GU-Journal 6-2023

GUJOURNAL INDEPENDENT STAFF MAGAZINE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG #6 DECEMBER 2023

News

New language policy News

This is what GU wants from the government REPORT

On a guided tour in Gothenburg

Trustworthy and analytical Isabell Schierenbeck worries over what is happening in Israel

Contents

News 04–11 04 06 07 08

Language policy on its way.

Swedish on the menue.

Parallell languages a solution.

This is what GU wants from the government.

Profile 10–13 10

10

Worried about what is happening in Israel.

Trustworthy and impartial Isabell Schierenbeck on Israel.

Report 14–21

l Profile Isabel Schierenbeck

14 16

Be aware of fake photos!

A guide to Gothenburg and its stone buildings.

20 Cave monastery with mysterious graffiti.

People 22–24 22 Natrium - the new meeting place at GU.

16 A guide to stone houses in Gothenburg.

20 Mysterious texts in old monastery.

22

Welcome to new Natrium!

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GUJOURNAL DECEMBER 2023

Vice-Chancellor

Masthead

Provision of competence and a festive opening

Academics need to be credible

semester goes by ever so

quickly and now the Christmas break is soon at hand.

And yet we manage to get so much done! Within the University’s activities, summaries of this year’s trials and accomplishments are now underway, as we concurrently begin working on strategies for the future.

By reflecting on what has been, we can continue to develop and improve even further.

An exciting and direct delivery that will be arriving just around the corner is the final report from the working group on competence provision that the Vice-Chancellor appointed just over a year ago. The assignment was to produce proposals for a more systematic work with competence provision at the university, and recently a number of concrete proposals were presented to the University Management Council.

Several suggestions are about how we can become better at receiving internationally

recruited staff, for example by offering better language support and practical help with establishing themselves in Sweden.

The group also proposes an exchange of experience between teacher proposal committees to learn and gain inspiration from each other in recruitment and promotion matters. More information on this once the report has properly landed.

Another very concrete event recently was the festive opening of the Faculty of Science's new Natrium building. Medicinareberget has thus become a distinct campus where two faculties share common areas for students and employees to move seamlessly and mingle in the restaurant “Salt och syra”. I hope and believe that the building will contribute to strengthening existing collaborations and create a good environment for the nurturing of new ones.

Modern and practical premises are a factor that contributes to attracting students and staff. We need to work in several different ways to succeed in recruiting, developing and retaining the best employees and students. How we manage this is absolutely crucial for the University of Gothenburg's capacity to conduct research and education of the highest quality.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Vice-Chancellor MALIN BROBERG

GUJOURNAL The GU Journal has a free and independent position, is made according to journalistic principles.

Editor-in-chief: Allan Eriksson, temporarily on leave.

Editor: Eva Lundgren Phone: 031–786 10 81, e-mail: eva.lundgren@gu.se Photographer:

Johan Wingborg, Phone: 070–595 38 01, e-mail: johan.wingborg@gu.se Layout: Anders Eurén, Phone: 031–786 43 81, e-mail: anders.euren@gu.se Address: GU Journal,

University of Gothenburg, Box 100, 405 30 Gothenburg , Sweden.

E-mail: gu-journalen@gu.se Internet: gu-journalen.gu.se ISSN: 1402-9626

he academic's role

is to be a credible person who uses different approaches in order to contribute with an analysis, says Isabell Schierenbeck, an expert on Israeli politics. These past few weeks have been the most demanding ones she has ever experienced. Nevertheless, she believes that one of her most important tasks is to participate in media and public conversations in order to be the person who, in the midst of all the torrents of emotions, presents with facts and consideration.

At the same time, it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish what is true from what is false. Not least photos and films can be easily manipulated and spread further. Orla Vigsö believes that one should not only be suspicious of overly cheerful news but also of reports of very serious abuse. If a piece of news seems improbably terrible, there is reason to be doubtful.

This issue also contains three articles on the new language policy that is underway. Swedish is the official language at the University, but at the same time a lot of research is done in English.

How Swedish and English should work together is one of the policy's major challenges.

Finally, the journal contains a walk in the Stone City of Gothenburg as well as a report from a cave monastery in Romania.

Within, researchers have found letters of an unknown language which they hope to soon decipher.

The editors wish all readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

GUJOURNAL DECEMBER 2023

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News

Swedish or English?

That is one of the important questions that the team working on a new language policy must sort out. On the one hand, the University of Gothenburg is to be an international university, on the other hand it is a public body, and the official language in Sweden is Swedish.

– The policy must meet requirements that come from above in the form of laws, regulations and official mandates. But at the same time, of course, it must take into account the different needs of the business, explains Susanna Karlsson, Associate Professor in Nordic languages and one of the experts in the team working on the policy.

ONE OF THE SEVERAL mandates

that the country's universities have is to be international, Susanna Karlsson points out.

– We must operate in an international market, be competitive and both send out and receive students and employees from other countries. This leads to a tension between Swedish and English. At many of our departments, English is the obvious research language, while the Language Act and, indirectly, the Administrative Procedure Act establishes Swedish as the official language. This means that even if, for example, meeting minutes are kept in English, the document must be translated into Swedish and it is the

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Swedish version that counts as the original.

– Furthermore, public bodies have a particular responsibility for the development of Swedish terminology within their various specialist areas, something that can be difficult to live up to if both research and education are conducted in English. But if the universities do not take responsibility for the technical language, then who will?

IN THE CURRENT policy from

2015, there is an ambition to increase the English element, both in education and research.

Among other things, it states that course literature should be in English more often, especially at higher levels, and that all lecturers are expected to publish in English. The number of theses in English must increase and students who have recently defended Swedish-language theses must be encouraged to publish in English in the form of an article. On the other hand, there is nothing about the obligation of international employees to learn Swedish or whether the employer has a commitment to facilitate language studies, says Susanna Karlsson.

– But knowing Swedish will probably be more important in the future. If the government gets its way, within a few years a language requirement will be introduced in order to obtain a permanent residence permit in Sweden. If we want to keep the international employees we recruit, we have to make sure that they learn the language.

What we need to find out is who is responsible and how the trai-

»Our collegues speak 50 different languages ...« Michael Schulz

Susanna Karlsson

ning should be carried out. Does responsibility lie centrally with the University of Gothenburg or perhaps with each department?

Should it involve courses or other initiatives, should time for language training be provided as part of the employee’s job and what responsibility does the employee have?

Of course, learning the language of the country where you work is not just about the job.

– How does Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency), the Swedish Tax Agency, the school your child attends operate? Without knowing Swedish, all of this is difficult to get to grips with. In this context, the administrative staff often play a major role as cultural interpreters, and it is a shame that this group of people is often forgotten when we talk about language and skills development. We obviously need to invest in lecturers, researchers and students, but some administrators may need a course in, for example, administrative English.

MICHAEL SCHULZ, Head of the School of Global Studies, explains that his department would like to have international researchers and students, particularly from the Global South.

– As our colleagues speak 50 different languages, the language we use on a daily basis is English. But during meetings with the management team and the department council, we speak Swedish, it is not possible to familiarize yourself with regulations and documents if you do not understand the language. In our recruitment adverts, we state that employees are expected to learn Swedish within two years, something we

News

Dick Stenmark thinks that internatlonalization is not always something good.

set aside time for as part of the job. In recent years, we have also taken language skills into account more systematically when hiring.

Because English is the language spoken everywhere, there are few opportunities for practising Swedish in a practical setting, Michael Schulz explains.

– We have one employee, Anders Litsegård, who has set aside time as part of his job to talk to colleagues in Swedish.

Many people are also brought up in multilingual environments and therefore do not think that it is very difficult to learn another language. However, of course, some people have greater difficulty than others in achieving a reasonable level of Swedish.

ALEXANDER DMITRIEV is Head

of the Department of Physics, which is very international.

– When we apply for funding, even from Swedish financiers such as the Swedish Research Council, you have to apply in English, and the better the standard of English in the applications, the greater the chance of obtaining funding. We write reports, hold conferences and provide higher education in English. But all official documents must be in Swedish, moreover in official Swedish, which is not so easy to master. This means that it is difficult to recruit international employees to department councils, the Academic Appointments Board and the like. This does not only apply to the University of Gothenburg, non-Swedish-born employees are strongly underrepresented in

management positions at universities throughout the country.

The graduate courses are in Swedish. This makes it problematic for non-Swedish-speaking assistant senior lecturers to earn their qualifications through lecturing, Alexander Dmitriev explains.

– We do recruit international employees at the highest level who could bring both expertise and energy to different contexts.

Therefore, I think that centrally the University of Gothenburg, e.g. through a letter, could encourage international employees to apply for a variety of positions of responsibility even if their Swedish is not perfect. At our meetings, we mix languages, everyone is bilingual, so you use what is easiest for you. Then, of course, the language of official documents must be in Swedish.

DICK STENMARK, Dean of the

IT Faculty, says that workplace meetings are often in English.

– As you can manage pretty well at the faculty with English, there is no major incentive to learn Swedish, except of course if you have other reasons to want to learn the language, such as your children going to a Swedish school. But since Swedish is used, for example, at faculty meetings, some employees are excluded from that type of context. Most problematic is getting an even gender distribution in different bodies: We do not have enough female professors and we have even fewer female professors who speak Swedish. If we were to always ask the same individuals, they would end up in too many groups and find it difficult to catch up with their research and teaching.

Dick Stenmark believes that the university should set clearer requirements for employees to learn Swedish, but also invest more resources in supporting learning.

– The people we recruit are highly educated and used to studying. Why wouldn’t they be able to learn Swedish if we gave them the task and good conditions?

But Dick Stenmark is also

»Therefore, I think that centrally the University if Gothenburg, for instance through a letter, could encourage international staff to apply for a variety of positions ...«

critical of the idea that internationalization necessarily leads to better quality.

– Our master's programs are conducted in English, which is usually neither the native language of the teachers nor the students. It absolutely does not contribute to raising the understanding of the subject or increasing the educational quality. University studies – especially at advanced level – are difficult enough without having to communicate in a foreign language. What amazes me is that we academics, who are trained in critical thinking, so unreflectively buy into all the talk about the importance of internationalization; in many contexts it is not quality-enhancing at all.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg

­Alexander Dmitriev

→

About the Language Act: The Language Act states the following: Article 10 The language used in courts, administrative authorities and other bodies that have a public mandate is Swedish... …

Article 11 The language used in the public sector must be professional, simple and comprehensible.

Article 12 Authorities have a special responsibility to ensure that Swedish terminology within their various specialist areas is available, used and developed.

The University of Gothenburg's annual report contains the following information about the university’s educational programmes: Teaching language Swedish: Basic level academic year 22/23 4 115 Advanced level academic year 22/23: 1 496

Teaching language English: Basic level academic year 22/23 534 Advanced level academic year 22/23: 1,435 According to a survey

by Universitetsläraren, 34 percent of university graduates in Sweden have a foreign background, but only 12 percent of the members of management teams https://universitetslararen. se/2022/12/08/ovanligtmed-utlandsk-bakgrund-ilarosatenas-ledningsgrupper/.

The University of Gothenburg's new language policy is being drawn up by a committee with representatives from the Communication Unit, Human Resources and the Unit for Academic Language. Susanna Karlsson, Associate Professor in Swedish, is also part of the committee as a linguistics expert.

The proposal will go out for review in January 2024 and a decision will be made in March–April.

GUJOURNAL DECEMBER 2023

5

News

Conversation between Kilian Spandler, Karen Oliveira da ­Costa, Andréas Litsegård andThomas Daum.

Lunch with Swedish on the menue For the past five years Andréas Litsegård spends one lunchtime a week speaking Swedish with his international colleagues. The idea is for his colleagues to be able to practise the language in an informal setting without having to worry about making mistakes.

THE EMPLOYEES at the School

of Global Studies come from all over the world. Which is the reason why English is frequently spoken in the rooms and corridors.

– You can manage well with English in Sweden, states Andréas Litsegård, senior lecturer in international relations.

Still, it is important to know

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the language of the country in which you are living. It is about social contacts, feeling involved and also about democracy; if you do not speak the language it is difficult to follow public discourse.

The expectation that university employees should be able to speak Swedish has increased over the past few years, both from the perspective of the University of Gothenburg’s management and from the School of Global Studies.

– THE IDEA IS that our interna-

tional lecturers should speak Swedish sufficiently well after two years to be able to lecture, so they really have to put the effort in. The department has become better and better at providing support.

»That is why a recurring social event like this one is important to many people in order to help them feel that they belong.« Andréas Litsegård

For example, it is possible to use your time for skills development to study Swedish.

But attending a course is one thing. Actually being able to spontaneously speak a language in everyday situations is another thing altogether.

THAT IS WHERE Andréas Litse-

gård’s language lunches come in. For the past five years he has spent one lunchtime a week speaking with his

international colleagues. Sometimes he suggests a theme, other times they talk about whatever comes to mind.

– UP TO 6–7 people attend these lunches. I have some colleagues who have been coming since the start and they speak more or less fluent Swedish now. I help them translate or find the right word when they need it, but the idea is just to let everyone speak freely, without any performance anxiety.

Another element to it is the social aspect, Andréas Litsegård states.

– We talk a lot about ecological and economic sustainability, but less about social sustainability. People who come here from other

Parallel languages in meetings countries can have difficulty finding a way into Swedish society, particularly as Swedes can be a bit shy. That is why a recurring social event like this one is important to many people in order to help them feel that they belong.

Andréas Litsegård took the initiative to organise these lunches on his own time.

– NOT LEAST DURING the pandemic, when the lunches were held online, the platform was much appreciated.

It does me good to be there for others but I also see it as a privilege to be able to have conversations that enable me to learn a lot about other cultures and perspectives. At the same time, it think it would be reasonable for the department to support these kinds of initiatives, for example by providing a few hours for activities with international colleagues in the workforce plan. I think that would encourage more people to get involved in similar activities.

For example, why not have a Spanish language lunch for people who wish to speak their native language? Of course, you could also come up with completely different activities.

Formalising the informal may sound a little contradictory, Andréas Litsegård admits.

– But learning a new language does require some structure. Perhaps we should bring up language issues at staff meetings and performance appraisals, and schedule time when only Swedish is spoken. Language training does not happen by itself, some organisation is required.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg

Decisions and other official documents must be written in Swedish but meetings can be held in both Swedish and English, on the condition that all attendees understand both languages.

These are some of the guidelines for the new language policy that is being drafted.

THE CURRENT language policy was adopted in 2015 but much has happened since then, explains Deputy Vice-Chancellor Pauli Kortteinen who is heading the ongoing revision process.

– The University of Gothenburg is a Swedish public authority, but in many respects also an international workplace with a vision of being a university for the world. We recruit staff and bring here students from around the world, which of course is great but also challenging. A starting point for using English as teaching language is that the students learn equally well as if they took the course in their own language. From a study at KTH and Chalmers, we know that undergraduate courses held in English lead to worse results and more students dropping out. This is something we all need to be aware of and try to counteract.

HOW GU, as a Swedish public

authority, should handle the fact that more and more employees have another mother tongue, the current policy has no clear answer to. But hopefully the new one will.

A central concept, which is introduced in the new the language policy, is "parallel-language use", explains Pauli Kortteinen.

– We must both make demands on and support international employees.

– The official language is Swedish, that all official documents must be written in. But internationalization means that English is often used in parallel. Parallel-language makes it possible for teachers, researchers and students to be included in international collaborations but is also a prerequisite to get foreign teachers, researchers and students to come to us.

– MEETINGS NEED TO be inclusive and involve everyone participating. There is nothing that prevents meeting participants to use other languages as long as everyone understands what is said and can make themselves understood. This type of parallel-language use is already taking place, but in the new policy it is written out that this is accepted.

In international recruiting, the job advertisement usually states that the employee should learn to lecture in Swedish within two years.

– The expectations we have of our international employees need to be supplemented by providing the conditions to be able to achieve them.

Thus, the university needs to support the international employees’ efforts to learn Swedish, for example by developing intensive courses, which can be carried out in collaboration with the Department of Swedish, Multilingualism and Language Technology or with Folkuniversitetet. We need also develop guidelines for a course in Swedish possibly can take place as competence development during working hours.

A FIRST DRAFT of the new

language policy is expected to be completed by the end of the year. It will subsequently be discussed by the Committee for Doctoral Education, the University Board of Education, the Research Board and the Vice-Chancellor’s Management Group.

– Following amendments, a proposal will be sent to all departments for review. We are hoping that the Vice-Chancellor can make a final decision in March or April, Pauli Kortteinen explains.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg GUJOURNAL DECEMBER 2023

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News

GU asks ­ for more stability – Gothenburg Univer­ sity's main message to the government is that we need to have a long-term perspective. Whether it concerns research, education, infrastructure or international collaboration, long-termism is a prerequisite for success and excellence.

This is what Pro-­ViceChancellor Carina Mallard had to say in connection with the University of Gothenburg's statement regarding the upcoming Research and Innovation Bill.

THE UNIVERSITY of Gothenburg has presented its opinion in five points. The first is generally about how state governance should develop. Among other things, the University of Gothenburg is calling for a systematic evaluation of the effects of the three most recent Research and Innovation Bills.

The university also points out the importance of predictability.

This includes the unexpected halving of funding for research collaboration through Sida and the Swedish Research Council, which came into effect at the start of the year. The change took place without prior consultation with the universities or researchers concerned.

– The University of Gothenburg has urged the government to refrain from decisions that lead to sudden changes to

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already existing investments. We cannot perform at a high level if we do not know what will apply, stresses Carina Mallard.

The second point deals with the conditions for long-term sustainability and excellence in the university's core remit. Today, 0.8 percent of Sweden's GDP goes towards research.

In order to keep up with international competition, the University of Gothenburg wants to increase that figure to 1.2 percent.

– We also point out the importance of a better balance between direct government funding and external funding.

Because both national and international financiers often require co-financing, external grants lead to resources being tied up in various projects. It reduces the universities' room for manoeuvre and the opportunity for strategic planning, and also risks eroding the funding of doctoral education since these grants rarely include doctoral students.

LIKE OTHER UNIVERSITIES, the University of Gothenburg spent a lot of work last year on developing profile areas, in accordance with a proposal in the previous bill.

– We do not yet know what will happen with the profile area proposal. But we believe that this type of investment risks limiting the development of new research areas, while at the same time undermining our fundamental

- Our most important message to the government is the need of predictability, stresses Carina Mallard.

resources. To the extent that special profiling needs to be done, the universities’ discussions with the Department of Education are a better forum for dialogue, Carina Mallard believes.

POINT THREE IS ABOUT collabo-

»We want to emphasize the value of constitutional protection of academic freedom..« Carina Mallard

ration, utilization and innovation.

– Among other things, we highlighted the West Sweden arena for collaboration on sustainability, which recently changed its name to WEXSUS, an organization that came into existence as a result of an initiative by the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers. The purpose is to facilitate collaboration for sustainable development between higher education institutions in western Sweden and various social stakeholders. We also point to the overlapping collaborations that exist in medical technology between the Västra Götaland region, Chalmers and Sahlgrenska Academy. Another important collaboration is ULF (Education, Learning, Research), which commenced in 2015 as a result of an initiative by the University of Gothenburg, among others. The idea is to strengthen the scienti-

News

About the uni→ versity's contribution

to the research and ­innovation bill: The ­University of Gothenburg's contribution to the research and innovation bill 2024 was submitted on October 31. The following areas were highlighted as particularly important: - Overall development of state governance

fic basis for educational activities in schools and preschools through collaboration. Currently, all higher education institutions that offer teacher training participate in this, as well as just over 200 schools. This is an operation that we want to develop further.

Open science is another important issue. Through special agreements, most scientific journals offered by the University Library are open access. But the agreements are extremely costly.

– There are also requirements for open-research data, which will increase costs further. The University of Gothenburg is therefore calling for taking collective national responsibility for the costs associated with open science, explains Carina Mallard.

THE GOVERNMENT has formulated a national strategy for Sweden's participation in the EU Horizon Europe framework programme. The goal is for Sweden to receive at least 3.7 percent of the grants that are on offer. This is an ambition that is backed by the University of Gothenburg.

– The Grants and Innovation Office is currently launching an initiative where they go to all

departments and talk about the programme and the support that is available. Because the only way to get more funding is for more researchers to start applying for it.

The University of Gothenburg has also highlighted the holding company GU Ventures, which for many years has been ranked among the top twenty in the world. However, the company lacks sufficient seed capital to invest in and retain specialized "deep-tech" companies, for example. The University of Gothenburg has therefore highlighted the need for additional funding for innovation.

THE NEXT ITEM deals with re-

sponsible internationalisation.

– We want to recruit talented researchers and students from other parts of the world. In that context, the Swedish Migration Agency's long processing times for visas and residence permits are a problem; for example, it is not unusual for a student to only be granted their visa halfway through the semester, which of course is not sustainable. This is something we have to work with at a national level to sort it out,

- Conditions for long-termism and excellence in the university's core remit - Collaboration, ­utilization and innovation - Prerequisites for ­responsible­ internationalization - Prerequisite for longterm research infrastructure Recently, the government also proposed a new authority for ­funding research and innovation. The University of Gothenburg must submit its input to the proposal in January next year.

says Carina Mallard.

Investment in research infrastructure is the last item on the list.

– One problem is that all government funding of research infrastructure receives funds from the same pot. This means that major investments, such as MAX IV and ESS in Lund, risk crowding out other important infrastructure projects. Therefore, we believe that the major facilities should receive their own funding, directly from the state budget.

The investigation Stärkt fokus på framtidens forskningsinfrastrukturer (Stronger Focus on Future Research Infrastructure) suggested in 2021 that digital research infrastructure should be assembled under one authority.

– We agree with the importance of a single authority that handles all kinds of research data; it should then also apply to data of a personal nature or information that pertains to issues of national security.

ACADEMIC FREEDOM is also an important issue for the University of Gothenburg, says Carina Mallard.

– The Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions has issued the letter Om akademisk frihet (On Academic Freedom) which the University of Gothenburg stands behind.

Primarily, we want to emphasize the value of constitutional protection for academic freedom, both in research and education.

On November 8, the Minister for Education Mats Persson paid a quick visit to the University of Gothenburg where he met staff from the management team, researchers and a student representative.

– We had a good discussion.

Among other things, the minister addressed the importance of clear career paths. It is an area that the University of Gothenburg's management also emphasizes.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg GUJOURNAL DECEMBER 2023

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Profile Profile

Credible and analytical Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg

– The role of an academic is to be a credible person who bases their arguments on different perspectives and contributes with analysis. But everyone who uses the media and other information sources also has a responsibility to check their sources and think about how they should express themselves.

These are the words of the political scientist Isabell Schierenbeck, who is an expert on Israeli politics. The weeks following the Hamas terror attack on October 7th have been the busiest she has ever experienced. →

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GUJOURNAL DECEMBER 2023

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Profile

→

sabell Schierenbeck is a Professor at the School

of Global Studies. Her area of expertise is Israeli domestic politics and politics in the Middle East.

After the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, she has taken part in news broadcasts, radio and newspaper interviews to an extent never previously experienced.

– When I have to explain what the conflict between Israel and Palestine is about, I hesitate about how far back I should go; should I start with how the Middle East was divided by Great Britain and France after the First World War? Or with the formation of Israel in 1948 and the war that broke out after that? Or should I go back to the late 1880s when Jewish immigration to the Ottoman Empire began? Perhaps I should start instead with the situation of the Palestinians in Israel or Palestine, Gaza and in the West Bank, where the Israeli occupation continues and the settlements are expanding and local self-government does not work; where neither Islamist Hamas nor secular Fatah have the trust of the population.

At the Book Fair last autumn, Isabell Schierenbeck chose to talk about the wide-spread protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year. His government is the most right-wing in Israel's history, and many believe that Israeli democracy is under threat, partly because the government wants to limit the power of the Supreme Court.

– The fact that Netanyahu was still tolerated is due, among other things, to the fact that he was seen as a guarantor of Israel's security; that trust has, of course, been eroded now.

Many places in Israel are significant for both Jews,

Christians and Muslims. Nevertheless, the conflict does not have much to do with religion, although that element has become more pronounced in recent years. Instead, it is about the right to territory, in an area smaller than Småland, where the Jews are either perceived as colonizers or as a population that has belonged to the area since time immemorial. Both sides have periodically supported a two-state solution, but both sides have also repeatedly demolished the path to a solution.

As the violence continues, people on both sides have increasingly begun to lose hope, Isabell Schierenbeck explains.

– And right now, the whole of Israel is in shock.

Hamas's brutal attack has brought the hitherto politically divided country together, at least temporarily. But the criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu is overwhelming: How could an attack like this happen? Where were the intelligence services and the military? And does the government think that it is more important to destroy Hamas than to free the hostages? At the same time, Gaza is being bombed and the civilian population is forced

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to flee insideGaza. And the Palestinians who make up roughly 20 percent of Israel's population are also now having an extremely difficult time and are experiencing intense anxiety about the future.

The world's attention is on Gaza; what happens in the West Bank is of less interest.

– Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians is nothing new, but since October 7 the violence has intensified.

The situation has created extreme polarization, both within Israel and beyond its borders. Can Israel as an occupying power claim to be a democracy? And how will the Palestinians have a reasonable future?

Together with Professor Helena Lindholm, Isabell Schierenbeck participated in a panel debate on October 26 at Pustervik about the events in Israel. The was a tremendous amount of interest in the debate, the audience consisted of at least 300 people, but despite the emotive topic, the discussion was calm and measured.

And participating in discussions, being an expert on news programmes or providing a briefing for decision-makers has become an increasingly important part of Isabell Schierenbeck's work.

– The third task is something I really care about.

In an inflamed situation, it is the researcher's task to be the person who objectively analyses the situation, presents different points of view and calls for an understanding of the different perspectives and ways of perceiving the situation.

War and conflict strongly influences the impression

people have of the Middle East. But, of course, other things are also going on there.

Among the research projects in which Isabell Schierenbeck is involved is, Geopolitikens gränser (The Boundaries of Geopolitics), about new collaborations in the Red Sea region.

It is a Swedish Research Council project and my research team works together with researchers in Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, among others. It is about how we should interpret the greatly increased cooperation between countries in the Middle East, and countries in the Horn of Africa regarding military bases, infrastructure projects such as ports, schools and hospitals, but also migration-related issues.

New partnerships are developing that question old loyalties or are based on previous historical experiences of exchanges between peoples and countries in the region.

Isabell Schierenbeck's commitment to war-torn areas is connected, among other things, to her personal background.

– My father was born in Bremen in 1939 and lost his father in the war. The German side of my family lost very much because of the war, and being working class they had neither the time nor the means to process

the Middle East and especially Israeli domestic politics.

– But it is impossible to stay up-to-date and understand society and politics in depth if you do not regularly visit the area. Therefore, I was delighted to have held a visiting professorship at Ben Gurion University for two years, which has given me the opportunity to visit the area 3–4 times a year. Since September, I am a visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

After the events of October 7, Isabell Schierenbeck

wrote every Saturday to her friends and colleagues in Israel.

– When I was younger, I studied psychotherapy, which I have recently realized benefits me as a researcher. Listening actively, showing that you want to try to understand a person's circumstances or where they are in life, is extremely important.

Recent events in Israel have made Isabell Schierenbeck extremely pessimistic.

– But even in the midst of the greatest despair there must be some hope. Sometimes the very hopelessness of a situation can provide a glimmer of hope, because the alternative is to just give up, and that would be terrible.

ISABELL SCHIERENBECK

their experiences. But war, guilt and difficulties processing different experiences affect people for a long time, even future generations who were not there when the tragedy occurred.

But her commitment to the Israel-Palestine issue is also connected to her fascination with the Middle East that Isabell Schierenbeck has had ever since she travelled around the region, including Israel, Palestine, Egypt and Turkey, when she was 18-19 years of age.

– I like the culture, the food and the music, and over the years I have got to know a lot of people, both Israelis and Palestinians. I am still in contact with some of the people I met when I was younger and know both their children and grandchildren.

When Isabell Schierenbeck eventually started studying political science, it was natural for her to focus on

Works as: Professor of Political Science at the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg. She is also a visiting researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an affiliated researcher at the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) at Lund University.

Family: Two children, aged 24 and 14 (her older son now lives and works in the UK), a cat called Bibbi, NOT named after Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu.

Lives in: An apartment in Linnéstaden.

Hobbies: Socializing with friends and family, exercising and reading fiction.

Her favourite authors include Marguerite Duras, David Grossman and Bernhard Schlink.

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Photos that cannot be trusted Is it possible to see through the amount of fake images, films and other misleading information that wash over us every day?

– It is not impossible, but may be difficult.

This is the view of Nicklas Håkansson and Orla Vigsö, media researchers at the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication.

Propaganda and fake news have existed

since time immemorial. Manipulated pictures are not a new thing either. But what makes the current situation so unique is that it is so easy both to create fake images, films and other material – and to disseminate them. Particularly during war and conflict, as between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, propaganda, fakery and misleading information is used by both sides to engender engagement for their own side.

The fakery can be achieved in a number of different ways, explains Orla Vigsö, Professor of Media and Communication.

– Recently, Aftonbladet dissected three photos that had been created using

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AI technology. At a glance, the photos appear genuine, but as you start scrutinizing them you soon discover more and more absurdities. The examples include a picture of the pope with a crucifix suspended on only half a chain, and glasses that appear to be part of his eye. Telltale characteristics of AI-generated pictures are smeared faces, blurred text and hands that look odd.

But genuine photos can also lie.

– One photo, allegedly depicting a Ukrainian woman capturing a Russian tank, turned out to have been shot in Germany. So the photo was not manipulated, but depicted something very different to what was being alleged.

Knowing what to trust requires some form of corrective, i.e. an independent body that is able to corroborate or dismiss the information being disseminated. In a war situation, this is often difficult to obtain.

– The war in Gaza for example, is a situation where there are no journalists or independent voices who can bring nuance to the information that reaches us in Sweden, explains Nicklas Håkansson, Associate Professor of Media and Communication. Images and film clips are being spread at a rapid pace, and even if they

can be checked, few people take the time to do so. Anyone who forwards a fake photo or clip may do so in order to disseminate fake rumours, but many people act in good faith.

It used to be the parties to a conflict that disseminated propaganda and tried to denigrate their enemy. Today, a third party may spread images and videos about a conflict to further their own interests. One country that has turned the dissemination of manipulated information into an art form is Russia.

– For Russia, it is not about convincing the world that they are in the right, Orla Vigsö points out. They might just as well spread rumours of how well Ukraine is doing as they might the successes of their own army. The important thing is to create confusion and a sense of general distrust. For example, during Donald Trump’s election campaign Russia disseminated misinformation about both Democrats and Republicans. If you can get western nations to fight amongst themselves that is a good thing, what the fight is about is immaterial.

“Doubt is our product” is allegedly what an executive at an American tobacco company once said, says Nicklas Håkansson.

At the beginning of the war, Ukrainian politician Lesia Vasylenko posted a film depicting Russian planes bombing Paris.

They were clear about the fact that the film was manipulated, but of course it was food for thought in terms of what you can trust, Orla Vigsö explains.

– When it comes to events that stir up

Illustration: Lars Lanhed.

Parts of the illustration is created in AI-tool Midjourney.

– His goal was not to disprove the researchers that argued that tobacco was hazardous to your health, but instead to create doubt in research in general.

Russia is operating in the same way; it is about getting people to distrust most of the information they see and hear, and to tar all politicians, journalists and other public officials with the same brush. That is the primary reason for the disinterest in politics among Russians: since everyone lies there is no point in caring about it.

emotions, as war obviously does, it is difficult to take a step back and reflect on what is credible. The terrible image you have just seen is perhaps not true, but it could have been…

At the same time, manipulation of imagery is so commonplace today that there is often an expectation that a portrait, say, will be tweaked in Photoshop.

– Using AI technology, Jimmie Åkesson recently held a speech in Arabic, Orla Vigsö points out. This enabled him to speak to people in a foreign language without using an interpreter. That kind of manipulation will become increasingly common in the future. As long as you are honest about what you do, it may be considered a legitimate way of conveying your message. But naturally, AI technology will also provide excellent opportunities for misleading people.

The first victim of war is truth. But what is truth?

– Whatever you have witnessed yourself must be true, you might think, Nicklas Håkansson argues. But that is not a certainty either. Perhaps you saw a rocket blow up a hospital. But where did the rocket come from, who launched it? How we interpret an event will sometimes depend on our preconceived notions. It is easier to believe things that we want to be true than things that clash with our world view.

More cameras should provide additional perspectives and thus more truth. But more pictures also provide opportunities for more manipulation.

– Source criticism is something that we are not particularly good at in Sweden; the word does not even have a very good English translation, Nicklas Håkansson

»More simply put: if you had to pay for the news that you are consuming, it is probably more ­reliable.«

»Whatever you have witnessed yourself must be true, you might think.« NICKLAS HÅKANSSON

points out. Of course, it is difficult to check the source when you are in the midst of a flow of pictures and video clips. But you can try to take a step back and ask some fundamental questions: What is the purpose of this information?

Who is the sender? How was the material produced?

You should also try to assess probabilities, Orla Vigsö argues.

– Just as you should be sceptical about

any news that is too cheerful, you should also be suspicious of reports about very severe abuse. For example, during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 it was alleged that Iraqi soldiers had ripped infants out of their incubators. It later turned out to be a piece of propaganda to get the American public to support the invasion of Iraq.

Public service and traditional media build their reputation on being genuine and credible.

– More simply put: if you had to pay for the news that you are consuming, it is probably more reliable, says Orla Vigsö. Traditional media have both laws and ethical rules with which to comply, although of course this provides no guarantee that incorrect information does not sometimes slip through.

ORLA VIGSÖ

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg GUJOURNAL DECEMBER 2023

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Stones in the city Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg

Fasadsten i Göteborg (Façade Stones of Gothenburg) is the name of a small guidebook about the various types of stone used in buildings in the city centre. With the help of the guide, you can walk around, from the Central Station to Stadsmuseet (the City Museum), the Cathedral and then back to Drottningtorget, and thus experience the city as a geological exhibition.

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Report

hat could be a more appropriate start to an excursion than the Central Station? On a cold November morning, the GU Journal convened a meeting with the three researchers behind the guide: Erik Sturkell, Henrik Ranby and Thomas Eliasson.

– The original Central Station from 1858 contained a track hall into which the trains entered, says Henrik Ranby, Senior Lecturer in Conservation. When the station was rebuilt in 1923, however, the tracks were removed and the track hall was converted into the waiting hall that exists today.

The floor of the Central Station is made of reddish-brown and grey Ordovician limestone from Jämtland. The limestone is usually called Orthoceratite limestone because it contains large amounts of squid fossils. The compass rose on the floor inside the train station is made of white Gotland sandstone and grey and black Jämtland limestone.

The stone in the city is very much about what is practically possible to use as a building material, but also fashion, transport and price, Erik Sturkell, Professor of Applied Geophysics, explains.

– For example, B-granite was com-

monly used in plinths right from the founding of the city until the 1820s. It is a local stone that often contains elongated fragments of dark rock. As transport improved, such as the Göta Canal which was completed in 1832 and the Western Trunk Line which was completed in 1862, it was more common to transport stone that was easier to work with from places that were further away. Some examples are Bohus granite from Malm Island near Lysekil and Ordovician limestone from Jämtland. These stones also benefited from the national romanticism period's fondness for everything Nordic, but material was also brought here from other countries, such as Scotland and Italy.

We head to Gustav Adolf ’s Square, which since the 19th century has been considered one of the highlights of the city. The ground is covered with large and small paving stones of Bohus granite and Fjärås gneiss; the long, rectangular stones are flat-cut paving stones, to provi-

grey Bohus granite from Flatholmen near Lysekil. The blocks are 5–6 metres long, which gives us an indication that it was an experienced company that produced the material.

Anyone who ascends the steps gets a better overview of the square – and perhaps discovers things that they did not realise at ground level were there.

For example, Rådhuset (the Town

View from Gustav Adlof's Square.

de a paved area for pedestrians.

The statue of the king from 1854 is Gothenburg's oldest public work of art. The upper part of the plinth is made of one of the world's most famous types of marble, Italian Carrara.

– The marble is known for its whiteness and has been used since ancient times for statues, Henrik Ranby explains One of the world's most famous works of art, Michelangelo's David, is made from Carrara marble. Gustav II Adolf's plinth is, however, more green than white, due to the Verdigris from the bronze statue.

The plinth also shows the work of the stone conservators.

People think that stone should be hard and durable, but that is not always the case. Corners that get chipped off, air pollution and frost weathering can threaten the cultural heritage of stone, which then requires conservation measures.

– Carrara marble slabs exposed to our

Nordic climate run the risk of bending, Erik Sturkell explains. One example is the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, where the panels on the facade buckled so much that they had to replace them with thicker ones – which, eventually, also buckled.

The same marble was used in the interior of Nordstan but has not incurred any damage because it was not exposed to rain and harsh weather.

The statue's foundation is like a staircase with four steps, made of red-

Hall), where the steps lead up to three archways, flanked by eight columns, arranged in pairs.

– The columns are made of light quartzite from Scotland, explains Bedrock Geologist Thomas Eliasson. But if you look closely, you will see that the one on the far right is different. It is a yellow-brown sandstone from Lermunda north of Motala. For some reason, they had to replace it and they couldn't get hold of the quartzite.

The Town Hall has an extension, designed by Gunnar Asplund, which after much toing and froing was completed in 1938. In order to join the buildings, part of the old town hall was demolished. But the stone in the plinth of the extension is the same as in the older building and consists of cut slabs of B-granite that are about 5 centimetres thick.

But what is the king standing and pointing at? If you follow his finger, you will see a mosaic embedded in the paving of the square between the king's statue and the Town Hall.

– The mosaic, created from stones of different types of stone, represents Kiättel Klason's map of Gothenburg from 1644, says Henrik Ranby. Small paving stones of Bohus granite represent water and a light granite from Norway represents the built-up areas. A smooth-hewn Norwegian Larvikite has been used for the streets, while a rough-hewn variant denotes the hilly areas. It was actually Gunnar Asplund who came up with the idea back in 1916, but it wasn't realized until 1991.

We walk on towards the German church.

The plinths in the north and south portal consist of B-granite, otherwise the plinth is covered with plaster. When we examine the northern wall, we find burial slabs of limestone from Kinnekulle. They are full of circular cystoids, i.e. fossils of sea urchins.

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Thomas Eliasson, Henrik Ranby and Erik Sturkell have written a guide for those who want to know more about the stone buildings in Gothenburg.

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– The slabs were probably part of the floor of the church, says Erik Sturkell.

In the past, dignitaries were buried inside the church, which led to a terrible stench; it is said that churchgoers used to bring onions with them to hide the smell of the corpses. At the beginning of the 19th century, burial inside the city was prohibited, which led to the establishment of Stampen's cemetery.

We make our way to Ostindiska huset (the East India House), which houses Gothenburg's city museum. The plinth in the façade facing Norra Hamngatan consists of Bohus granite. There is something strange about that, Thomas Eliasson points out.

– The stone industry in Bohuslän did not start until the 1840s. So how can an 18th century building have a plinth from Malmön? The answer to the question can be found if you look up at the frieze under the roof. It states that the building was erected in 1750 and remodelled in 1895. The façade has thus been rebuilt, something that the brick also reveals; the section that is higher up is from the 18th century, while the lower part was built in the 19th century.

Now we have arrived at Gothenburg's financial district. The property where Nordea is located today was owned in the late 1800s by Göteborgs bank and was ornately decorated with a tower and gable façade. It started to fall down in the 1930s, which led to such extensive renovation that practically only the Bohus granite plinth remains.

– The new entrance is made of Strömstad granite, an unusually striated variant of Bohus granite. The same stone was used for Stadsteatern’s façade, but is, on the whole, very unusual in buildings, says Erik Sturkell.

It is not just kings who can point. On the

roof of Sveahuset at Västra Hamngatan 3 sits none other than Mother Svea who, in the company of the national lion, extends her hand towards the city. The building dates from the 1880s and was built for the Brand- & Lifförsäkringsbolaget Svea, but has also housed the Classics Department at the University of Gothenburg.

Nowadays, it houses the Elite Hotel Plaza.

But what is this? A building without a door?

– In 1885, Skandinaviska Kreditaktiebolaget moved into Västra Hamngatan 6, says Henrik Ranby. The building has an ornate plaster façade with a plinth made of Bohus granite. However, it had no

- The slabs were probably once part ot the church floor, says Erik Sturkell.

»So how can an 18th century building have a plinth from Malmön?« THOMAS ELIASSON

basement so the bank had no vault. To remedy this, the neighbouring plot was purchased where the bank had a vault built. It is not possible to enter from the street, but there is an entrance inside the bank.

Gothenburg's financial district contains additional stately buildings. Among the most magnificent is Skånska banken with a façade of red sandstone from Övedskloster in Skåne.

– Skånska banken used sandstone from Skåne to give its buildings a local feel; you can compare this to Skånska banken in Stockholm, Thomas Eliasson explains . The plinth is made of rough granite, perhaps from Småland. Today, the building houses the Friskis & Svettis gym.

This is where the GU Journal's short excursion comes to an end.

– But with the help of the guide, you can continue on to the Cathedral, Ström's Corner, the Sheraton Hotel, the Central Post Office and eventually end the tour outside the Avalon Hotel. The plinth is made of labradorite from Ukraine, so another example of stone that has travelled some distance, Erik Sturkell explains.

About the Façade stones of Gothenburg: Fasadsten i Göteborg (Façade Stones of Gothenburg) is a guidebook about the different types of stone used in 31 buildings and works of art in central Gothenburg. The book was written by Erik Sturkell, Professor of Applied Geophysics, Henrik Ranby, Associate Professor of History of Art and Senior Lecturer in Conservation, and Thomas Eliasson, Bedrock Geologist at Sveriges geologiska undersökning (Sweden's Geological Survey) (SGU) in Gothenburg.

The book was published by the Geological Society with the support of the Elna Bengtsson Foundation for Scientific Research. You can download the book for free at: GF_SP4_2023_guide-fasadsten-goteborg. pdf (geologiskaforeningen.se).

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Mysterious language in Romanian cave Photo: PRIVATE

– The environment is unique, I have never seen anything like it, says Antoaneta Granberg, expert in Old Church Slavonic at the Department of Languages and Literatures. Her latest research project is about a complex cave monastery with churches, crypts and galleries in Murfatlar in Romania.

The constructions are hollo­ wed out of a limestone hill and the walls display hundreds of image- and text graffiti, including graffiti in an unknown language.

Murfatlar is located near the Black

Sea in south-eastern Romania, not far from Constana, a city the Romans called Tomis. It was here, in this last outpost of civilization, that the exiled Roman poet Ovid died in 17 AD. – The Romans were already quarrying limestone in the area, says Antoaneta Granberg, Associate Professor of Slavic languages. So in 1957, when a number of Romanian archaeologists accidentally found the entrance to a hollowed-out li-

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mestone hill, they weren't very surprised at first. But when they investigated the cave more closely, they discovered churches, crypts and other sacred chambers, carved out of the rock and connected by tunnels. The construction, which comprises an area of 10,000 square metres, is believed to have been made by monks in the 8th–9th centuries, when the area belonged to Bulgaria. However, the cave monastery is not mentioned in any contemporary documents, which is puzzling as the church's documentation is expected to include this monastery as well. But whoever created these chambers must have been skilled in architecture, because the structure is so complicated.

Right from the start, the researchers realized that the site had to be protected. Eventually, a dome-like protective structure was built around the monastery complex and several monastery spaces were reinforced with the help of cement and wooden columns. Despite this, the chalk surface on which the graffiti is written has weathered a lot and some graffiti are no longer visible.

But a few years ago, researchers started getting interested in the monastery again. The reason was that the cave mo-

nastery has recently become even more threatened, says Antoaneta Granberg.

– One of the canals of the Danube flows only about 100 metres from the site, and the humidity level in the monastery is rising due to climate change. In addition to water seeping in from above, it is now also seeping in from the ground.

I have personally witnessed that the moisture is rapidly destroying this sensitive area. The first time I was there was in November 2022 and on both my return visits, in May and October 2023, sections have collapsed.

The Romanian authorities have plans to commence conservation of the cave monastery. But not all the material will be salvageable. Therefore, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the National History Museum of Romania and researchers at the University of Gothenburg are now collaborating to document as much as possible.

– There is a proposal that our university should become an equal party in the project, which will contribute to increased expertise in the investigation and develop the project into an international collaborative project. The fact that researchers from Sweden are involved is

Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG

Photo: PRIVATE

of them are something else entirely. We know neither which language it is, nor which characters are proper letters, that is invariants, and which are only variants of one and the same letter. One of the most exciting research questions I am working on right now is how this unknown writing system relates to the Cyrillic alphabet.

To obtain tools for systematization and

important for elevating the project from a local to an international level. The University of Gothenburg's participation in the project means increased support for the interdisciplinary work, which involves experts from different research areas, such as linguists, geologists, architects, IT engineers and many others.

However, what Antoaneta Granberg

is researching is not the monastery construction itself, but the text graffiti found on the walls, which is written in several different languages and with different alphabets.

– There is text with Greek and Cyrillic letters but also with Glagolitic, which is the oldest Slavic writing system. Several inscriptions consist of just a name, probably carved by pilgrims as the monks who lived in the caves hardly needed to mark their presence.

But there are also over 80 inscriptions written using an unknown writing system.

– Some characters in this writing system are almost identical to Greek letters, others to Cyrillic letters, but most

analysis of the signs and to eventually be able to decipher the graffiti written with the help of the unknown writing system, the project will seek cooperation with GU researchers. Among them are Jonathan Westin at Gothenburg Research Infrastructure in Digital Humanities Anna Blennow, expert on graffiti in Christian environments, and Michelle Waldispühl, expert on ciphers.

How the inscriptions are to be interpreted depends on where in the cave complex they were found. Many of the inscriptions were found in spaces where the ceiling has been blackened by torches or other forms of lighting, says Antoaneta Granberg.

– Light has a symbolic meaning in the church, where the most illuminated parts are considered to be the most sacred. But I have also found previously overlooked graffiti at the church entrances. Many of them were found at a height which indicates that the person must have been standing while carving. In other places, the graffiti is so close to the ground that the person must have been kneeling or even lying down, perhaps in prayer or as a way of showing reverence for the sacred site.

About 30 skeletons have also been found in the caves, of which at least two are female.

– They will be studied using gene technology and carbon-14 dating; maybe

»We know neither what language it is, nor which characters are proper ­letters ...« ANTOANETA GRANBERG we will find out where these people came from.

A project is now underway to document the entire area as precisely as possible, partly to enable future research, but also to make the information generally available.

– One of the challenges is that the tunnels and spaces have round and imprecise shapes, where the chambers are on different levels, which sometimes makes it difficult to know exactly where you are.

The spaces are also often cramped, so you have to move carefully so as not to damage surrounding graffiti, for example.

But hopefully we will be successful in our attempts to document the site, using laser scanning, 360-degree photography and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), and also offer those interested a digital walk through the cave monastery.

Antoaneta Granberg also hopes to be

able to create an exhibition about the cave monastery complex here at the University of Gothenburg, and maybe even start a course at second-cycle level with on-site field investigations.

– My greatest hope is to be able to establish the University of Gothenburg as an environment for studies of early Christian written culture. In such a context, the caves in Murfatlar are a natural fit, with their sacred chambers and various inscriptions which were in use during the exact period when Christianity was spreading in the area.

About the Murfatlar monastery: : The cave monastery in Murfatlar, Romania, contains churches, crypts and other sacred chambers, hollowed out of limestone. On the walls there are hundreds of text and image graffiti, written in Greek, Glagolitic and Cyrillic letters, as well as an unknown writing system. The cave monastery was probably in use during the 9th–10th centuries.

Humidity, caused of the climate change, threatens the caves. There are plans in Romania to conserve as much of the site as possible, while researchers from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Natural History Museum of Romania and the University of Gothenburg are working together to document the area before the material is destroyed.

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News

The Natrium science building has been inaugurated

– Natrium is a wonderful meeting place, with lofty ambitions and plenty of room to air new ideas. Two of the largest faculties at the university, the Faculty of Science and Sahlgrenska Academy, are now neighbours, and Medicinareberget will become an even more happening place!

That is how Vice-Chancellor Malin Broberg put it at the inauguration of Natrium on No­ vember 17.

The Natrium construction project has not only been completed on time, but costs are also just shy of the budget, Malin pointed out during the inauguration.

– Gathering our operations and providing a pleasant environment is also of strategic importance to the university.

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Natrium houses several different functions, programmes and research opportunities under one roof.

Göran Hilmersson, Dean of the Faculty of Science, explained that the decision to erect a new building was made in 2016 by the then vice-chancellor, Pam Fredman.

– We reduced the square footage but I believe that many people still find the new building both more open and brighter. Many colleagues have been involved in Natrium, which is the biggest thing to happen at our faculty in years.

Caroline Arehult, CEO of Akademiska Hus, explained that she is both proud and humbled to be part of managing the building. Saara Franzelius, of Kanozi Architects, described how the building was designed to merge with the existing construction from the 1960s, where the main entrance is intended to work as a meeting place.

Elin Bergqvist, interior architect at

Link Architecture, explained that the fabrics in the furniture have slightly varying shades of colour. It makes it easier to move furniture between departments and floors, and will enable fabric to be replaced without having to match the exact colour.

– Some furniture has been recycled, such as chairs in group rooms, a chandelier from the School of Business, Economics and Law as well as benches from Medicinarelängan.

Student representative Erica Wiik

thinks that Natrium will offer new opportunities for students.

– All pioneering scientific discoveries are made in the basement. That is why we students are happy to have the opportunity to solve the problems of tomorrow at study places located in the basement of this building.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg

News

Johan Höjesjö, Professor of Ecological Zoology, shows the new labs.

Natrium at Medicinareberget.

Researcher Carlos Gonzales Pena.

About Natrium: From the autumn semester of 2023, a significant part of the science teaching and research at the University of Gothenburg has been located in the newly erected Natrium building at Medicinareberget. It will be home to students and researchers within the fields of biology, molecular biology, chemistry, marine sciences, environmental sciences, earth sciences and conservation.

Natrium has seven floors and houses lecture halls, teaching labs, a herbarium, aquariums as well as a 12-metre mast on the roof for atmospheric studies. The rooms have movable walls in order to be adaptable to any new needs that may arise.

The building was designed by Kanozi Architect, the construction company was Skanska and the developer was Akademiska Hus. The floor space is approximately 34,000 square metres. The building has the highest level of environmental certification: Miljöbyggnad Guld.

Johan Höjesjö investigating an algae farm.

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Dean Göran Hilmersson and Vice-Chancellor Malin Broberg cutting the inauguration tape.

What do you think of Natrium?

Gisela Brändén, Professor of Membrane Protein Structure, Function and Dynamics – I think that Natrium is amazing! It creates a vibrant environment with all the students milling around, and it creates opportunities for running into colleagues from other departments. The move has entailed a lot of hard work, but now I am hoping that we will be able to harness the opportunities that Natrium provides and create a lot of new partnerships.

Bosse Lagerqvist, Associate Professor of Conservation: – It feels a little odd that the students do not have access to our corridor. Previously, we always had common areas, now you have to book a room if you want to talk to your students. You have to show your card and key in a code everywhere, it should be possible to simplify that.

– We lack spaces where the students feel at home. Neither are there any places where students can present their work, such as hanging posters in order to inspire fellow students.

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Katarina Saltzman, Senior Lecturer in Conservation: – I really like it. It is true that certain things malfunctioned initially, such as the audiovisual equipment in the meeting rooms, which leaves quite a lot to be desired. But we are hopeful that it will be resolved soon. In the long term, I also hope that we will see more exchanges between departments, and perhaps new and unexpected partnerships!

Lars Nordvall,Senior Instrument Maker and IT Technician: – I really like Natrium, it is well lit and the acoustics are good. Different departments work in different ways, which was tricky in the beginning, but we are dealing with it.

We have two shared canteens that work exceptionally well. We have locks on all the departments where employees have free access to the corridors, but the labs are only for people who have training in the relevant field. So, on the whole, it is working well.