A ceremonial journey through time.

from GU-Journal 3–2022

GU:s strategy for work with profile areas.

– Honoured doctors! It was finally time for the delayed doctoral conferment ceremony, where both doctors, honorary doctors and award winners were honoured and celebrated for their hard work.

It was very much a long-awaited ceremony. The pandemic put paid to the ceremony, but a year and a half later than planned, it could finally take place. First and foremost, the ceremony focuses on all new doctors who defended their theses during the period 2019–2020. About 130 of the recipients of the doctors’ degrees were guided across the stage by the faculty's supervisor, speaking mellifluous Latin. The ten honorary doctors received their insignia and were also guided across the stage to receive accolades from the audience. In addition, a number of award winners were honoured: one of them was Carl Bennet, who received the university's finest distinction: Socci et Amici.

Completing a doctoral dissertation is a milestone in life, said Vice-Chancellor Eva Wiberg, who invited the audience to take a journey through time. – Let us imagine that today is October 16, 2020, i.e. a year and a half ago. That was precisely the date that had been planned if the pandemic had not intervened. A lot has probably happened since then, some of you have perhaps moved away and found new jobs, maybe even had children. Still, you have taken the trouble to participate in this little journey through time. Why? I believe that the pandemic, despite all the misery, has taught us an important lesson: the realization that it is important to come together and to celebrate.

A doctoral conferment ceremony is not just any old ceremony. It is solemn and intended to honour those involved. It is a two and a half hour extravaganza, where everything is rehearsed down to the tiniest detail. The audience sat quietly and only a few cheers were heard when the doctors lined up on stage. The musical numbers were performed by students from the Academy of Music and Drama, and provided a much-needed interlude and a very pleasant backdrop. After filing out to the music of Bernhard Crusell, guests mingled with champagne and canapés before the congress hall was ready to receive 700 guests who enjoyed a three-course menu with well-chosen wines. One speech succeeded another, but the most entertaining was probably by the actor David Dencik, an honorary doctor of the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts.

– In my profession, I go to many festive award ceremonies, but most of the time I come home empty-handed, but not today. I'm just a guest of the scientific community, but today, strangely enough, I feel a little at home in this dress suit with a hat and a gold ring. This whole event is extremely eccentric, but today we have reason to celebrate, he said and called for a toast to all the “glamorous” doctors who put in so much hard work. – Dixi.

Text: Allan Eriksson Photo: Johan Wingborg

It's been a few years since you completed your PhD. What is the biggest thing that has happened during this time?

Lena Dafgård, IT Faculty. Works as a pedagogical developer with a focus on digital competence at Dalarna University – My dissertation was published in the beginning of 2020, just when the pandemic started, and since it is about distance education and teachers' use of video, it got a lot of attention. I became a doctoral student at the IT faculty in 2006, so it has taken me 12 years to complete my dissertation. In the meantime, I have worked as an educational developer at the University of Gothenburg, the University of Skövde and Mälardalen University. The graduation ceremony is a milestone for me. Erik Gustafsson, School of Business, Economics and Law, works as post doctor at the schools Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. – After my dissertation, I received research funding from the Bromanska Foundation. After that, I got the Wallander Scholarship, which means that I can do research for three years full time, for which I am deeply grateful. Being part of this day is absolutely fantastic. I am very happy with my doctoral education where I started my research on entrepreneurship in the fashion industry. Luckily, I defended my dissertation before the pandemic struck.

Matilda Amundsen

Bergström, Faculty if Humanities, works as post doctor at the Department of Literature, History of Ideas and Religion. – I have a job that extends beyond a year, something not everyone has in my field (literary studies). And I have received enough project funding to be able to do research for several more years. After a postdoctoral stay in Copenhagen, I am also back at my favorite institution, which is really wonderful. Apart from my job, the biggest thing that has happened to me is that I, together with five friends, have opened the bookstore Mare literature. This allows me to surround myself with and think about literature for days on end! Martin Göthberg, Faculty of Education. Works bot at Dalarna University and at the Academy of Music and Drama. – On the scientific side I have contributed to publishing the anthology Att undervisa i teater (To teach theater), the first of its kind in Sweden. The anthology fills a need within the theater teacher education at GU and other teacher education institutions that address aesthetic forms of learning. I have also worked with research and development projects in collaboration with Dalarna University and Mora Gymnasium. – I see the promotion as a bridge from generation to generation, a legacy of learning and knowledge. The promotion is like a scenic representation of what the academy stands for. And it’s nice that it gets this solemn sometimes. There is a researcher's every day and a teacher's every day, but today it’s party time!

Anna Jeppsson

defended her dissertation in medical science, Sahlgrenska Academy, and is working as a researcher at the section for clinical neuroscience. – I was lucky to get a job directly in clinical neurology. It is fun and solemn to celebrate this day.