Carina Mallard new Pro-ViceChancellor

She is moving from her role as Deputy Vice-Chancellor to step into the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor.

– I am very grateful for the trust people have in me and humbled by the role, says Carina Mallard.

IT HAS BEEN a long process. In January she was nominated, and since then there have been a number of interviews right up to the Consultative Assembly hearing on May 23, when she received the most votes.

– I feel secure in my role as Deputy Vice-Chancellor for research and have acquired a good platform, and I feel I have strong support from the university management and the Grants and Innovation Office. The questions are interesting, but the big difference now as pro-vice-chancellor is that I will provide support to the vice-chancellor.

SO FAR, SHE HAS had a few meetings with Malin Broberg, and it is clear that Carina Mallard will continue to have overall responsibility for research.

– I have been working on this for a couple of years and it feels good that I can contribute with the knowledge I have acquired. I also look forward to getting involved in issues related to the Asso - ciation of Swedish Higher Education Institutions, and to collaborating more with external stakeholders, both nationally and internationally.

What awaits in the immediate future is work on developing new strategies for research for the next period, and also contributing to the government's research bill. One of the most important questions is how the University of Gothenburg can improve the recruitment of lecturers and researchers.

– IT IS EXTREMELY important that we can offer a good research environment and ensure good career paths. Attracting top international researchers is difficult considering how long recruitment can take, and then we have to take into account the process that the Swedish Migration Agency requires, but we are not alone in that. In addition, I want to work to increase our international research grants. I don't think we've been as successful in that area as we could be.

Although much of the work is the same, there are of course some major differences when stepping in as acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor.

– IT'S ABOUT representing the entire university, both internally and externally. I strongly believe in delegating and transparent leadership, which is important given that we are a public body with strong independent faculties. In recent years, I think we have developed good procedural methods at the University of Gothenburg. If we do not have the organization's support for the decisions we make, it will be difficult to develop the university. We should also not control too much, but try to give the researchers the best conditions possible.

She emphasizes that the great strength of the University of Gothenburg is its broad base.

– It is a challenge but also something that we must make the most of. A broad base is a prerequisite for achieving excellence. If we have that, we can also attract the very best, which strengthens our brand as an attractive university.

Like many others, she is very critical of the government's meddling and politicization.

– We feel it is a threat to academic freedom. I think we have to work together with other universities so that the politicians understand the complexity and that a university is not like an ordinary business.

Although the role of Pro-Vice-Chancellor is full-time, Carina Mallard will still be involved with the research team she heads at the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, where she researches brain damage in premature babies.

– I will be supervising a doctoral student, among other things. I think it is important to have that grounding in reality. I see it as skills development, she says.

Text: Allan Eriksson

Photo: Johan Wingborg

→ Facts: Carina Mallard was born in 1963 and has been Deputy Vice-Chancellor for research at the University of Gothenburg since 2021. She completed her undergraduate degree in physiology at Lund University and her doctorate in paediatrics at the University of Auckland in 1995. In 2006, she became Professor of Physiology at the University of Gothenburg.

On June 14, the university board decided to appoint her Pro-ViceChancellor.