nyheter
number 5 | october 2010
Back to the farm The horses get Anders Oldfors to relax
The top 100
Fees make a big impact
gösta walin
They’ve brought in the most money
GU risks losing students
Exaggerated climate threats
news 4
News 6
honorary doctor 16
UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG
words from Vice-Chancellor nyheter
Notiser UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG
A journal for Gothenburg University’s employees
october e d i to r - i n c h i e f & p u b l i s h e r
Allan Eriksson 031 - 786 10 21 allan.eriksson@gu.se e d i to r & d e p u t y p u b l i s h e r
Eva Lundgren 031 - 786 10 81 eva.lundgren@gu.se p h oto g r a p h y & r e p r o d u c t i o n
Johan Wingborg 031 - 786 29 29 johan.wingborg@gu.se g r a p h i c d e s i g n & l ayo u t
Anders Eurén Björn S Eriksson
c o n t r i b u t i n g au t h o r s
Sally Boyd, Pam Fredman, Dhruv Ramnath and Åke Sander. T r a n s l at i o n
Janet Vesterlund proofreader
Robert Ohlson, Välskrivet i G öteborg address
GU Journal, Gothenburg University Box 100, 405 30 Gothenburg e-mail
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6 200 copies ISSN
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7 issues/year. The next number will come on november 17th. l a s t dat e f o r t e x t s
October, 27, 2010 m at e r i a l
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Anders Oldfors, Photography: Johan Wingborg
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Why we need a new organization These are the fir st words of this autumn and things have been in full swing for a while – as is the work with a new organization structure at Gothenburg University. Many have asked me why we have to initiate a reorganization, and why at this particular time. This is clearly a relevant question. As far from everyone is familiar with the background, I’ll take a look back on the past. The first thing I want to say is that the question of a change in organization is not new. It was already an issue during my predecessor’s, Gunnar Svedberg’s, time. We who were heads of faculties then agreed on the need of a better decision-making and management organization at GU. The strategic plan that was then developed for the period 2007-2010, in which I myself was active, says:
– Make the management and decision-making organization clear and stimulate administrative cooperation within the entire university. – Conduct an overhaul of the faculty and institution divisions. – Develop a holistic analysis to allow for strategic choices. It was clear to most of us who were involved in the process of the strategic plan that it was necessary to modernize our way of working. The reason was that we experienced the organization as difficult to steer and difficult to get a good overall view of. There were many reasons for this. One important factor was the expansion of the University during the 1970s and ‘80s. This made it necessary to expand activities on the faculty and institution level. The current faculty secretariats were created in the
1980s. They were still central bodies but they were completely focused on their respective faculties. At the beginning of the 1990s the responsibility for financial and personnel questions was delegated to the faculty secretariats. A few years later we got a new financial system that gradually led to the division into three levels that we have now. Developments that have taken place since the beginning of the 1990s have slowly created considerable differences within our organization. To shed more light on these we started several investigations in 2008. There has been a particular focus on the personnel and education processes. The investigators have held that the University has often acted as different authorities and that the faculties tend to apply orders and rules in different ways. Another consequence was the increase in “double work” – when different faculties work on the same thing. It isn’t wrong in itself that the faculties are different. On the contrary, education and research have to be adapted to the particularities and demands of the different activities. But what has been shown is that differences also exist in areas where they shouldn’t within one and the same authority. The cultural differences that have developed over the years can lead to misunderstandings because the names used for the same position can be different at different faculties and institutions. This has not least been criticised by our students, who sometimes have difficulty orienting themselves in the University. As we can see, there are a large number of factors that have led to our current situation. They are the background to bringing up to date the formulations from the strategic plan and
starting an investigation. A close look at the directives shows that the overall starting point is that Gothenburg University has to become a totality: we want to create an organization that makes use of the University’s breadth by working against administrative obstacles to crossing boundaries and thinking in new ways. It has to do with keeping our many different fields inside the University and function like a University outwards. In addition to these factors, which we ourselves arrived at, the Government has also decided that universities and colleges be given greater autonomy. This means that the university regulations that previously regulated our internal organization will disappear as of January 1, 2011. We are then expected to take responsibility for our organizational structure and make sure that it is adapted to the reality of today. The directive also establishes that a changed organization must not injure academic tradition and our strong trademark. It is now the task of the two investigators to offer suggestions that correspond to our demands at the same time that we internally think about how we together can strengthen our common university. Pam Fredman
A few words from the Editorial Department
Get help from the best! Welcome to a new number of GU Journal. If you’re wondering where the pages in English are, take it easy – they’re not gone. We are now issuing a mini version of the magazine completely in English. It’s exclusively on Internet as a pdf to browse through that can easily be sent on, commented and downloaded. We agree that the University has to be more international, but including two pages in English in a magazine written in Swedish doesn’t feel like the right way to reach our foreign teachers and
researchers. Visit www.gu-journalen.se In this number we have the 100 top researchers in bringing in grant money. Not surprisingly, half of them are in medicine, and the runners up are in the natural sciences. It is truly impressive to see how much money it adds up to. Several of the researchers we’ve spoken with do not think that GU uses its broad competence to its advantage to a great enough extent. Why not do as Kerstin Johannesson suggests – use the competence that the most successful people have in terms of writing
applications?Research is also under debate by Sven Hemlin in his editorial. He points out the strange fact that the University itself seems to have a difficult time using research results. There is namely stronger evidence that creative research doesn’t very often have to do with being biggest. There’s a lot more to read in the three page editorial section, such as the need for a code of honour in academics. No one should be able to purchase titles. Allan Eriksson & Eva Lundgren
contents
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Topping in grants What do Jan Borén, Roger Säljö and Kerstin Johannesson have in common? They’re all GU masters at bringing in grants.
Fees reduce number of students Now GU has to look for students, primarily in Europe. Otherwise it will lose around 20 million.
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Quick action GU rector Pam Fredman thinks there’s no reason to wait and wants a new organization in place by 1012. Göran Bexell and Christina Rogestam have started interviews.
Big names get people involved in Global Week
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On the hunt for medical puzzles
14
A researcher sometimes has to be something of a detective, says cardiologist Anders Oldfors.
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It shouldn’t be possible to buy titles Editorial: GU needs an honorary doctor, according to Sally Boyd and Åke Sander.
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Far from Bollywood Cooperation has started between Bangalore and the School of Film Directing at GU.
Greenhouse effect is exaggerated Gösta Walin pops the bubble on what he sees as myths about the climate and overpopulation.
Hans Blix and Jan Eliasson will be here when GU arranges an international week in November.
g u j o u r n a l e n 5 | 1 0 3
Top researchers bring Cooperation over borders is the key to success A relatively small group of researchers bring in the really large grants. The 100 most successful have together brought in 920 million crowns to Gothenburg University in the past eight years. Some research leaders have gotten together over 100 million. The numbers, which come from the financial system, speak clearly. The 100 researchers who have brought in the most money stand for about 40 per cent of all revenues. The top 300 on the list have brought in 60 per cent. The conclusion is that a rather small group of researchers win the large grants. Why is this so? GU Journal called Jan Borén, professor of cardiovascular medicine, which is number one on the top 100 list with a total of 148 million. “That’s really something,” he says, a little surprised. “But you have to remember that that covers both research grants to our research group and larger, common grants, not least to our strategic research center for obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases that includes about 15 research groups. That cooperative work gives a lot in return.” “You can do much more together than you can on your own. We usually also read and discuss each others’ applications. And we have a little “grants office” where Rosemary Perkins, scientific editor, gives us very professional support.” In the struggle for the really large amounts, Lund University has done better than Gothenburg University. Jan Borén doesn’t think that’s strange. “An important reason why GU fails so badly is that we lack visions and long term strategic work. That isn’t something you can bring about in a short time. Lund University started working with these questions very early, and it gave a great bonus. Here in Gothenburg it feels like we focus more on organization than on activities.” Jan Borén confirms that Gothenburg University needs to be much better at giving researchers support and service in writing applications and that the latest efforts in
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research counsellors is a first step in that direction. “But by building up a service on a central level you miss the local connection. When you write an application, everybody has to be very familiar with the work going on. It’s not enough to just package the application – it has to do with so much more.” Jan Borén, who has received a number of prestigious prizes and awards, doesn’t think that being well known plays any big part. “The people who go through applications are very professional. What’s important is that you put time and effort into writing them. It’s something that you learn with time, nothing you can do right from the
Jan Borén
eral different educational institutions are involved. “We work much more professionally today. We get together in different groups and formulate the theme together. Good administrative support is also extremely important.” Roger Säljö stresses the point that you have to learn to write applications. “They have to be treated like research reports and be critically evaluated. What we’ve learned is to bring up issues that also give information about the users’ perspective.” “The danger in today’s research is otherwise that it becomes too specialized and falls into a niche, so that as an individual research you risk losing
Roger Säljö
beginning. I’ve had the advantage of judging many applications, and that teaches you how an application should be written.”
the whole picture,” says Roger Säljö. “The solution to this is working across borders. The thing is to culture your view over a whole field.”
Roger Säljö, who runs a large number of research projects, comes in third place, with 105 million crowns. Among other things he’s the scientific leader of KK Foundation’s LearnIT and director of Learning, Interaction and Media Communication in the Complex Society (LinCS), which is financed with Linné support. “Time has spoken in our favour, but we’ve also spread our risks by having many different grant financers. Unbelievably much has happened in recent years in our field. The rapid technical development and transformation of the knowledge society put a focus on questions about human learning. Great efforts have also been made in these areas.” In Roger Säljö’s view, there have been considerable changes in the way grant money has been sought in recent years. Developments go toward larger and more complex application series, often in which sev-
Roger Säl jö’s research group has grown over the years, thanks to efforts in education for researchers. Today these include about 55 people. One of the reasons for success is that so many of them have chosen to stay. “Our strength and a cornerstone of our work is that it includes many sciences and goes over borders. For example, we work together with the IT faculty, Sahlgrenska Academy and the College of Library Science in Borås.” “When it comes to large, overlapping applications that involve many educational institutions, there is often a great deal that has to be kept in mind, different calculation models, overhead costs and ways of accounting. This can feel like an overpowering task for anybody, but it demands cooperation and good administrative support,” Roger Säljö explains. “It’s a high threshold to step over. A lot that must be known and understood. That’s why there has to be a
professional organization, and GU’s new effort with research counsellors is the right way to go.” But Roger Säljö would very much like to see more cooperation over faculty borders. “GU’s policy has been for everything to go out to the faculties, and in this way resources have been spread out. Maybe this worked 15 years ago but the landscape is completely different now. Gothenburg University gets very little out of its size and broad competence and thus the areas that have been developed and grown strong are extremely important.” Kerstin Johannesson is a professor of marine ecology and works at the
Kerstin Johannesson
research station at Tjärnö. She has received the prestigious Linné support of almost 8 million for ten years. She’s brought in a total of 86 million over the years. “It’s wonderful to have such long term support. We are ten senior researchers who together with our research groups form a long term cooperation that is very creative. My experience is that we are considerably more innovative than in shorter projects that I’ve been involved in previously. People dare to make effort when they know that they’re going to be working together for such a long time. A research application has to light a fire, something has to happen on the very first page. But the questions also have to be explained and put in a broader perspective.” “The basic thing is to have an exciting issue, sell it and dare to be visionary. Beside the scientific approach there has to be a societal interest.” As an experienced reviewer of research applications, she has also learned what’s popular among financers. Her advice is not to write for your closest colleagues.
in the most money Top 100. These researchers have brought in the most money to Gothenburg University in the past eight years. Kerstin Johannesson leads large marine research projects that have to do with biological manifoldness and how species change as a result of environmental changes in oceans – questions that have received a great deal of attention in recent years. “The marine sector has been favoured in the last ten years because politicians and others have learned about the great environmental changes in oceans. Since my time as a doctoral student I’ve worked with species formation among shells – but how interesting is that without putting it into a broader context? If you connect what’s happening with shells with questions about biological manifoldness and environmental changes, it’s immediately a very current topic. It has to do with following the debate, being able to “read” your surroundings and knowing that politics can swing quickly. What can Gothenburg University do to be even better at seeking external grants? “I think that we need to have a little more open climate and take greater collegial responsibility by means of us older researchers helping the younger ones. My advice is to exploit the competence that exists in the organization in a better way. The management should use the researchers who are good at the trade more by giving them the time and resources to be able to help with large applications.” Allan Eriksson
facts
The information is founded on analyses done by Internal Auditing of which researchers have brought in the most external grants over eight years, from June 30, 2002, to June 30 this year. The list consists of 2,550 names and the total sum is 9.2 billion crowns. Lund and Uppsala Universities have 40 per cent externally financed activities while Gothenburg University has 30 per cent. It is worth noting that while researchers that seek funding have roles as project leaders the money most often goes to an entire research group and covers salaries, overhead costs and other expenditures.
Project leader
Faculty Total (Rounded off to even millions with one decimal)
1. Borén, Jan SA 2. Sterner, Thomas Handels 3. Säljö, Roger Utbild-fak 4. Johannesson, Kerstin Nat-fak 5. Köhlin, Gunnar Handels 6. Smith, Ulf SA 7. Rothstein, Bo Sam-fak 8. Ericksson, Gudrun Utbild-fak 9. Holmgren, Jan SA 10. Hohmann, Stefan Nat-fak 11. Hansson, Gunnar SA 12. Albertsson-Wikland, Kerstin SA 13. Klemedtsson, Leif Nat-fak 14. Nyström, Thomas Nat-fak 15. Enerbäck, Sven SA 16. Campbell, Eleanor Nat-fak 17. Lissner-Östlund, Lauren SA 18. Thomsen, Peter SA 19. Jensen, Arne Handels 20. Svennerholm, Ann-Marie SA 21. Dickson, Suzanne SA 22. Bergö, Martin SA 23. Aronsson Forssell, Eva SA 24. Ohlsson, Claes SA 25. Lötvall, Jan SA 26. Bäckhed, Fredrik SA 27. Torén, Kjell SA 28. Wold, Agnes SA 29. Hagberg, Mats SA 30. Lycke, Nils SA 31. Woxenius, Johan Handels 32. Hassellöv, Martin Nat-fak 33. Carlsson, Evert Handels 34. Stenlöf, Kaj SA 35. Stenman, Göran SA 36. Kristiansen, Kristian Hum-fak 37. Sarner, Ulf Konst-fak 38. Neutze, Richard Nat-fak 39. Ektröm, Karin Handels 40. Björnsson, Björn Thrandur Nat-fak 41. Stigebrandt, Anders Nat-fak 42. Petrusson, Ulf Handels 43. Johnsson, Jörgen Nat-fak 4 4. Larsson, Joakim SA 45. Benson, Mikael SA 46. Hellstrand, Kristoffer SA 47. Boholm, Åsa Sam-fak 48. Willander, Magnus Nat-fak 49. Eriksson, Elias SA 50. Jacobsson, Lars SA
148,2 125,5 104,8 85,8 85,7 84,1 75,6 73,7 67,9 66,8 63,9 62,1 60,7 58,2 57,7 57,1 50,6 50,6 49,3 47,1 47,0 46,4 43,0 42,3 42,2 41,4 40,9 40,3 40,0 39,8 38,9 38,9 37,2 36,7 36,5 36,1 36,0 35,7 31,4 30,3 29,8 29,2 29,1 28,8 28,1 27,4 27,2 27,2 27,1 26,9
Project leader
Faculty Total (Rounded off to even millions with one decimal)
51. Lindberg, Lagerquist Mari SA 52. Skoog, Ingmar SA 53. Malmgren, Sven-Göran Hum-fak 54. Engel, Jörgen SA 55. Blennow, Kaj SA 56. Anderson, Leif Nat-fak 57. André, Carl Nat-fak 58. Blomgren, Klas SA 59. Eriksson, Kristina SA 60. Olofsson, Sven Olof SA 61. Fagerberg, Björn SA 62. Carlsson, Ulla Sam-fak 63. Wallin, Anders SA 64. Cooper, Robin Hum-fak 65. Hjelm, Ulrika Nat-fak 66. Pierre, Jon Sam-fak 67. Bigsten, Arne M Handels 68. Haraldsson, Börje SA 69. Hultborn, Ragnar SA 70. Gan, Li-Ming SA 71. Hwang, Philip Sam-fak 72. Carlsson, Peter Nat-fak 73. Eriksson, Anders Hum-fak 74. Pedersen, Karsten Nat-fak 75. Funa, Keiko SA 76. Söderpalm, Bo SA 77. Schlyter, Ann Sam-fak 78. Lindahl, Anders SA 79. Hulth, Stefan Nat-fak 80. Förlin, Lars Nat-fak 81. Hammarsten, Ola SA 82. Åkerman, Johan Nat-fak 83. Hallqvist, Mattias Nat-fak 84. Berglundh, Tord SA 85. Gustafsson, Jan-Eric Utbild-fak 86. Gillberg, Christopher SA 87. Komitov, Lachezar Nat-fak 88. Abrahamsson, Katarina Nat-fak 89. Rosengren, Annika SA 90. Granhag, Pär-Anders Sam-fak 91. Wiklund, Olof SA 92. Härenstam, Annika Utbild-fak 93. Helou, Khalil SA 94. Barregård, Lars SA 95. Uv, Anne SA 96. Gustavsson, Bengt Gustaf SA 97. Cajvert, Lilja Sam-fak 98. Hellström, Ann SA 99. Hall, Per Nat-fak 100. Nilsson, Lennart Sam-fak
26,5 26,4 25,4 24,6 23,7 23,5 23,3 22,6 22,5 22,5 22,1 21,6 21,3 21,1 21,0 20,8 20,6 20,6 20,6 20,3 20,3 19,9 19,9 19,4 19,0 18,9 18,4 18,2 18,2 18,1 17,5 17,3 17,3 17,3 17,2 17,0 17,0 17,0 17,0 17,0 16,9 16,8 16,7 16,7 16,7 16,4 16,3 16,1 15,8 15,7
In the table, SA stands for Sahlgrenska Academy, Nat-fak (Faculty for Natural Sciences), Hum-fak (Humanities Faculty), Handels (School of Economics), Sam-fak (Faculty of the Social Sciences), Utbild-fak (Faculty of the Teaching Sciences) and Konst-fak (Arts Faculty). g u j o u r n a l 5 | 1 0 5
Minimum of 100 000 for one year in Gothen An information nightmare! That’s what Mats Edvardson calls the administrative work necessary to manage the introduction of student fees next autumn. There’s no way of saying exactly what consequences this will have for Gothenburg University. Swedish taxpayers should not subsidize foreign students. That was the Government’s prime reason for introducing fees for students from other countries as of autumn 2011. The fees don’t apply to all, however. Students from the EES area, including Switzerland, are excepted, as are students who come via some type of work agreement. The new rules are only valid for so called “free movers” who come here on their own initiative from other parts of the world. In the case of GU, this means about 1,000 persons who for the most part follow international Masters programs. But determining exactly which students will have to pay and which for different reasons will not have to is tricky. “It has to do for instance with what kind of residency permit you have,” explains Mats Edvardson, head of the students’ office. “Since we’ve never asked for money from individual students in this way, we need completely new administrative routines. Students will have to pay half the fee in advance, and then a certification will be sent to the Migration Department. As the fee will be based on the national price, plus costs for administration, service and advertising, the education programs will be very expensive for individual students. Students who have to pay out of their own pockets won’t receive any special treatment, however,” he says. “A student is a student – the same rules apply to everybody. For example, we’re not going to give any special support so that these students get through their study programs, like it is in some countries. We assume that adult people take responsibility for their own education. In addition to the tuition fee there will also be an application charge of about 1,000 crowns that will be managed by VHS.” When Denmark started a similar system three years ago they lost about half of their nonEuropean students. The Masters programs lost even more, about 80 per cent of these students. An investigation by the Swedish Institute indicates that something similar will happen here. It shows that only about 37 per cent of the nonEuropean students here today think that they would have come if they had to pay. However, just this year, according to VHS, there was a doubling of the number of appli-
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cants to international programs in the country. “It’s the last chance not to have to pay,” explains Mats Edvardson, “the students who are already here will be able to complete their studies without paying, even if it takes time. But the foreign students who apply to GU in the future will belong to very different groups than those who are here today.” To compensate for the drop in the number of students, the Government is reserving 30 million crowns for a new scholarship system for students from countries to which Sweden gives assistance. The Swedish Institute will manage these applications. “Gothenburg University will also start scholarships but not at all as many as the number of students who want to come. We’ll also work more actively with both the Erasmus Mundus program, aimed at developing countries, and with EU. GU estimates that it will lose about 60 per cent of the non-European students,” says Kristina Johansson, budget coordinator at the University’s administrative secretariat. “The new rules mean a great deal of extra work for the University. It’s our responsibility to set prices for all courses and programs on the undergraduate and graduate levels, even ones that foreign students are not likely to apply to. And that work has to be completed before Christmas since the prices have to be listed in the course catalogue. We’re assuming federal prices, which may be odd since they’re considered to be too low. We also have to establish services for receiving payment and improving our reception of students, maybe even providing international career counselling. Even though many of our teachers are used to an international environment, it’s possible that we’ll also have to offer more courses in English for those who want them. That would of course also be advantageous for Swedish students.” Lund University will give a housing guarantee for their foreign students, starting at the latest in 2013. “Gothenburg University won’t do that since there simply aren’t enough apartments or rooms here,” explains Kristina Johansson. “But we’re working with Boplats Göteborg so we hope we’ll be able to solve these problems as far as we can.” Eva Lundgren
facts
At most schools in the country the fees will be approximately 90,000 crowns a year for the humanities and social sciences and about 140,000 for the natural sciences. Medical studies are somewhat higher and art studies will be about 200,000 or more. The theatre program at Lund University, for example, will be 400,000.
Fees a hard blow to several education programs
nburg
“We don’t know yet how great the consequences will be, but they will be felt,” says Jan Smith, head of the IT faculty. “Several programs on the Masters level are dominated by students from other parts of the world.” The Institution for Global Studies will also have fewer students on the Masters level. Fees for foreign students will have a big effect on certain faculties and institutions. One example is the Institution for Global Studies. “For the Institution in total this may not be so much,” says prefect Sylva Frisk. “But we think that our international Masters program will lose about 30 per cent of its students. This also means that an important quality aspect will be lost, particularly for the Masters program in global studies. One of the thoughts in this program is exactly that students from different parts of the world, who live under completely different conditions even here in Sweden, will be able to meet and will be forced to meet with the prejudices that they might have about each other.
Illustration: mario Brancaglioni
Study fee per year Comparison with other universities
Humanities/Social Sciences Natural Sciences
Stockholms University
90 000
140 000
100 000
140 000
80 000/100 000
120 000
Lunds University Uppsala University
Linköpings University
95 000
140 000
Gothenburg University
100 000
130 000
One way to compensate for the loss is to take in more students from the EES area. “We’ve already noticed that more and more applicants are coming from Europe. We have more students from the rest of Sweden, too, which I think has to do with the Bologna system beginning to establish itself. Many of them want to continue to a higher level instead of perhaps taking another undergraduate course. But if we get students from Europe instead of Africa and Asia, it will lead to a different orientation in the programs affected.”
which has a PhD program and several Masters programs with many foreign students, the fees will
“For the IT facult y,
Jan Smith
have noticeable effects,” according to faculty head Jan Smith. “We don’t know exactly how many of our students will be affected, only that there will be many and that most of them probably don’t have any possibility to pay. In all likelihood we’ll have a financial loss of several millions. But money isn’t everything. We’re also worried of course that the international environment that there is today will disappear.” T wo Masters programs, software engineering and management and Master in communi cation, are completely dominated by students from countries outside the EES. “One measure we’ve already decided on is to coordinate the software program with corresponding programs at Chalmers. And we hope to get more European students, which is something we haven’t tried to do before since we haven’t had a problem filling our quota. We think that we have a lot to offer but, of course, the situation still feels pretty insecure.” Eva Lundgren
g u j o u r n a l 5 | 1 0 7
HSM five years old !
120 in the City Hall
The College of Stage and Music has celebrated its fifth birthday. On September 11, the moving orchestra “100 Meters of Young Artists” played while they moved through Brunnssparken, while students and teachers played jazz, chamber music and world music on three different stages in Nordstan.
The annual international reception for foreign scholars in Gothenburg took place at Börsen, the City Hall, on the 23rd of September. One hundred and twenty visiting researchers and doctoral students at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology were welcomed to the city. Following a speech by Deputy Mayor Mrs. Ann Lundgren, the guests were invited to a buffet and took the opportunity to tour the beautiful building.
New organization ready 2012 “We will be free of pressures”
It’s going to go quickly. A proposal will be presented in only a couple of months. A decision on the probably largest change in the University’s history will be made in April next year. “Yes, this is going fast,” says Rector Pam Fredman. “For me, it’s important to reach results as soon as possible so that employees don’t need to feel uncertain for an unnecessarily long time.” Pam Fredman’s ambition is for the change to be carried out by the end of 2012. But that isn’t an absolute date; actually carrying it through may take longer. “It can mean that it isn’t a hundred per cent ready then, we may have to make small adjustments after that point.”
group is led by Professor Göran Bexell, previously Rector of Lund University and currently an investigator of Karolinska Institute’s organization. The group also includes Christina Rogestam, who has been head of administration at GU and chairman of the board of Sahlgrenska Academy. “Both are very familiar with the Academy and know what changes are taking place in the world around us,” says Pam Fredman. “During September and October they’re holding interviews with about 60 employees on the basis of a list that the management has worked out. It has to do with leaders of research, managers on different levels and other key persons who will be asked to give their views of the University’s development. The most The investigation
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important question is how academic collegiality will be protected, so that we stand free of financial and political pressures. Pam Fredman maintains that there are especially three weaknesses that the re-organization will address. “First, the broadness of the University isn’t being used to its full extent as a result of different administrative obstacles. Second, the extensive decentralization has meant that there are great differences between faculties, which have made it difficult for the University to function as a united authority. Third, it’s observed in the directive that the three levels of institution, faculty and the activities that are common to the whole University, are not clear, and this gives unnecessary “double work”. The most important goal of the reorganization is to create better conditions for education and research and to stimulate cooperation across borders. But there are also many external factors that have an impact. The demands of the world around us have never been greater – we have to continuously evaluate and reconsider.”
Why is the re-organization being done at this time? “It doesn’t come like a bolt of lightning. These are questions that we’ve written about before, such as in the strategy for research and education. The time is right because we’re carrying out a number of investigations now, such as RED10 and BLUE11. We also want to use the freedom that the Autonomy Investigation leads to, which comes into effect on January 1, 2011.” A goal of the re-organization is to remove the faculties and replace them with a maximum of five areas. Isn’t it hard to change such a traditional structure as the University?
photogr aph: Johan Wingborg.
The University board has now given its support to the directive that will lead work toward a new organization. The preliminary time plan has been decided and an investigation group has been formed with Göran Bexell as chairman.
We have to act as a united authority. We can’t have different rules …
Pam Fredman
“Yes, it is. But the University has always changed, even if we didn’t think about it. The faculties we have today have not always existed and new subject areas crop up and old ones disappear. Our whole society is in constant change. Not even our home environment is static – the University has to be open to that.”
they actually have: research and education.”
In what way will unnecessary double work be dealt with? “This has to do with having the right competence on the right level and that responsibility and authority go hand in hand. We also have to act as a united authority. We can’t have different rules depending on where in the organization a person is. And we have to be better at exploiting the resources we have. If we put more responsibility on the institutions, the need for administration at the faculty level will decrease so that they can concentrate on the primary tasks
All the work will be done with openness and influence, but how exactly will this happen? “The interviews that are being done now are very open and the group is free to interview whatever people it wants. There will be a hearing during the autumn to which all employees will be invited. But each manager also has responsibility for making sure that employees become involved. We haven’t decided yet how the views will be shared on the internet.”
Why only five areas and not two or ten? “We’ve said that it will be about five areas, but there’s nothing that’s carved in stone. But I think that two is too little and more than five would be difficult to manage.”
Allan Eriksson & Eva Lundgren
All-in-one-card t h at ’ s n ow t h e n u m b e r of pictures stored in GU’s picture bank: www.gu.se/bild
This is what the new GU all-in-one card will look like. All employees and students will get an internal ID card that they will be able to use as entrance cards, loan cards at UB and for printing and copying all over the University. The card can be picked up at any of the five service centers that will open during the year. The first one will be Humanisten, which opens in October. Next is Vasagatan 33.
Gl bal week to be hold soon A week of international meetings Jan Eliasson, Britt-Marie Mattsson and Sten Rylander will be there. Hans Blix, too. What is it? Global Week, of course! Lectures, seminars, panel discussions and networking. Global Week, November 15-19, will offer a full program for everyone interested in international contacts. “It’s about giving information on the international activities we have at the University,” says Pernilla Danielsson, international coordinator at the University administrative secretariat. “The University already has many years of international exchange on different levels for students, teachers and TA personnel. What we want to do now is gather as many as possible to show for one week how good Gothenburg University is. The idea is to give teachers, administrators and students at Gothenburg University and our different partner universities the possibility to discuss common problems, learn from each other and mingle in a relaxed way for a few days. Guests can apply for Erasmus staff money to finance their visits. “We also think that it can be easier for our employees to reserve days for international contacts than to take care of colleagues that come in a less planned way. It’s very possible that employees are busy with other things when they come.” In addition to common activities, the international guests will also be able to give their individual wishes. This could be for example a teacher from a partner university wanting to participate in a seminar. “A person who works with student recruitment or international questions might want to meet colleagues that do just about the same thing here,” explains Christina Kaspersen,
who works with international issues at the student office. “If so, we try to put together a program that’s adapted to what they want. Our goal is for our guests to learn as much as possible about Gothenburg University and how we work with internationalization so that they can talk about this at their own universities.” The 18th of
is international day for students at the faculties. “At the School of
From left: Jan Eliasson, Sten Rylander and Hans Blix.
November
Economics, like at several other faculties, we’ve had an International Day for a long time,” says Catharina Miklin, international coordinator at the School of Economics. “But that day won’t be a part of Global Week this year. We’ll give information about
how to study at some of our partner universities, and Swedish and foreign students will talk about their experiences. We’ll also give out application material and brochures.” The School of Economics will offer open lectures and among their lecturers is Lars Danielsson, consul general in Hong Kong and Macau. The program also has several debates about different issues such as cultural prejudices, atomic energy
and developments in Zimbabwe. On Thursday there will be a global evening at the World Culture Museum. “What we want is for Global Week to be an annual event,” says Pernilla Danielsson. “This could work to strengthen Gothenburg University’s international profile and give employees more knowledge about all the possibilities there are for travelling abroad. But we also think we should generate more interest in global questions in general and start a debate about the importance of internationalization, both inside and outside the University.”
Look for: N ov e m b e r 1 5 : Rector Pam Fredman will open Global Week in the University auditorium. N ov e m b e r 1 6 : The Challenge of Global
Governance – a panel debate in the University auditorium with Hans Blix, Jan Eliasson, Annika Söder and Helena Lindhom Shulz. Speaker: Britt-Marie Mattsson. Panel debate about ranking lists with Geoffrey Bolton. World Culture Museum: Gothenburg Global Gala. N ov e m b e r 17: Symposium on Zim-
babwe with Ambassador Sten Rylander.
International workshop on atomic energy issues at the School of Economics with Peter Faross, Mats Ladeborn, Andrew Orrel and Tariq Rauf.
Student exhibition on studying and working abroad.
Notification of financing in the Global University Project.
World Culture Museum: A World in Motion, a lecture by Staffan Appelgren.
World Culture Museum: Travel exhibition and mingle.
World Culture Museum: Foreign policy association looks at and discusses prejudices about other cultures.
Speeches by two of this year’s Gothenburg prize-winners: Ken Sherman from the US and public opinion maker Randall Arauz from Costa Rica. N ov e m b e r 1 8: International Day at
each faculty. Shelf-life day for students.
Presentation of different countries’ systems for study fees.
International symposium on Antibiotic Resistance with Andreas Heddini. Global evening with mingle and entertainment. For more information: www.globalweek.gu.se g u j o u r n a l 5 | 1 0 9
Profile text: eva lundgren photo: Johan Wingborg
A genealogist on the lookout for hidden weak points A 27-year-old man felt ill after exercising. His brother called for help. His heart suddenly stopped beating but the ambulance personnel had arrived before it was too late. They saved his life – but how can the heart of a healthy young man just stop? A tissue sample gave the answer and marked the discovery of a completely new illness. he picture on the computer has a mysterious pattern in white and pink. But what I’m looking at isn’t an abstract piece of art but a tissue sample from a muscle. Something in the picture is strange. The research of Professor Anders Oldfors deals with understanding just what that is. He’s the prefect at the Institute of Biomedicine and does research on muscle diseases. These are genetically inherited and it means that whole families can be affected – for example, the healthy 27-year-old – what was wrong with him? “When we looked at a tissue sample of his heart, we could see right away that the cells were abnormal and we understood that there must be something wrong with metabolism. But we found no known diseases that could be coupled with the pattern.”
to be a kind of detective sometimes. Further investigations showed that the convict had a name – glycogenin.” “Muscles generally live on fats,” explains Anders Oldfors. “But extra physical effort also require sugar, which is stored by means of glycogenin. However, when two changes take place in one gene, where the one was inherited from the male side and the other from the female, this didn’t work in this 27-year-old. The metabolism problem prevented the heart from beating. Glycogenin is an important protein, in spite A researcher has
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of the fact that is surprisingly little investigated. That sudden heart failure can depend on glycogeneicity is new knowledge. The discovery led to a publication in the famed New England Journal of Medicine. Another question however was how a person with such a serious disease can live such a completely normal life without noticing something strange before the heart stopping without warning one day. “The detec tive story in the case of the 27-yearold went well. The bad guy was found and the victim didn’t die and now lives with a defibrillator operated into his heart. Things could have been tragic, however. An example is the discovery of a similar disease three years ago where a ten-yearold boy died of sudden heart failure that wasn’t cause by extreme physical effort on the school playground and where no one tried to help. “The boy was looked at without the doctors being able to agree over what his medical problem was,” says Anders Oldfors. “They found the answer in his younger brother. He came to us to be analysed for a suspected metabolic disorder that limited him in terms of exertion. They found that he and one other sibling lacked glycogen in their muscles. It was the same thing that had led to heart failure in his older brother. The siblings are now given beta blockers as protection, but the example shows the importance of investigating all family members in the case of genetic diseases.”
We found no known diseases that could be coupled with the pattern.
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In front of his horse Henke. Anders Oldfors has a great interest in breeding horses on his farm in Vallda. He has several Swedish half-breeds.
“We don’t know how many young people there are who suffer some type of illness that can result in sudden heart failure,” says Anders Oldfors. “Most often it can’t be seen on an ordinary EKG and we just don’t have the resource to make cardiac investigation for example in every boy and girl that plays soccer. Luckily it has to do with rare diseases. One possibility would be to focus on families where one individual has been sick.” One of the more pleasant parts of Anders Oldfors’ research is going to extended family meetings, drinking coffee and comparing family histories. “Many patients become very involved. They find
distant relatives that they may not ever have met, ask older family members and help to put together a family tree. This can give exciting discoveries, both for the patient and for us researchers. About one Swede in a thousand has a muscle disease that’s more or less of a handicap. But each individual disease is rare, which means that we researchers have to work internationally, create networks and compare results from different parts of the world. Because of the great strides in molecular biology in the last 25 years it has been possible to diagnose more and more diseases, which is fantastic of course. Good treatment requires an early diagnosis because when muscles
atrophy they can be gone forever. But successes in research also give ethics problems. Does a 20-yearold want to know that he’s going to get seriously ill when he’s 40?” Many countries put a lot more into muscle disease research than Sweden does. For example, Anders Oldfors did his post-doctoral work in Paris in the 1980s since Gothenburg didn’t yet have any diagnostics. But even though there are more resources in other places in the world, work at Sahlgrenska Academy is special. “Most laboratories have specialised themselves in a particular investigation method. Some look g u j o u r n a l 5 | 1 0 11
The farm and all the animals involves the whole family: daughter Natalie, Anders, wife Ginger and son Jonas.
at samples in the microscope, others make gene analyses or examine chemical relationships. We do all of this in one package. We also have a clinical orientation and have contact with the patients. This means that the research is like extended diagnostics. And it’s important for me to meet the patient, see a face and understand who the person is behind the disease.” Anders Oldfors has done research on muscular diseases for 20 years, although there are no doctors in his family. My father was a businessman and had inherited his fruit import company from his father. He probably would have liked to do something else and he was careful not to force his own ambitions on his children. No one ever said I had to take over the family business. It was sold when he retired. My mother was a textile teacher at the Handicraft Association, which later became the School of Design and Crafts. She taught us to gather lichens during the summer to colour cloth and I have some mittens somewhere that I knitted from wool that I carded and spun myself.” His aunt is Hjördis Oldfors and anyone who recognises her name may have a vase or a bowl at home that she designed. She was a designer at UpsalaEkeby in the 1950s. Beside his work Anders Oldfors has another big interest – his farmhouse in Vallda. “I like to work on short-term projects and build things. When we bought the farm 20 years ago it needed to be renovated. We found that the walls in
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the main building were stuffed with seaweed. We had to tear down most of it, but we still have an old wood burning stove as a reminder of the house’s history.” His interest in building also applies to the farm’s horses – about ten Swedish half-breeds that the family owns, breeds and, when a horse is suitable, competes with. His wife Ginger has been on the international team and daughter Natalie has won prizes. “Dressage doesn’t attract the same public that jumping does but it’s very interesting to people who understand the difficulties,” Anders Oldfors explains. “The ambitions you have go hand in hand with the possibilities that the horses give. They have to be tested carefully so that you can understand what they’re able to do. Right now we have a very nice four-year-old, Henke, who especially Natalie gives a lot of extra time to.” Next spring the family hopes that two new foals will be born. “Horses have fascinated people all over the world in all times, not just because they are invaluable in farm work but also because they’re so beautiful,” says Anders Oldfors. “They are sensitive animals that break easily, at the same time that they can live long, up to 30 years. They often become members of the family. You don’t send your horse to slaughter and you don’t eat the meat from your own horses. Even though I don’t ride very much any more I love life on the farm, with the horses that have to be let out on the meadow every day, dogs that dodge around your legs and a cat or two in the stables.” Eva Lundgren
Anders Oldfors Occupation: Prefect of the Institute of Biomedicine, senior physician and professor of pathology. Family: Wife Ginger, children Natalie and Jonas, about ten horses, four dogs and a few cats. Home: A farm in Vallda. Interests: Wanders for a week in the Norwegian mountains each summer together with son Jonas, otherwise horses, tennis and sailing. Likes to live life in different projects. What you didn’t know: Anders Oldfors can card, spin and knit, which he learned from his mother who was a textile teacher at the School of Design and Crafts. Reads: Most things, most recently The Art of Being Kind by Stefan Einhorn. Is proud of: My colleagues. Worth protecting: Freedom, in Sweden, in life, at work. Is upset by: Preconceived ideas. Becomes happy over: Surprises (for the most part). Relaxes best: At sea.
debate Make a difference, make a statement! Please send your article to: gu-journalen@gu.se
The University needs a code of honour A recent investigation by the SOM Institute at GU for Science & the General Public (Vetenskap & Allmänhet) shows that researchers and universities/colleges still enjoy relatively great trust among the general public. At the same time, however, most of the respondents in the investigation are uncertain about whether Swedish researchers take ethics questions seriously. Only 21 per cent of the respondents thought that the statement “researchers do not take ethics questions seriously” is incorrect, while 7 per cent think that it is correct. The great majority (72 per cent) is thus uncertain. There may be reason for this uncertainty. Not long ago, Pharma ceutical World (Läkemedelsvärlden) came out with a report that prompts reflection. It described American pharmaceutical companies that pay researchers employed at universities for putting their names to articles on research that the pharmaceutical companies, and not the researchers, had carried out. The researchers gain credit and the company receives the medical journal’s stamp of quality for its products. The losers – apart from consumers of medical preparations – are science and the researchers that hold themselves to ethical rules. Norway is soon planning to deal with the problem by introducing rules about this kind of “ghost writing”. Another e xample was targeted by the medical journal Läkartidningen that made an investigation during the spring showing that “honorary authorship” is common in articles that are included in doctoral theses in medicine. This means that researchers who have not made any significant scientific contribution to the work are included as co-authors of articles. The so called Vancouver rules for co-authorship, which have existed for over 25 years, give three criteria. According to Läkartidningen, at least one of them is broken in some article included in every other doctoral thesis in medicine. Even explicit rules for authorship thus function poorly as a control.
in the middle of May by the daily newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet. A number of professors from Lund University had bought seemingly fine titles and awards which they used in their CVs in applications for promotions or research grants. American and British internet companies have these kinds of “vanity scams” as their business mission. This means that the companies “sell” prizes and awards, such as International Scientist of the Year, International Professional of the Year, 2000 Most Outstanding Intellectuals of the Year Sally Boyd and Åke Sander
The “do what we say and not what we do” model is equally destructive in academics as it is in any other area.
and International Book of Honour, sometimes for considerable amounts of money. Between 300 and 700 dollars is not unusual for a fake award or, more correctly, concrete evidence that a person has received an award (a diploma, a plaque or a book). A question is how widespread it is that Swedish researchers are tempted by offers of this kind or see them as a shortcut to higher merits and research grants. It is very surprising to us that the rector of Lund University did not take disciplinary measures against the professors that had purchased merits in this way. His explanation was that the titles and awards that had been bought probably had little effect in terms of the grants or promotions these persons had received. We maintain that the negative publicity damages the credibility of the scientific community both internally and externally.
the University and the scientific community act to keep the trust that the general public has in us? The University is currently investHow should
A third e xample of side-stepping ethics considerations in research was highlighted in a series of articles
ing a great deal of money in a system to check applying students’ foreign merits for examinations that have been “purchased” and already accepted students’ written work for plagiarism. Has the time come to leave our collegial “honour system” and start to use similar internal controls of our colleagues’ reported merits and publications? If there are further cases and forms of cheating about merits, it may go the way of our financial system: when internal checks are found to be insufficient, it is legitimate to raise demands for external control. We do not generally believe in further controls but we do realise that measures should be taken when serious cases of “merit abuse” are discovered. The control system is grounded after all on our sense of conscience about the merits we report. As members of the scientific community, we have to follow a code of honour when we report our merits and when we judge those of others. Of special importance is reliability in our teaching of our students and doctoral candidates. Teachers and researchers that try to take shortcuts to gaining merits, grants and employment are poor models. The “do what we say and not what we do” model is equally destructive in academics as it is in any other area. Our field is thus an example of a “social dilemma” – a situation in which the interests and success of the collective require that each individual gives up his or her short term personal goals and adheres to common
norms. As long as research resources – and soon also those of education – are distributed according to an ability to measure success and quality with easily quantifiable indicators, it will be tempting to a small number of people to take principles about merit honour too easily and thereby be able to gain success and recognition without true achievement. It is of the utmost importance that the basis of our decisions on recruitment, promotions and distribution of research resources maintains high quality. Evaluations of applications for employment, promotions and research grants must thus be carried out as a sort of “handicraft” in terms of quality and not simply quantity. This is something in which we will all be winners – researchers, teachers, students and the general public.
Sally Boyd Professor of gener al linguistics Åke Sander, Professor of the science of religious behaviour g u j o u r n a l e n 5 | 1 0 13
Beyond Bollywood Bollywood = Indian film? Not necessarily. Small, independent house art movies are getting more and more popular. They’re rebelling against the convent ional description of what India is. Cooperation has started between Bangalore and the School of Film Directing at the University of Gothenburg. the Bangalore film business. Bangalore has a great art and film scene filled with aspiring directors and visual artists. There we were lucky to meet Director Prakash Belawadi who has plans for a new film school for film directors similar to ours. It’s very stimulating and inspiring to meet film makers and artists from India and find that our views and thoughts are more similar than I could imagine.”
Gunill a Burstedt is Director of the film school at the University. GU Journal sent Indian exchange student Dhruv Ramnath to talk to her over coffee to find out exactly what is the nature of the collaboration between the film school at the University of Gothenburg and the International Centre for Film and Drama in Bangalore.
How did it start? “The School of Film Directing is a young institution. We started 13 years ago. We’ve been busy developing our programmes and until recently only had contact with Nordic and some European film schools. Now is the right time for us to relate to other film schools outside Europe.” Why this collaboration? “In our international policy plan for the film school, we have a short term ambition to develop cooperation between students here in Sweden and students outside of Europe. In education, it is very important to discuss issues and work together to understand each other. When you travel away from your own country, you can also look at yourself, your culture and your tradition from a different angle. This is not only important for our students but for Indian students as well. I believe we have a lot to learn from each other. We want to connect with one film school to get a deeper relationship and continue cooperation in a long-term perspective on the basis of equality.” What are the benefits? “The world is connected today and we should benefit from that interconnectedness. The film business is worldwide and 1 4
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Gunilla Burstedt
Prakash Belawadi
our students should learn to know filmmakers from other parts of the world. Participation in international collaborations is also important for researchers and teachers. In many ways, internationalization is an important component in the University’s quality assurance work. We believe that by establishing collaboration we can exchange ideas by elevating our conversation. The goal is to strengthen each other and broaden our views. Why Bangalore and not another city in India? “It was a coincidence. The Region (Västra Götalandsregionen) contacted me to say that they would like us to explore collaboration with Bangalore. They have a four-year agreement for cultural exchanges called Linking Initiatives – with the state of Karnataka – and Bangalore is the capital. This was how it all began. In December of 2009 we visited the Film Academy in Bangalore and presented the School for
We have a common aim to improve quality and increase the breadth of diversity in the entire domain of the moving image.
What is the vision? “We are interested in long-term cooperation. Looking forward a few years, this could be in the form of a student and teacher exchange, developing an international Masters programme in the film school building and creating an understanding of the film industry in a broader sense. Both our film schools focus only on directors, which is unusual. I look forward to discussing some of these issues with our colleagues in India, including diversity, gender equality, cultural heritage and our approach to production and distribution in the digital paradigm, because that has the potential to create a significant impact on film production and distribution. We have a common aim to improve quality and increase the breadth of diversity in the entire domain of the moving image.” How does the global university project at the University impact the collabora tion? “The University of Gothenburg has recently taken a further step towards becoming a ‘global university’. This is based on a well-thought out, long-term sustainable investment with a number of strategic partnerships consisting of uni-
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Stills from left: Peepli Live by Anusha Rizvi (1–3), Road by Dev Benegal (4–6), Stumble by Prakash Belawadi (7) and Fire by Deepa Mehta (8).
they can create problems in purpose and articulation. One reason why the school proposed to be set up by the Centre for Film and Drama will focus on filmmakers at a post-graduate level is to get as free as possible of the obligation to produce graduates who will serve the ‘market’. The vision of the school is to enable its students with ideas and with openness so that they can make cinema they believe in, not make what they ‘ought to’.”
Still from the film Peepli Live, (2010). An Indian comic satire written and directed by Anusha Rizvi.
versities and organizations in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. We wanted to be a part of this project and, after applying for funds, received 50 000 SEK to continue the co-operation. Dhruv Ramnath contacted Prakash Belawadi in Bangalore to find out about his school, his plans for the future and Indian cinema, among many other things. The school will be called the “Suchitra School of Cinema and Dramatic Arts”.
Why Gothenburg? “Simply because that was the opportunity. A cultural delegation from Västra Götaland visited Banga lore a couple of years ago to look at ways to collaborate culturally – individually and institutionally. Several trips have been made between Bangalore and Gothenburg now, and we’ve talked about some of our cultural expressions. A broad cultural agreement has even been achieved at the government level. This initiative is covered by this agreement.”
What do your students gain by this collaboration? “A crucial aspect of pedagogy is finding a sufficient displacement from our positions to gain perspec tive. We need to find ways of look ing at our experience, at what we feel and why we feel that way. Collaboration like this provides us with the opportunity to be introspec tive, to find an interior landscape for reflection and contemplation. I’d like to go one step further and say that collaboration like this, between two very particular cultures, helps us examine and question ideas and constructs outside the large, global market-driven cultural production.” How do you see your school in five years time? “I imagine it as a centre that attracts bright and committed young filmmakers and artists who believe that cinema is not merely making a product that is oriented to a consumer market, but is a form and forum for personal, subjective expression – something that responds in an urgent way to the world moving around us, but with skills and
informed approaches that are needed to make meaningful cinema. Our centre will work locally and respond globally.” Do you think the West imposes its rules, obligations and identities on the East? With this collaboration, will India be able to preserve its cultural heritage, talent and true nature in cinema? “I’m a bit tentative about this. My great worry is attitudes in India itself, perhaps due to a diffidence induced by its colonial past. There is a whole set of disturbing binaries in ‘traditional – modern’ or ‘traditional – progressive’, ‘folk – classical’, ‘commercial – artistic’ in cultural practice and production that have created an identity crisis. There are many competing claims on words like ‘native’ for instance – some mean geography, some language, race and caste. It’s natural for young people to feel that higher education should make them ‘useful’ and they opt for fields that have ‘scope’ in terms of career advancement or commercial enterprise. When these ideas are brought to cultural practices and production,
Why is it that Bollywood is per ceived as pan-India when it actu ally has little to do with ordinary life? “Bollywood and its regional clones in Tamil, Telugu or Kannada cinema (and various other vernaculars) derive from and supply to the global ideas of market and production, creating products that can be consumed. The purpose of this cinema is to take ideas and discourses of the times without subjecting them to inter rogation of any kind. The idea is not to affect or question taste but to make products to suit it. With distribution and exhibition oriented in the same way, Bollywood and its clone industries have appropriated the space and marginalized personal or ‘auteur’ cinema. Dhruv Ramnath
facts
Prakash Belawadi is a writer and director for the stage, cinema and television. His debut film Stumble won the National Award for Best Feature Film English (2003). Examples of other famous films that can be described as different from the Bollywood tradition. Peepli Live by Anusha Rizvi. It just released a few weeks ago. A large production with song. But it isn’t the typical kitschy and trashy Bollywood film. Fire by Deepa Mehta. A film about homosexual relations. It was widely protested in 1996. Road by Dev Benegal. Independent film. See the trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAr7zrk5m8&feature=related
g u j o u r n a l 5 | 1 0 15
against the current
Environmental optimist in a fight against established truths “Everything gets better and better,” says Gösta Walin, a recent honorary doctor of the University of Dundee. Poverty and diseases are decreasing, knowledge is being spread to more and more people, the air and water are becoming cleaner. Then, what about climate threats and overpopulation? “Fear propaganda! Strangely enough, people want to believe that the whole world will go under soon.” Gösta Walin has a lot of titles to choose between. He’s a civil engineer, doctor of theoretical physics, Professor Emeritus in oceanography and founder of the Leo prize, an award that goes to persons who dare to question generally accepted ideas. He became an honorary doctor primarily because of his research in flow mechanics but also because of his involvement in energy and environmental issues and his development of a technique for fighting oil spills at sea. He has many exciting pictures from Scotland, where he’s ceremoniously being hit on the head with a staff and where he’s dressed with coat and hat in blue and gold. “I was received really generously and honourably! My wife and I stayed at the finest hotel in the area, Old Course, in the golf paradise of St. Andrews. We had a car with a chauffeur so that we could go out sightseeing. The ceremony itself was impressive with a ten-minute speech in my honour.” But Gösta Walin actually wants to talk about quite other things, for example overpopulation. “Ever since the American researcher Paul Erlich published The Population Bomb in 1968 the established truth has been that there are too many people in the world and that this will lead to starvation and misery. Today we’re 6.7 billion people and fewer and fewer die of starvation and hardship. The truth is the opposite: that man himself is the greatest resource we have and that we are succeeding in solving more and more problems. The odd thing is that each time it’s
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shown that Paul Erlich was wrong he gets another prize.” Gösta Walin is used to being called a contradictory old man. It may have to do with cleaning nitrogen in the Baltic Sea, which he says in the best case is not dangerous, or with the general danger of cholesterol, which he doesn’t believe in. He’s also against nuclear energy but in a way that makes him get ignored by people who don’t think the way he does and disliked by others who also don’t like nuclear energy. “I think that the environmental movement does work for the opposition when they maintain that we have to tighten our buckles to be able to make it without nuclear energy. That’s the same as admitting that it’s actually needed. Instead we should raise electricity prices, which would give a better economy and lower use of electricity. We have plenty of electricity, which is something I discussed in The Energy Crisis – A Bluff? It came out in 1973 and happened to coincide with the first oil crisis, so the time wasn’t so well chosen. But what I wrote there is still mainly true.” Gösta Walin says that we can continue to use oil and coal instead of nuclear energy. “The fossil fuels are a gift to mankind. They are what has made possible the enormous strides we’ve made in the past 200 years.” Gösta Walin isn’t worried by the fact that many environmental researchers say that greenhouses gases will lead to a warmer climate. “The earth’s mean temperature has
The fossil fuels are a gift to mankind.
risen by about a half a degree in 150 years for reasons that we don’t know, but may have to do with the greenhouse gases. If we in fact are getting a warmer climate it won’t mean more but fewer natural catastrophes, since storms are often caused by temperature differences. A more even climate is advantageous in many ways. More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere means more vegetation,” Gösta Walin explains. “A lot of carbon dioxide also allows plants to live with less water. It means larger harvests and shrinking deserts, not least in poor areas of the world.” If every thing is just getting better, then why do we constantly get news about how
photo: Johan Wingborg
Questionnaire
Do you have a role model? Dennis Töllborg
Professor at the Gothenburg Research Institute “If I were forced to choose it would be Edward Said. Every time I’m about to fall apart and can’t deal with this mediocre, corrupt, crippled country anymore and follow all the “friendly” advice of the value system’s parasites and give up and be like them, or at least kill myself, I read his book “The Intellectual Person’s Responsibility” and I realise that if I want life to have been worth living when I do die, I have to keep on going.”
Agnes Wold
Professor of clinical bacteriology “I’ve never had a personal role model, if you mean a person you look up to and want to be like. I don’t think you can change your personality — you are who you are. However, I’m sure that my view of how research should be done has been affected by my time as a doctoral student at Lars-Åke (Nenne) Hanson’s institute. It was full of people who came and went, an open atmosphere free of hierarchies and everybody helped everybody else. I can see that openness and breadth as a model. It’s modern today to admire “excellence”, which tends to favour hierarchical and not infrequently dead environments.
Rangnar Nilsson
forskningsrådgivare på externa relationer “Many. The common thread is that it is people that I’ve learned useful things from, above all the art of managing people. One of my teachers in middle school, Sven Bengtsson, could straighten out difficult students, make them quiet down and support them to dare to claim their own place, and positively motivate each one from their own level. My friend Anja is one of the straightest and clearest people I’ve ever met — she’s also unswervingly loyal, both in diffi cult and wonderful situations.”
Gösta Walin doesn’t believe in researchers’ warnings about temperature increases and overpopulation.
bad things are in the world? “I has partly to do with laziness. It feels calming in some way when every thing goes to pieces. It means that you can just as well lie on the couch. It’s also partly because fear propaganda is a good way of making a career. For example, Bert Bolin got to start a whole UN agency, the IPCC, because of his theories about dangerous temperature increases. But I think it also has to do with our politicians liking to use their power: if everything is working well, there’s no reason to control and regulate. The “climate threat” is one of the strongest weapons in the EU bigwigs’ work for supranationality.”
The problems of overpopulation and the climate threat have one thing in common: it’s the poor parts of the world that are considered to need to limit their population and are expected to develop without the help of fossil fuels. “The real consequence is that you stop these countries from moving forward,” according to Gösta Walin. “But in the end it’s doomed to failure. We can’t stop either India or China from using all the resources they have. And the same is true of course for other developing countries.”
Christopher Kullenberg
Doctoral student in scientific theory “I don’t have role models, for ethical and aes thetic reasons. Only when we free ourselves from that simplistic identification with others can we think and make a difference beyond meaningless repetitions of the same thing.”
Eva Lundgren g u j o u r n a l 5 | 1 0 17