x20AC;&#x201A;Read more about the global goals and our education and research at science.gu.se/sustainable

SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

Allow the city to become green? An increasingly urbanised world places higher demands on how we build our cities, including how green areas are planned and integrated effectively into physical urban planning. In an interdisciplinary research project, researchers from the University of Gothenburg and other higher education institutions have analysed ways of evaluating what are known as “ecosystem services of urban greenery”.

ore than half of the world’s population currently lives in cities and urban areas, and the figure is rising every day. In Sweden 80 per cent of the population lives in urban areas. “That figure largely reflects the situation in the Western World, but today the largest percentage increases are occurring in developing countries,” says Sofia Thorsson, professor and leader of the Urban Climate Group at the Department of Earth Sciences. Along with Bengt Gunnarsson, professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Sofia is leading a research project where they are teaming up with scientists from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Chalmers University of Technology to analyse how to evaluate ecosystem services of urban greenery in Gothenburg. “Ecosystem services” refers to products and services provided by natural ecosystems

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that contribute to people’s well-being. This can involve anything from food and the purification of water to birdsongs and the pollination of plants. The concept took hold after a United Nations report issued in 2005, and today extensive research on ecosystem services is ongoing. When it comes to assessing the various services, however, much work remains to be done. “I usually use the example of someone who has a potato patch in the inner city,” says Bengt Gunnarsson. “What is the value of that? The simplest answer is the market value of the potatoes, but of course, it’s not as easy as that. There are values in the form of recreation and relaxation linked to the potato patch.” EVALUATION OF GREENERY in urban environments has historically been associated with protection of various kinds. For example, it might be a matter of a reserve or

an area where an endangered species is to be preserved. In this project researchers from various higher education institutions have worked with six different kinds of analyses to evaluate the greenery in different areas. These analyses include what biodiversity looks like, how the greenery serves to cleanse the air and how those using the areas experience them as areas for recreation and well-being. SEVEN DIFFERENT GREEN areas in Gothen-

burg have been analysed. The aim has been to include areas that encompass a range of seven different types of greenery – from an area with a lot of greenery and few buildings to one that is exactly the opposite. Among the areas analysed are a city park, a centrally located allotment-garden area and the area surrounding Skansen Lejonet in the middle of one of Gothenburg’s most heavily trafficked areas. The work has resulted in a manual that shows how the different services can be evaluated. “It provides a consolidated rating of greenery and is intended to serve as a tool when urban environments are being planned,” says Sofia Thorsson. “Urban greenery has a low value today – a car park is worth more. It’s about developing the city in an ecologically,

environmentally and economically sustainable way. For example, if we build housing, what are the results of that?” In a survey, residents of the various areas answered questions about how they use the areas and what they value in a green area. Areas regarded as unstructured, informal greenery have been valued higher than pure park areas by those who responded. Areas that the residents considered to have a high degree of “naturalness” and also a high level of biodiversity have been valued more highly than other areas. RESEARCHERS HAVE NOTED a lot of interest in their project, which may partly be due to the fact that a government resolution calls on public authorities to take ecosystem services into account no later than 2018 when they make changes in cities. This could impact housing and road construction, for example. “There’s a need to build housing in our cities, but it is difficult to repair the neglect of construction that has prevailed for 30-40 years,” says Bengt Gunnarsson. “A ‘quick fix’ is likely to create new problems.” He believes that the project has a high educational value because it can provide both the public and decision-makers with a broa-

Seven different green areas in Gothenburg have been analysed. The aim has been to include areas that encompass a range of seven different types of greenery – from an area with a lot of greenery and few buildings to one that is exactly the opposite. SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

der picture of urban greenery. “We can show that nature gives us these benefits. At the same time, we shouldn’t think that everything is resolved. There are many challenges related to values, and one of the big ones is getting them into the decision-making processes in a good way. If we implement this successfully, we have a lot to gain.” TEXT ROBERT KARLSSON ILLUSTRATION BENGT GUNNARSSON

About ecosystem services

Bioluminescence – a de A research team from the University of Gothenburg has now demonstrated in an article that the light intensity of bioluminescence is governed by how many enemies there are in the water. Despite the fact that many marine organisms glow, researchers know very little about why the organisms emit light and how the light is controlled. “Bioluminescent organisms detect their enemies using their sense of smell and turn up the light when there is a great risk of being devoured,” says Jenny Lindström, at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, who is the lead author of the article. “The light protects cells against their enemies.”

Ecosystem services are all the products and services that natural ecosystems provide people and that contribute to our welfare and quality of life. Pollination, natural water control and nature experiences are a few examples. Source: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency

About the projekt “Evaluation of ecosystem services” The project has been ongoing since 2013. In addition to Sofia Thorsson, Bengt Gunnarsson and researchers from the University of Gothenburg, participants have included researchers from Chalmers, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the University of Gävle. The researchers have worked on six different analyses of urban greenery: biodiversity, climate control, air purification, noise reduction, storm water management and recreation/wellness. The weight-of-evidence analyses consist of five steps: mapping of the various ecosystem services with the help of indicators; functioning and its effectiveness; calculation of results; evaluation of benefits; and a summation of the benefits of all ecosystem services in an area.

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Windows as a heat source instead of an energy thief Windows are important for letting in light and for the aesthetics of the buildings we live and work in. The downside is that big glass surfaces steal heat and waste large amounts of energy. Now a research team has found a solution to the problem. Since glass surfaces are becoming more and more expansive in architecture, maintaining the temperature balance of buildings is a challenge. A large amount of

NEWS

efence against enemies

heat is lost because big glass windows act as “cold bodies”. Generally, if it’s freezing outside and +20 °C indoors, the temperature of the window is about +16 °C. In cold weather regular glass remains cold even in direct sunlight. Getting a window to both let in light and retain heat has proven to be a challenge. Alexander Dmitriev, professor of physics, and his research colleagues got an idea. They thought that if windows could become warm from sunlight through nanotechnology, the warmth of rooms could be maintained better. “Windows still have to be transparent and not change the colour of objects indoors. So we created so-called nano-antennae that absorb sunlight and generate high-energy electrons that heat the glass. But the glass is still mostly transparent and has a colour rendering index of close to one hundred per cent.” The researchers designed special nano-antennae for sunlight made from cheap and common nickel material and placed them across the glass surface. “We already can warm up the glass more than eight degrees Celsius in direct sunlight,” Alexander Dmitriev says. “By optimising the antennas, we can generate even more heat.”

Global wind speed has declined since 1960 Wind speeds around the world seem to be declining in a phenomenon known as “stilling”, and researchers hope to find out why. Probably few people actually have noticed it, but the world’s winds are continuing to slow down. The average wind speed at ground level has declined by 0.5 kilometres per hour each decade, according to data that has been collected since the 1960s. “Among other things, decreasing wind speeds can affect the spread of pollution in big cities, thus affecting people's health,” says Cesar Azorin-Molina, a researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences.

Chemists in demand on the labour market Chemists, mathematicians, statisticians, teachers and prescriptionists will find it easy to get a job within the next five years. This is indicated by the annual forecast of the future labour market for university graduates prepared by SACO, the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations. “Unfortunately, the shortage of chemists is compounded by the low application rates we have for courses in chemistry,” says Kristina Hedfalk, assistant department head at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology.

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With cultural heritage as a lens He uses cultural heritage as the starting point in research on sustainable cities and societies. Cultural conservator Feras Hammami examines various city projects both abroad and in Sweden. “I’m interested in understanding how urban transformations and especially new development projects may either include or marginalise groups,” he says.

ne of the many urban development projects Feras Hammami has delved into is the ongoing urban transformation of Gamlestaden in eastern Gothenburg. The plan calls for linking Gamelstaden with the city centre. Three thousand new flats will be built, and the SKF factory buildings will be converted into residential housing and a shopping centre. “An important issue in my research project is how inclusive the urban development

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project in Gamlestaden is,” says Feras Hammami, senior lecturer at the Department of Conservation. “If we are interested in building a sustainable district, we must include everyone who lives there.” Gamlestaden emerged as a working-class district around SKF and Gamlestaden’s factories. Labour force immigration and refugees have contributed to the presence of many nationalities in the district. Rents in the area have been relatively low. “I’m interested in understanding how cul-

our identity and our memory. Residents, shopkeepers, visitors and associations in Gamlestaden must have a voice. Not to understand their perspective and interpretation of the official cultural heritage, but because we want to understand the cultural heritage that constitutes Gamlestaden today.”

tural heritage is involved in the transformation process and how cultural heritage will affect the local community,” says Feras. The current location of Gamlestaden was once the medieval town of Nya Lödöse. Consequently, a major urban archaeological investigation of the area is currently under way. Feras believes that archaeological work focuses too much on only the late Middle Ages. “Cultural heritage is not only about things that are old. It lives with us and is part of

GAMLESTADEN IS ALSO home to a skate park that will disappear. It’s also unclear what is going to happen to Bellevue Market and the informal economy that has grown up around the market. Feras Hammami already sees that a gentrification process is under way in the district and that a new social class will shortly take over Gamlestaden despite many grassroots protests, just like what happened in the districts of Haga and Gårda in the past. “Cultural heritage is pluralistic,” Feras says. “We therefore need to take into account all the time layers, not just SKF’s history and the hundred-plus years between 1473 and 1624, when Nya Lödöse was located on the site. I realize, of course, that it’s a big challenge to include all time periods and all people in an urban transformation process. But it is still more problematic to exclude groups such as all the cultures, traditions and social groups that have shaped Gamlestaden in modern times.” He points out that a sustainable city is a city in balance. The city includes social, economic, historical and cultural resources necessary for development. And he regrets that the 19th century nationalist view of history and of cultural heritage continues to live on to some extent. “Sweden is an inclusive country. But we need to be careful that a single image does not dominate our cultural heritage. That is dangerous from a democratic point of view.” THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG now has

a new Centre for Critical Heritage Studies. “We explore alternative perspectives on SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

cultural heritage and challenge the older cultural heritage studies that largely focused on material cultural heritage or had a traditional Western view of cultural heritage.” Feras argues that just studying ancient monuments and historical buildings will not do. “For example, that would mean that certain parts of the societies in Africa would not have any cultural heritage at all and that impressions on geography, language and culture are not counted.” Cities have constantly been repurposed, but today globalisation – with migration, new mobility, new technologies and changing economies – places new demands on nations and their governments. “Planning and the administration of cultural heritage in particular are not keeping up, and social conflicts can be generated Ferras Hammami in urban environments. New people in the city, with new stories and new place memories, create new cultural heritage. This is created every day and is something that is a big challenge to understand and become involved in.” FERAS IS A PALESTINIAN, and his interest

in cultural heritage began in his hometown of Nablus, the third largest city on the West Bank. “My interest in cultural heritage was awakened when the Israeli military bombed the old districts in my hometown and tried to eradicate the fact that Palestinians lived and made an impression in Nablus,” he says. Cultural heritage can be used politically by

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people to strengthen their own identity at the expense of other social and ethnic groups. Feras Hammami’s experiences of cultural heritage and politics in Palestine have become his own cultural heritage, both on a personal and professional level. Consequently, a central element in his research is how cultural heritage is ensnared in social conflicts among groups and how political resistance is expressed in cities. “In the old town of Nablus, there is a politically charged square, Qaryon square. Palestinians gather there to create resistance and to help each other when Israeli troops have invaded the city.” IN CONNECTION WITH the 1991 peace pro-

cess between Israel and the PLO, a French artist painted a giant mural on the walls of buildings by the square. The artist had done research about the city and talked with Palestinian women, who described how dangerous it was to go out and hang laundry to dry. “It was a beautiful mural with a woman who was hanging clothes on a clothesline against a clear blue sky, where a dove of peace flew. Some of the residents liked the painting, and some felt that it did not represent their square. But the painting remained and no one protested.” This changed in 2002, however, when the Israeli military began bombing Nablus again and most of the buildings around the square were destroyed. The wall with the mural remained, which the Palestinians then covered with martyr images of those who were killed by the Israelis. In addition, they painted a bloody hand. “As if to say: ‘We took over the square ourselves!’ In other words, this was not an empty square. There was a context here, a long history,” Feras Hammami says. “And the repurposed painting testified to a conflict between the artist and the people who stayed and lived there.” TEXT CARINA ELIASSON PHOTO POWEPHOTO

“There ought to be an 18th goal: zero population growth” More conflicts, environmental degradation and starvation. This is the risk if the world’s population continues to increase as the United Nations predicts in this year’s forecast, according to Frank Götmark, professor of ecology at the University of Gothenburg. “The United Nations’ sustainable development goals cannot be met unless we add one more goal: zero population growth,” he says.

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oday there are about 7.5 billion people on Earth. According to UN population projections, there will be about 9.7 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by the year 2100. The question is whether the Earth’s resources will be sufficient for so many people? According to Professor Frank Götmark, the answer is no. Population growth must be stopped if we are to save the natural environment and ecosystems and prevent human suffering from conflicts and starvation, he maintains. “Growth and high consumption have attracted attention as threats to the environment,” he says. “Population growth leads to the same problems, yet there is still a great deal of silence surrounding that issue.” As an example, he mentions the UN global sustainability goals in which the issue of population growth is passed over. “I'm not critical of the global objectives in themselves. It would be fantastic if they’re met. The problem is that they’re not going to be met as long as we don’t have one more goal: a goal number 18, which should be called zero population growth.” FRANK GÖTMARK RECENTLY received major research funding from the Global Challenges Foundation, which promotes minimising the greatest global threats to humanity. Along with Philip Cafaro, professor of environmental ethics in the United States, he will explore the issues of global and national population

growth. The project compiles research, studies countries with successful family planning programmes and examines whether aging populations in rich countries are a disadvantage or advantage. Also being studied are scenarios for immigration to rich countries in the West, population growth there and its effects on the environment and climate. “These forecasts are not carved in stone. Rather, they are a factor that can be influenced. We’ll look at how they can be affected on the basis of ethical arguments.” FRANK GÖTMARK HAS previously conducted

research on issues such as forest conservation and conservation management. His interest in global population growth was sparked two years ago when he read the book Living Within Limits: Ecology, Economics and Population Taboos, by human ecologist Garrett Hardin. “It was an eye-opener. I realized that the issue of overpopulation was being severely neglected. All researchers are curious, and when you come across something that is both controversial and important, that is particularly stimulating, of course.” Why hasn’t the UN adopted reduced population growth as a global goal? “Yes, that's a good question. It’s complex. At the UN’s world conferences in 1974, 1984 and 1994, the issue was highly topical, but the conferences came to an end and opinion

Frank Götmark Age: 62. Place of residence: Pixbo. Family: Wife, two children. Occupation: Professor of ecology. Research fields: Ecology and nature conservation, including human ecology. Current: Has received a two-year research grant from the Global Challenges Foundation to study issues related to global population growth. 16

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shifted. There were questions about whether family planning was effective, and the spirit of the times has been characterised by development optimists who are more interested in new technology than our ecosystems. What is required is probably an interest in nature to understand humanity’s ravages of ecosystems on Earth. If you are more urban, you don’t see the effects in the same way.”

“That doesn’t seem right. Japan has not experienced the negative economic impact that people feared. On the contrary, declining population confers advantages: lower unemployment and more young people can get jobs. As the proportion of elderly in the population diminishes in the future, we can eventually achieve population stabilisation and better allocation of existing resources.”

Why is the subject controversial? “It is taboo to accuse someone of consuming a lot and not thinking about the environment. It’s a question of social norms. In the same way, having lots of children is regarded as a right. I want to turn this around and ask what our obligations are. Maybe we should institute United Nations’ universal obligations.”

How can we deal with population growth in concrete terms? “Education about the effects and family planning. If that’s not enough, the next step is economic means, such as ‘inverse’ child benefits, with decreasing support the more children you have – in an equitable way based on income.” Frank describes family planning in Iran as a positive example. It was launched in 1988, just after the Iran-Iraq War. The country had a problem with large population increases; food production was insufficient and the severe environmental degradation was occuring. To remedy this, the authorities decided to reduce population growth. They invested in an information campaign, with 15,000 mobile clinics where couples received free advice and contraceptives. They also focused on increasing access to higher education for women. In about 15 years, the birth rate went down from 6 children per woman to 1.9 children per woman.

Conflicts, wars, famine and environmental degradation – how does this correlate with population growth? “Population growth leads to ever-increasing fierce competition for fresh water, food and resources, which in turn leds to severe conflicts and civil wars, often linked to religion or ethnicity. Look at Rwanda. The civil war there was preceded by intensifying competition for fertile land.” Frank Götmark also cites Syria as a possible example of how population growth coupled with the climate may have contributed to the war. In Syria the population increased from nine million in 1980 to nearly 22 million in 2011. Between 2006 and 2011, severe drought and water shortages prevailed, crop yields fell, food prices soared and millions of people were affected by shortages of food and resources. The rebellion against dictator Bashar al-Assad has been discussed in light of this. Declining population has long been singled out as a threat to a country’s economy. What’s your view on this?

But what happens if not enough measures are taken and the global population continues to increase through 2100, as the UN predicts? “Well, what happens then will be deeply tragic. The global population will increasingly be regulated by the availability of food. In the face of climate change with increased drought, it will be difficult to produce enough food and fresh water.” TEXT KARIN FREJRUD

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Arsenic – a hidden thre More than 100 million people may be poisoned by arsenic, a toxic metal that can cause cancer as well as Alzheimer’s. Researcher Markus Tamas has spent 20 years trying to understand what makes arsenic toxic and how cells can defend themselves against it.

he Ganges River extends across 2,500 km from the eastern Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal and is considered one of the most polluted rivers in the world. When it overflows, the flood waters spread cholera and other epidemics in the extremely densely populated areas of northeastern India

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and Bangladesh. Western aid agencies wanted to remedy this. “They started a major project to drill wells in the area,” says Markus Tamas, professor of microbiology. “But they didn’t drill deep enough, and the bedrock in the area is very rich in arsenic, a toxic metal.”

»They sprayed crops with this substance for many years, and today one can find arsenic in rice growing there» what cells can do to defend against them. People have long known that metals have a variety of effects on us and on our health, but we haven’t known why this is so. For example, for a long time it has been known that silver has an antibacterial effect. “In the past wealthy people bought silver vessels and kept water in them to purify it. So even though we have known that metals affect health, we have failed to understand this in detail.” IN HIS RESEARCH MARKUS TAMAS has fo-

at in food The odourless and tasteless metal seeps into well water, and more than 10 years after the wells had been drilled, the effects of arsenic began to appear. People in the area exhibited skin lesions, which are a sign of chronic arsenic poisoning. “The catastrophe was a fait accompli. Up to 70 million people in Bangladesh may be affected, making it the world’s largest mass poisoning.” For 20 years, Markus Tamas has studied how various toxic metals make their way into cells, why they are toxic for cells and

cused on arsenic and cadmium in particular. Both metals are present in the environment, are toxic and have no biological function. Arsenic can cause cancer and affect the skin and skeleton as well as kidney function. A person exposed to the metal at an early age can suffer brain damage, and it may be responsible for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Proteins are necessary for bodily processes to function properly, and for proteins to function properly, they must have a threedimensional structure. Toxic metals affect the ability of proteins to assume this structure, which in turn affects the functioning of cells and longevity. Clumps of protein are formed, and their accumulation can contribute to ailments such as dementia. “But while it’s true that arsenic causes cancer, it can also be used to treat some forms of cancer,” Markus points out. “A certain type of blood cancer is characterised by cell division that is out of control. Arsenic binds to a protein that controls cell division, breaking SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

the door for the arsenic. In this way they down the protein and thereby inhibiting cell suck up the arsenic found in the ground and division.” cleanse the soil of toxic metals. The plants Another major reason that so many people can then be discarded, and the soil can be are already poisoned by arsenic or run the used to grow rice. The collective term for this risk of poisoning is rice. The crop that is a method of cleaning up contaminated soil is staple in the diet of over three billion people phytoremediation, and there is great interest is unfortunately very good at absorbing arsein it within the biotechnology field. nic. As a result, rice constitutes a health ha“There is also a project under way in the zard when it is grown in areas rich in arsenic. opposite direction – manipuAnd the risk may also be lating proteins in plants so present in areas where arsethat they keep the door clonic is not found naturally in sed to the toxins. It doesn’t the bedrock. Some parts of matter if arsenic is present the United States where cotin the ground as long as it is ton was previously cultivanot able to enter the plant.” ted are rice paddies today. In his future research When cotton was still being Markus Tamas is pursuing grown in these locations, two main lines of inquiry. products containing arsenic One is to examine extremely were applied to remove Three yeast cells exposed to arsenic. unusual metals used in new leaves from the plants before The green dots show proteins that have combined. high-tech products whose harvesting the cotton. potential health effects are “They sprayed crops with largely unknown to us. He mentions the this substance for many years, and today one metals indium and gallium, which are used can find arsenic in rice growing there.” in products such as computer monitors and solar cells. When the products are discarTWO PROTEINS ARE particularly important ded, they often wind up in landfills in the with respect to the different ways cells Third World, where the metals can leach out protect themselves against arsenic and other and expose people who want to extract the toxic metals. One lets in arsenic through the metals. There is a fear that this could be a cell’s outer layer, the membrane. The other ticking time bomb for health. protein controls how much arsenic is allowed into the cell. Markus Tamas compares this with the opening and closing of the door to HE ALSO WANTS TO conduct more research the cell’s interior. into how cells develop resilience through To counteract various mechanisms. the absorption “We are focusing on a protein that acts as of arsenic by a molecular sensor. It detects when arsenic rice, it’s possible enters the cells and activates parts of defence to manipulate mechanisms. What is it these sensors detect? the proteins of Is it the metal itself, or is it something that plants growing the metal releases? And what happens to in the area so these sensor proteins that causes them to trigthat they open ger the cell’s defence systems?” TEXT ROBERT KARLSSON PHOTO MARKUS TAMAS&MOSTPHOTOS

Markus Tamas 20

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Doctoral students from eight different countries, including Tanzania’s Redempta Athanas Kajungiro, participated in the course.

Doctoral students from around the world explored

sustainable aquaculture Lectures, shellfish harvesting and communal cooking were some of the items on the programme for doctoral students who participated in SWEMARC's interdisciplinary course on sustainable aquaculture at the end of October. Participants came from various disciplines and eight different countries.

he first part of the course was held at the research stations on Tjärnö and in Kristineberg and included both theoretical and practical elements. During a one-week period, the doctoral students had an in-depth study of the prerequisites for sustainable aquaculture. Among other things, they visited algae cultivation in Kosterfjorden, a mussel farm in Mollösund and land-based recirculating cultivation of rainbow trout. The common denominator for these activities was that they demonstrate various possibilities for sustainable aquaculture. “In this course we also wanted to include the surrounding community, to bring the community into the research,” says Snuttan Sundell, who is director of SWEMARC. ANOTHER IMPORTANT objective was to de-

monstrate the advantages of transdisciplinary work across scientific boundaries to reach

common goals. According to Snuttan, you have to work so closely together that you can get each other to think in new ways. “The aquaculture issue is interdisciplinary in itself. All parts need to be in order to make progress.” TO GAIN A BROAD perspective on the aqua-

culture issue, teachers from different disciplines within the University of Gothenburg contributed to the content of the course. International experts Barry Costa Pierce and Glenn Page took part in both the planning and implementation of the course. Redempta Athanas Kajungiro, who researches aquaculture at the university in Dar es Salaam, applied for the course because she was interested in the interdisciplinary perspective. “I learned a lot about both aquaculture and the cultivation of tilapia that I will be able to put to great use in my research in Tanzania,” she says. “One problem is that a lot of fish farming in Tanzania is not carried out sustainably. We need to find new ways and also to think about how production affects society.” TEXT&PHOTO ALBIN DAHLIN

SWEMARC is a research centre at the University of Gothenburg with the objective of increasing cultivation of food from the sea in an environmentally smart way through interdisciplinary and sociallyresponsible research. SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

Learning to t

The natu How can future teachers learn to teach the natural sciences, with a science centre as a tool? That is one of the questions that doctoral student Alexina Thorén Williams poses in her thesis project. “I’m hoping that my research can help improve teacher education in the natural sciences.”

e meet Alexina Thorén Williams at her old workplace and new study site, Universeum science centre in Gothenburg. She has been a doctoral student at the Centre for Education Science and Teacher Research (CUL) at the University of Gothenburg since 2015, and she is studying how future teachers plan and conduct teaching with invited school classes at Universeum.

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“I want to find out how they address and discuss natural sciences topics in a group and the consequences for their teaching. It’s incredibly instructive for them to operate in a new environment in which they themselves have not chosen the topic and where they do not know the students.” Alexina had worked as a compulsory school teacher for many years when she applied and was accepted for the post as a

teach

ural sciences teacher at Universeum in 2011. Initially, the work primarily involved receiving school classes and teachers within the framework of Universeum’s own further education training activities, but the scope was soon altered to also include student teachers from the University of Gothenburg. “It was exciting to see how student teachers addressed the topics in the environments, but it also gave rise to many questions. Why do they conduct themselves in this particular way and how do they handle the subject when it is difficult?” CURIOSITY AND THE fact that almost all the research available at the science centre

is about how students and the public learn led Alexina to see an opportunity to further examine the learning process among student teachers. Now she is halfway through her doctoral studies and is about to submit her first scholarly article. “It’s said that writing the first article is like being pregnant with an elephant baby. It feels like it takes forever before it is finished,” she says with a smile. Alexina has focused on groups of student teachers who are studying the natural sciences and teaching science together. Among other things, she is examining the manner in which collective learning occurs. This is also affected by the type of student teachers SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

making up the group. Several different groups of student teachers, with different backgrounds and prior knowledge, come to Universeum. Two groups are engaged in the primary school teacher programme for years preschool-3 or 4-9 and the natural sciences make up a relatively small part of their education. A third group is enrolled in a bridging programme for those who already have a degree and are going to become lower-secondary or upper-secondary school teachers. The fact that some students have barely approached the natural sciences before while others have received doctoral degrees in a natural sciences subject has a major impact on how they approach the assignment. But that does not mean that the group with a scientific background has an easier task, Alexina points out. “Each part involves many things that are challenging for students, which requires knowledge of subject matter as well as pedagogic and subject-specific knowledge. It is incredibly instructive to teach in a new environment where the teachers have not chosen the topic, do not know the students and also have other visitors to consider.” IN ADDITION TO HER doctoral studies, Alexina is the coordinator for the course on Sustainable Development Centred on People.

About 300 subject teacher students take this course each year, where they learn about the UN’s global Sustainable Development Goals, 2030 Agenda and educational perspectives and tools for teaching in schools. “Interest has increased since the course was introduced in 2014, which certainly can be linked to the challenges we face, including the threat from climate change, excessive consumption and increased segregation and social divisions in society. How do you handle this as future teachers? You must be aware that you have a responsibility and be able to link it to the subjects you teach.” THE CHALLENGES FOR tomorrow’s teachers are great, especially in the natural sciences. How does one capture interest and maintain it? The number of students in Sweden who study the natural sciences at the university level has steadily declined in recent decades, while there is a great need for trained scientists in society. The key is inspirational teachers, Alexina believes. “As teachers of student teachers, it is important to see how we can support future teachers and what support we can give them so that they can teach and inspire. Because no one ever forgets a really good teacher.” TEXT&PHOTO CAMILLA PERSSON

“What is my favourite element? Oh, there are so many... It would have to be the life-giving oxygen,” says Alexina Thorén Williams.

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The University of Gothenburg leads in sustainable development In 2016, the Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) was commissioned by the Swedish government to evaluate how universities and colleges are working to promote sustainable development in education. The report, which was issued in October this year, shows that the University of Gothenburg was one of the higher education institutions that received the highest marks. “It’s wonderful and an acknowledgement of the efforts pursued by the University of Gothenburg for nearly 20 years,” says Environmental Coordinator Ullika Lundgren.

igher education institutions are required to promote sustainable development in their activities and operations, which means that current and future generations are ensured a healthy and good environment, economic and social welfare and justice. At the University of Gothenburg, work on the environment and sustainable development has been underway since the late 1990s, not just by sorting waste and reducing energy use, but also in research and education. In 2006, the entire university was environ-

mentally certified – the first university in Sweden to receive this designation. UKÄ’s report states that “many of the activities and initiatives taking place at the University of Gothenburg could be highlighted to good advantage as examples of good practices in a national perspective”. “One such example is our sustainability labelling of courses and programmes, which has also attracted international attention,” says Ullika Lundgren.

Evaluation of efforts to promote sustainable development The purpose of the evaluation is to contribute knowledge and national comparisons of how higher education institutions are working with the theme of sustainable development and to present the results achieved. It is hoped that the evaluation can also be of significance for

the higher education institutions’ development efforts. Of the 47 higher education institutions reviewed, 12 received the higher total rating of “having a well-developed process for work on sustainable development in education”.  Read the full report: uka.se (in Swedish)

Marine beauties Researcher Fredrik Pleijel uses photographs in his research – when he describes new species, for example. This autumn, visitors could view his stunning photos of polychaete worms at Fotografiska Museet’s autumn show in Stockholm. In September 2016 he also received second prize in the 2016 Royal Society Publishing photography competition, a photo contest for animal and nature photos. How did you get started photographing small invertebrates in the marine environment? “It began as part of my research job. Colours and patterns contain valuable information that disappears as soon as animals are preserved, and photography is a way to document this information. So in the beginning I photographed ‘only’ polychaete worms. Then the scope of my photography grew to include all sorts of marine invertebrates.” How are photography and research interconnected? “Well, as I said, colours, patterns and shapes often are visible only when the animals are alive. And my job includes describing new species. Such descriptions are usually based on dead animals or sequence data (DNA), and if I can attach the information that is available with living animals, the descriptions become more complete. And of course, it’s an aesthetic experience when animals are so beautiful, and you are able to capture that.” TEXT CARINA ELIASSON

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With a dream of a

BETTER W Her work affects the daily lives of almost everyone in Gothenburg. As environmental strategist at Västtrafik public transport services, Hanna Björk is working to get us to travel more together – and to see its advantages. “My motivation is to make the world a better place,” she says.

he twittering of birds and the sound of footsteps and chit-chat. In central Gothenburg – in the year 2037 – it’s rather quiet. Noisy buses have been replaced by self-driving vehicles powered by electricity, and the few cars that drive through the city are also electrically powered. Air quality is significantly better than today and the noise level has dropped dramatically. Electric buses from Kungälv and other surrounding municipalities have their own raised platform in the middle of the motorway and quickly whisk commuters to and from the city centre. These buses can also adjust their size according to the number of passengers by coupling on extra carriages during rush hour. It has also become easier for residents to live farther from the city because driverless cars or electric bicycles replace buses on the last leg outside urban areas. IS THIS FUTURISTIC VISION of Gothenburg too good to be true? No, not if you believe Hanna Björk. “Threats to the vision? No, there can’t be any,” she declares. “There is no other alter-

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native than to travel together more and to electrify traffic. We want to have cities where you can stroll and sit down for a cup of coffee, of course, not a city drowned by noise, roads and car parks.” Electrification of public transport is one of the biggest challenges that Västtrafik faces in the coming years. It affects traffic planning in many respects and entails a whole new way of looking at traffic. Where will vehicles be charged? How should the routes be laid out so that the charge is sufficient? Where will the terminals be located? Where will the vehicles park? And not least, there’s the question of who should build and own what? These are some of the questions Hanna has on her desk and is working on resolving right now. The United Nations’ sustainable development goals are a key guiding principle here. The global goals are included in all of Västtrafik’s work, and goal number 11 in particular – Sustainable Cities and Communities – is central. This goal includes public transport and reducing the impact on climate and health.

NYHETER

WORLD “It’s not just about the concrete steps being taken by Västtrafik, but also about getting people to put aside their cars and travel together. We are actively working on this, and our campaigns to let people ride free for a few weeks to give it a try usually produce great results.” AS ENVIRONMENTAL strategist at Västtrafik, Hanna has a lot of long-term projects in the works, but she also has many projects that are more short-term. These can include everything from new procurements of vehicles with a focus on sustainability to seeing that coffee purchased for Västtrafik’s workplaces is eco-

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labelled. In addition, she collaborates closely with her colleagues at the regional public transportation authority in Skåne county and Stockholm Public Transport as well as their counterparts in the other Nordic capitals. “We’re not competitors but rather share experiences and learn from each other,” says Hanna. “This job really is incredibly varied and exciting.” What motivates you? “Going to work every day and striving to make the world a better place. It’s amazing to be able to work with something that affects so many people in their daily lives,” Hanna says. “People also have many different points of view about Västtrafik, both positive and negative criticism, which shows how important we are in their lives.” TODAY IT IS HARD to imagine a Swedish

company, regardless of industry, that does not have the environment and sustainability on the agenda. It has not always been that way. When Hannah Björk first became aware of the subject, environmental issues were, somewhat jokingly, left to field biologists and tree-huggers. “I didn’t belong to those groups. But I did a project on the greenhouse effect when still in secondary school and became very interested in how people are impacting nature and the consequences this brings.”

Hanna Björk Age: 42. Occupation: Environmental strategist at Västtrafik. Education: Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Gothenburg. Place of residence: Ytterby. Family: Partner and three sons. Leisure time: Spending time in nature. I love everything from hiking in the mountains to going on walks in the forest and picking mushrooms. Travel: Always on public transport. I ride the train to work and the train to Stockholm and Malmö. I like riding the train. 30

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After that, her path was clear. After social science studies in upper-secondary school and a technical foundation year at Chalmers, Hanna received a master’s degree in environmental sciences at the University of Gothenburg. Via work at a logistics company, a post at the Traffic and Public Transport Authority in Gothenburg and work as a consultant, she came to Västtrafik in 2008, first as an environmental coordinator and then in 2012 in the role of environmental strategist. “For me, it’s important to do things that feel right. I’m motivated and goal-oriented and like collaboration, sharing and being inspired by others. In the future, it would be great if I could also have some kind of mentoring function.” HANNA PRACTISES WHAT she preaches. She rides public transport, sorts household waste for recycling, tries not to waste food and avoids flying as much as possible. While she protects nature, she also takes advantage of opportunities to enjoy it. “I grew up in the country and also live in a quite rural area now. Going out for a walk in the forest is really my waterhole. Last summer my whole family went mountain hiking and camped in Abisko. It was absolutely fantastic!” TEXT KARIN FREJRUD PHOTO MALIN ARNESSON

Speaking of Nobel The biggest scientific event of the year is undoubtedly the awarding of Nobel Prizes. Three researchers from the Faculty of Science met at Ågrenska Villan to discuss the significance of the prize and why there are so few female Nobel Laureates.

 The researchers’ conversation was

also captured on film. You can view the film at sciencefacultymagazine.se

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t is early morning. Researchers Göran Hilmersson, Johanna Höög and Maria Sundin settle down in armchairs around a coffee table in the library in Ågrenska Villan in Gothenburg. It’s chilly outside, and a pale sun penetrates the windowpanes. Inside the library it is cosy, with books and reference works crowding the shelves along the walls. From the adjacent hallway, a faint murmur of voices can be heard. The candle on the table lights up the room, a fine illustration of the role of knowledge in society now that we are about to discuss the Nobel Prize from different angles.

How important is a Nobel Prize for the scientific community? “In the world of research, the Nobel Prize is the greatest distinction one can receive,” says Göran Hilmersson, professor and head of the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, whose research focuses on organic chemistry and method development. “It means a great deal for individual researchers and also for the higher education institution. In addition, it means a lot for those who are active in the same field of research as well as for society at large.” In connection with the Nobel Prize, Göran gets many questions from friends who are not scientists. “It’s great that the prize comes every year,” he says. “There is actually a chemistry prize, a physics prize and a medicine prize, if we consider the Nobel Prizes that are most relevant to us.” Maria Sundin, an associate professor of theoretical physics, nods in agreement. “Yes, even though a lot of money is distributed, it’s mostly about the honour of receiving a Nobel Prize. It is something that carries weight at all universities and among all researchers, a bit like ‘the holy grail’. Moreover, it is a Swedish prize and it reaches out to the schools. Children and young people know that now something is happening that seems extremely important.”

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She thinks that almost everyone talks about the prize a little during the Nobel Prize period. “And then we have this great festive occasion with the Nobel Award Ceremony, when the prizes attract attention and visibility.” This year’s prize in chemistry was in your research field, Johanna. Tell us about it. “Yes, it was fantastic! I had been waiting for this,” says Johanna Höög, associate senior lecturer at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology. “Two years ago cryo-electron microscopy was named the method of the year by Nature, one of the leading scientific journals. I understood then that there might be something in the offing. These gentlemen who received the prize this year really deserve it,” Johanna says. She is trained as a cell biologist and researcher of cells using cryo-electron microscopy. One of this year’s Nobel Laureates in chemistry, Jacques Dubochet, worked at the same institute in Heidelberg as Johanna Höög. “Jacques Dubochet is an extremely pleasant man and his idea is brilliant – that one can study proteins and cells frozen in water. Initially he was a physicist, and he realised that it was possible to freeze water without forming ice crystals. With that insight, he also understood that we might be able to prepare our samples for electron microscopy in that way. Then it took about 40 years until everything started to work. Imagine having that vision and not letting it go,” she adds. This year no woman received a Nobel Prize. What do you think of that? “I absolutely believe that it’s not a coincidence,” Johanna says. “There is an effect in science called the ‘Matilda Effect’ – the fact that men choose men. This means that the efforts of women are constantly undervalued. We can see this in all areas of society for that matter. In the world of research, too, women’s discoveries are not valued as highly as those of their male counterparts.”

Göran thinks the difficulty of comparing different research fields can be a factor. “It’s not as if a woman making a research discovery is in the very same field as a man. Then the situation would be very clear. But men compete in a sense on different tracks, so a judgement has to be made on both the difficulty of the track and what has been accomplished. It’s not exactly the same. Though as you say, Johanna, it’s easier to connect this choice with something else. Take a thing like collaboration. A male researcher with many collaborators receives the highest rating while a woman who collaborates with many others may be regarded by some as lacking in independence.” Maria wants to see a change soon. “Before this year’s physics prize, I talked a lot with my colleagues, and there were many weighty female names that came up then as potential candidates. I feel somewhat cautiously hopeful. On the other hand, I’m of a similar opinion to Göran and Johanna, and then I become a bit discouraged by the fact that I was maybe even more hopeful ten years ago. But we’ll have to hope for a reversal in the trend soon.” Which discoveries have not received a Nobel Prize that should have? “In my own field, astrophysics, I think that the discovery of dark matter, which is of course based on the scientist Vera Rubin’s discoveries in the 1950s, certainly has been worthy of a Nobel Prize. And then we would have also had an additional female Nobel Laureate,” Maria says with an ironic gleam in her eyes.

American astronomer Vera Rubin studied galaxies. She perceived that movements of the stars could not be explained on the basis of visible light and realized that there must be more matter there. “It was then called dark matter, and it has come to play a major role in our whole world view, how we look at the universe. Vera Rubin died last year. It’s very sad that she didn’t live to receive a prize,” says Maria. It can be difficult to draw conclusions about the Nobel Prizes when you don’t know what discoveries the Nobel Committees have had to choose among, Göran adds. “The Nobel Committees do a wonderful job digging into details and comparing nominations. It would be a little naive to say that they are making mistakes. But what you can say something about is your own field. There I will stick my neck out and say I can’t really identify candidates for a Nobel Prize in my own field right now who have not already received it.” Does the Nobel Prize have any significance for the general public? “That probably depends a bit on the underpinnings of the Nobel Prizes. The discoveries must be rooted in something that is important to people,” Maria says. Göran agrees. “The prizes are often arcane, but I believe it’s important that the Nobel Prizes have exposure and are explained in the media.” Eagerly, Johanna leans forward in her armchair and says emphatically: “Through the Nobel Prizes, knowledge is celebrated. That is wonderful indeed – that once a year, people think about what has been done of importance and how it will affect our society in the future.” TEXT CARINA ELIASSON PHOTO MALIN ARNESSON, JOHAN WINGBORG & ROBERT KARLSSON

Maria Sundin, Johanna Höög and Göran Hilmersson SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

Supporting sustainable demands on

umanity finds itself at perhaps the most exciting and challenging juncture in its history! When our ancestors traded their nomadic ways for fixed addresses, they presumably initially allowed their waste products to fall where they were produced and took freely of game for food and trees for energy. Later, they must have realized they needed to manage how they used their resources as they were getting ill from water polluted by their own waste and that local food and energy sources were being rapidly depleted. As the global population grew, it became obvious that management of resources at the regional level was also necessary as the quality of air and water around any given region is influenced by actions in neighbouring regions. Climate and other global changes have now convinced society that we also need to manage our resources at the global level!

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The Earth’s resources are not infinite This phase in human history opened when Apollo astronauts, in the 1960s, took a picture of the Earth from space. This photo continues to fascinate us and it clearly shows two features of Earth that picture that we seldom pause to contemplate. The first is that our ancestors were wrong to call this planet Earth! More correct would have been to christen it water or ocean, as the ocean covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface. The other salient feature is that the Earth has no connection to any other celestial body. Thus, this picture provided proof that, once we have used the natural resources upon which we are dependent, they will not be replenished. This picture also showed us that it is essentially impossible to really rid ourselves of “waste”. Plastic in the ocean? Where else would it be when we since the 1950s have known that it is essentially non-degradable

GUEST COLUMN

a societal transition to development places new n universities

and our culture has embraced its one-time use? Climate change? Our society has, since the Industrial Revolution, relied on the combustion of nearly inert solid carbon products which has resulted in an excessive production of carbon containing greenhouse gas waste, including CO2. As in the case of plastic, we cannot see this waste but it is still with us.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Although we have had visual evidence since the Apollo photo that the Earth’s resources are not infinite, it was not until 2015 with the adoption in the UN of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs that a global convention was adopted acknowledging resource limitation. A possible explanation for the long gap between having evidence of resource limitation and its acknowledgment in the political arena could be that acknowledgement of resource limitation immediately raises the question of

how they are to be shared. Thus, the SDGs can, in effect, be seen as a vision for how we want to share the Earth’s resources among what will soon be 9-10 billion people – all with a right to development. This makes the SDGs relevant for every person, country and company on Earth. Many assume that the SDGs’ primary focus is developing countries but, when it comes to resource (over)use, it is the developed countries that are the greatest sinners.

Business as usual cannot lead to sustainable development The SDGs must be seen and addressed together. In the aftermath of the introduction of the SDGs, we are seeing a tendency for companies, municipalities and even countries to “brand” their sustainability efforts with the selection (“cherry picking”) of the SDGs where they have the greatest potential to

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make positive contributions. In reality, however, all human activities will have both positive and negative effects with respect to sustainable development. Focusing only on the positive effects (“win-win” or “synergies”) will not, in itself, lead to sustainable development. (This “win-win” approach corresponds, incidentally, pretty closely to the current political and business darling of “green (or blue)” growth.) Of course, societal development must capitalize on synergies between different goals. However, in order to contribute to sustainable development, synergies between goals must be maximized while at the same time minimizing “tradeoffs”, i.e. negative interactions on other goals. If trade-offs are ignored in business and societal development models, sustainable development is not possible. Thus, plotting a sustainable development trajectory for society and societal actors requires a systemic understanding of the interactions individual actions have throughout all sectors of society and in the environment.

Universities and sustainable development Traditionally, universities are not good at instilling systemic understanding in their students. In northern Europe, our universities are almost universally organized along disciplinary lines. Our teaching is usually “research -based” meaning that it is carried out by researchers who, by definition, are experts in highly specialized fields. Course offerings are designed within disciplines and progression through a disciplinary field of

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study usually implies an increasing focus on detail and specialization within that discipline. This teaching tradition is ill-adapted to the production of the “sustainability professionals” increasingly being sought after by both businesses and public administration. SDGs address societal challenges that cut across disciplines. Sustainable development is not a field of study in its own right but a concept that must be integrated into ALL study programs. Meeting the SDGs requires that business mode need – as never before – to respect and understand the global challenges being addressed as well as the metrics that can be applied to measure progress against goals. Thus, in addition to rethinking teaching in our own universities, we need also to consider how we better can link the curricula of universities traditionally focusing on business, technical sciences and more general basic research. In short, supporting a societal transition towards sustainable development requires a total rethink of our university traditions! Katherine Richardson Professor in biological oceanography and Leader of the Sustainabilty Science Centre, University of Copenhagen.

FORSKAREN

Successful, but humble He is a top, young researcher, the recipient of several research distinctions in his field, who has come to Sweden and the University of Gothenburg through the Wallenberg Academy Fellows programme. But there is nothing particularly cocky about him. “I am very fortunate,” says structural biologist Björn Burmann.

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THE RESEARCHER

IN RECENT YEARS the Knut and Alice Wal-

(NMR) technology, an analytical method that requires sophisticated equipment. That was also how he came in contact with the University of Gothenburg the first time. There are a limited number of facilities for NMR spectroscopy in Europe, and the waiting period to use them is often long. Therefore, he contacted the Swedish NMR Centre in Gothenburg, a national research infrastructure that is part of the University of Gothenburg. When he then came here and conducted his experiment, researchers here encouraged him to apply for the research programme. He has now been working at the University of Gothenburg since 1 March. “It’s great to be here in Gothenburg, and the whole family like it here,” he says.

lenberg Foundation has given successful young researchers resources to enable them to concentrate on their research through the Wallenberg Academy Fellows programme. Some of the researchers have worked in Sweden, while others have been actively recruited from abroad. Björn Burmann belongs to the latter group. He was working at the University of Basel when he received the prestigious research grant in December 2016, one of two international researchers who moved their operations to the University of Gothenburg.

PART OF HIS research concerns the repair mechanisms of cells and what is known as transcription-coupled repair. For the human body to produce enough vitamin D, people need to spend time in sunshine. But at the same time, the sun’s ultraviolet rays cause harmful chemical changes in our DNA. To protect against this damage, the cells have developed special machinery that can repair the DNA. The three researchers who made the first discoveries of the DNA repair

e conducts research on the structure and function of proteins, right down to the atomic level. By understanding how the processes work in great detail, it’s also possible to draw conclusions about what has happened when the processes don’t work. Examples of such malfunctions are illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and various forms of cancer. “It’s extremely important to understand how the processes work if we are to find the root causes of why they sometimes go awry,” Björn Burmann says. “In this way, a future discovery might lead to finding ways to prevent these illnesses.”

» It’s not that I wanted to become a researcher since I was five; it was more of a process » “We cannot stress enough the importance of these additions, who are now getting good opportunities to further develop their already successful research in good research environments with us,” Staffan Edén, deputy vice-chancellor of research at the University of Gothenburg, said in connection with the appointment. To study protein structures, Björn Burmann uses nuclear magnetic resonance

SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

mechanisms were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2015, and Björn Burmann now wants to delve deeper and explore how the proteins work and how they communicate with each other. In the past, researchers have demonstrated that a protein called MfD plays a significant role in DNA repair, but Björn Burmann will now explore the functions of two other proteins. “In recent years discoveries have indicated

that there are other systems that play a greater role than was previously known.” THERE ARE SEVERAL methods for studying

protein structures, and NMR spectroscopy is one of them. The advantage of this method, Björn maintains, is that you can look at many different things in the same sample. Even if the structure of a protein does not change when the protein has a mutation, it’s possible with NMR technology to see that the signal has been changed so that the protein no longer functions properly. “One of the strengths of using NMR technology is that we can ask ourselves the question: How does the mutation affect the protein even if it does not change the structure?” Björn Burmann has always had a great interest in the natural sciences and how things work, but it was not until his late teens that he thought it might be cool to become

a researcher. That he then went into biochemistry and afterwards structural biology was mostly a coincidence. “It’s not that I wanted to become a researcher since I was five; it was more of a process,” he says with a smile. Now he has begun building up his own research group, and so far he has two doctoral students in place. He has many international contacts with researchers in related fields that complement his own research, and he hopes to collaborate more with researchers here in Gothenburg in the future. His dream is that his research findings will provide new insights. “I don’t expect to be able to cure all the illnesses in the world with the help of my research, although of course that would be fantastic, but that it will offer new clues to how degenerative illnesses and various forms of cancer arise.” TEXT CAMILLA PERSSON PHOTO MALIN ARNESSON

Björn Burmann Age: 38 Family: Wife and two children Prefers doing: Spend time with the family Originally from: Germany. Received doctoral degree at the University of Bayreuth. Conducts research on: The structure and function of proteins. Is a part of the Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine, and was appointed Wallenberg Academy Fellow 2016. Currently: Has received several research awards, including the 2017 annual Anatole Abragam Prize from the International Society of Magnetic Resonance (ISMAR), which is one of the most prominent prizes for young research leaders in NMR spectroscopy. SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

NEWS

New book about life in the house garden

Mathematics provides new knowledge about the interior of objects

Many people living in houses engage in gardening. The book Ett eget utomhus (An Outdoor House of One’s Own) explores everyday gardening life. The book is about an environment that is familiar to many, but surprisingly unexplored from a scientific perspective – namely the house garden. “We are investigating life in the house garden with a focus on what people do, dream about and create there,” says Katarina Saltzman, senior lecturer in cultural

A new dissertation for the Department of Mathematical Sciences shows how mathematical methods and computer calculations can be used to obtain the maximum information from a single electromagnetic pulse, which can be important in medical treatment, for example. “In many cases, such as in medicine, where patients must not be exposed to excessive radiation, it is desirable to keep the amount of penetrating waves as small as possible,” says John Bondestam Malmberg.

heritage, and one of the authors behind the book. “In the garden people interact with plants and other organisms. How this interaction develops also depends on prevailing ideals and social conditions.”

Female fish like males that sing Increased noise in the ocean seems to reduce the mating propensity of fish. A new dissertation indicates that sound pollution impedes reproduction of sand gobies and common gobies, which are an important food source for young cod. Noise in the ocean cannot be seen, nor can we hear it above the surface. Sound travels almost five times faster in the sea than in air, and it carries a much greater distance. “We can record boats that are far out of sight, and the sound is basically unchanged,” says Eva-Lotta Blom, at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, which is examining how the mating of sand and common gobies is affected by sound in the water. “You could compare it to living in Gothenburg and at the same time hearing all the cars driving in Stockholm. That would amount to a great racket, and it would probably not be permitted, because it exceeds the noise level considered to be harmful. However, this does not apply in the ocean, where we don’t have clear rules for noise limits.”  Watch https://youtu.be/0JhmlZofdsI (in Swedish) 40

SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

NEWS

New species can reflect the effects of mining in the deep sea

Less risk of extinction for old animal species Species that are older run less risk of extinction than species that have existed a shorter time. That is apparent from a study recently published by an international research team that included scientists from the University of Gothenburg. The study shows that the extinction risk for predators such as wolves, bears and tigers is highest shortly after the species has formed. The results are based on studies of thousands of fossils in which researchers found that the risk of extinction of the species decreased with the species’ age. The species studied are all predators. For a species that had survived for a million years, for example, the probability of it dying out was 50 per cent less than for a species that had just been formed. The average lifespan of species living as predators is around two million years. But during the last 40 million

years, most species have died out much earlier, although there are species that have survived for more than 10 million years. “Knowing how the species’ age affects the risk of extinction can give us important insights into early evolutionary history and help us predict the future of species,” says Daniele Silvestro, researcher at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. “But it’s not clear to what extent the historical patterns of extinction can be transferred to today’s extinction risk, because the species existing today are strongly affected by human activities.”

Mining in the ocean constitutes a danger for animals deep down on the bottom of the ocean. The Plenaster craigi sponge has proven to be the most common animal on seabeds. It lives in a habitat where nodules predominate. Nodules are balls of metal that have been built up over millions of years and that are found in most of the world's oceans at depths of over 4,000 metres. Because the nodules are deposits that are picked up in deep sea mining operations, Plenaster craigi is likely to disappear entirely from the parts of the seabed that are exploited, according to a new study in which researchers from the University of Gothenburg are participating.

Cod was already a commodity in the Viking Age DNA analysis of archaeological fish bones reveals that cod was already a commodity in the Viking Age. “It has been previously documented that dried fish from Iceland and northern Norway were an important commodity in the Middle Ages. But this is the first evidence that this was already the case during the Viking Age,” says Carl André, professor of marine ecology.

SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

New honorary doctor conducts research on

GLACIERS He has been the leader of several research programmes focused on environmental changes occurring in recent decades. Now he is a newly appointed honorary doctor at the Faculty of Science.

rofessor Tandong Yao conducts research on glaciers and the environment on the Tibetan Plateau. “I’m a geographer from the start. My subject is glaciology – that is, I study ice and investigate fluctuations in the amount of ice in glaciers,” Honorary Doctor Tandong Yao says. One of the most prominent researchers in his field, he is a professor and director of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In October of this year, the Faculty of Science at the University of Gothenburg confered an honorary doctorate on Tandong Yao. “I didn’t know much about what the honorary doctorate title meant, but now I understand that it’s a prestigious award, and I am very pleased and honoured,” Tandong says. TANDONG YAO’S RESEARCH focuses on what is called the Third Pole, or Third Pole Environment (TPE). This is a hot spot for the climate change taking place today. The Third Pole is located on the Tibetan Plateau, which is sometimes called “the roof of the world”. The area, the highest and

SCIENCE FACULTY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

most extensive highlands in the world, is an average of 4,500 metres above sea level. Several important rivers – including the Yangtze, the Yellow River and the Mekong – originate on the plateau, and what happens there affects water resources for almost a third of the world’s population. “Climate change is affecting glaciers on the plateau,” Honorary Doctor Yao says. “We researchers have registered a high degree of melting since the late nineties. Avalanches and floods follow in the aftermath of the glaciers’ melting. The infrastructure in the area has been affected. Bridges have collapsed and people have suffered. Many deaths have occurred.” AFTER STUDYING AND receiving a degree in China, Tandong has lived and worked in Europe and the United States. While in Paris in 2011, he met Deliang Chen, professor at the Department of Earth Sciences and leader of the Regional Climate Group at the University of Gothenburg. The group is studying climate change in Tibet, among other things. “The contact with Tandong Yao represents an important contribution to the development of teaching and research at the Department of Earth Sciences,” says Deliang Chen, who hosted Tandong Yao during the conferment ceremony. “We have a major research project under way concerning the Third Pole in which Professor Chen is a key player,” Yao says. TEXT&PHOTO CARINA ELIASSON

AWARDS

2017 JUNE-DECEMBER MICHAEL AXELSSON,

HONORARY DOCTOR WHO TEAMED UP WITH A DEER New honorary doctor and textile artist Annika Ekdahl works with Gobelins tapestry fabrics in a large format. Recently, she published the book Gobelängresan (The Gobelins Trip), with the subtitle Boken om att följa hjortar (The Book on Following Deer). During the past five years, Annika Ekdahl has held the Barbro Wingstrand visiting professorship, focusing on woodwork and cultural crafts at the Department of Conservation. As part of her visiting professorship, she has researched Gobelins tapestry as art, cultural heritage and craftsmanship. “I’ve explored Gobelins history through a figure frequent throughout Gobelin history: the deer. It has indeed been a fantastic travel companion, and I have had a wonderful journey in the deer’s footsteps.”  Read the full interview: sciencefacultymagazine.com

Recognised for meritorious contributions The following individuals have received a distinction for meritorious contributions in education: BO BERNDTSSON, Mathematical Sciences ÖRJAN HANSSON, Chemistry and Molecular biology BO HELLSING, Physics GUNILLA JOHANSSON, The Lovén Centre LILIOTH OLSSON, Biological and Environmental Sciences ALEXANDER WALTHER, Earth Sciences KATARINA ÖSTLING, Gothenburg University Library

professor at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, has been chosen for the Faculty of Science’s 2017 Pedagogical Award. LARS BENGTSSON, asso-

ciate professor at the Department of Physics, has been awarded the title of Excellent Teacher. The Excellent Teacher title is given to teachers with special educational proficiency. AFSHIN HOUSHANG,

Department of Physics, has been awarded the Faculty of Science’s 2017 doctoral thesis award. REBECKA JÖRNSTEN,

professor at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, has been awarded the Faculty of Science’s 2017 Research Award (read more on page 4).

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SENDER:

University of Gothenburg Faculty of Science Science Faculty Magazine Box 460 SE-405 30 Göteborg

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Reduced ice cover provides more phytoplankton When the extent of sea ice decreases, the production of phytoplankton in the Arctic increases. Researcher Thomas Zack – working with an international research team with scientists from Canada, the United States, Germany and Sweden – has discovered a new way to model the productivity of phytoplankton in the Labrador Sea. The study was published in Nature. By means of algae growing in shallow waters in the Arctic, which live for several hundred years, researchers can now gain information on

the growth of phytoplankton. Algae grow more when ice cover decreases, and the same is true for phytoplankton. Data is obtained in a way resembling dendrochronology, in which researchers gather data through tree-ring dating. The extent of the ice cover in the Arctic is known through reports from the past 200 years. And researchers see that variations in phytoplankton growth are closely linked with the extent of sea ice. The extent of sea ice, and the associated productivity

of plant algae in the Labrador Sea, is traced in this way back to 1640, which is the age of the oldest algae investigated. “This is an extremely rich climate archive, and we’ve only begun to see some of the many layers of information,” says Thomas Zack, a researcher and senior lecturer at the Department of Earth Sciences.  Link to the article: https://www.nature.com/articles/ ncomms15543

Plants more resistant in symbiosis with fungi By forming a symbiotic relationship with fungi, plants not only develop more resistance against diseases, but they can also contribute to more sustainable agriculture, according to a new research study published in Plant Physiology. Lisa Adolfsson and Cornelia Spetea Wiklund from the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences contributed to the study. Most crops can form symbioses with fungi to obtain

nutrients in return. The fungi, in turn, receive carbohydrates produced by the plants’ photosynthesis. The symbiosis, which is known as arbuscular mycorrhiza, is important for sustainable agriculture because it helps plants take better advantage of phosphate that fertilizes the field. To understand how the symbiosis can be better utilised in agriculture, the researchers tried to explore what is behind the increased tolerance. One factor is the

way the fungi increase the level of several hormones in both the roots and shoots of the plants.  Link to the article: http://www.plantphysiol.org/ content/175/1/392.long