no 4 | summer 2014
Born a Biologist Kristina Snuttan Sundell explores animal behaviour Turbulent meeting
Releasing inhibitions
Poor research
New criticism of the process
This makes Palle Dahlstedt creative
Journals chasing results
Page 6
page 11
page 12
UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG
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Vice Chancellor
We are affected by the world around us
A magazine for employees of the Universit y of Gothenburg
Summer 2014 E d i to r - i n C h i e f a n d P u b l i s h e r
to thank all of you for your efforts and fine contributions over the now concluding academic year. This is my last Vice Chancellor’ box before the summer, and we can now look forward to a well-earned vacation to engage in things other than our “day job”. The most important thing is perhaps not what you specifically do, as long as it helps you to recharge your batteries for the coming academic year. It has been a year of many successes on the research side, and we have seen a continued high number of applications for the next term. The national government’s decision to expand the teacher education programmes, which for us means close to 1,000 new training slots, becomes a major challenge. We must also ensure that these new opportunities attract students, something we have a joint responsibility for. Maria Jarl, chair of the Board of Teacher Education (LUN) has been assigned the task to work together with the faculties and the University management to jointly work out a plan for that.
Allan Eriksson 031 - 786 10 21 allan.eriksson@gu.se
It i s ti m e ag a i n
on many occasions, we have an environment surrounding us that affects our programmes and activities in various ways. The national government has, in a very short period of time, established three official governmental investigations that will have an impact on us. On the educational programme side, outgoing University Chancellor and head of the Swedish Higher Education Authority Lars Haikola has been commissioned to review the university’s and other institutions of higher education’s complete range of educational opportunities and programmes and how they meet the present needs of society. Lars Haikola has the task of considering changes of the educational offerings in order to better meet the needs of the future. The question is how this aspiration is consistent with what those of us in the actual provision of the educational programmes think about “educating for the future labour market” and how we would like the students’ skills to be able to tackle a changing labour market. Lars Haikola will also be looking at the university’s role in higher education in relation to other educational providers, such as the Polytechnics and other institutions of applied sciences. In that context, I hope that what we lift within the educational field, namely that each individual must be have the opportunity to develop and grow, and that no training or educational programmes is to be a dead-end, is taken into consideration. A s I h av e sa i d
E d i to r a n d Vic e 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 a n d 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 ic F o r m a n d L ayo u t
Anders Eurén 031 - 786 43 81 anders.euren@gu.se
T r a n s l at i o n
Charles Philps, Semantix adDress
photo: Johan Wingborg
Higher Education (ENQUA) – will have an impact on the investigator Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson, who also will soon assume the role of University Chancellor. On the research side, we will receive a proposal from the Swedish Research Council to have a new system for allocation of resources, which will form the basis for the 20 percent share of state funding for faculties and institutions based on performance. Very likely, there will be new performance indicators. We must closely follow the developments so that we can eventually increase our share of the funds designated for faculties and institutions that is based on performance. At t h e M e e ti n g on 3 June, the University Board decided to set aside SEK 300 million for a multidisciplinary effort within the theme “global societal challenges”. In order for this project to be successful, it must be you research scientists who initiate and pursue interesting projects. I hope there are many individuals who see the potential in this, gather the forces, and utilise the full depth of the University. By properly making visible and developing our combined capabilities, we have an opportunity to become a leader in research within the field of global challenges. Finally for now, I want to express my pleasure that the University Board, following a vote in Representative Assembly, decided to propose to the Government that I be given a renewed mandate as Vice Chancellor for an additional two years. I am also grateful for the great support shown me in the Representative Assembly. If the Government gives its support, I look forward to working with all of you to continue with the development and growth of the University of Gothenburg until mid-2017.
And for now I wish all of you a great summer. for the evaluation of the quality of education has long been a subject of debate. We now hope that the proposals advocated by the Association of Swedish Higher Education (SUHF) – which means a system with greater individual responsibility and is approved by the European Association for Quality Assurance in T h e syst e m
PAM FREDMAN
GU Journal, University of Gothenburg Box 100, 405 30 Gothenburg e-mail
gu-journalen@gu.se internet
www.gu-journalen.gu.se ED I t i o n s
5 900 I SSN
1402-9626 I SSUES
7 issues per year The next issue will come out in September 2014 d e a d l i n e f o r MANUS C R I P TS
22 August 2014 MATER I AL
The Journal does not take responsibility for unsolicited material. The editorial office is responsible for unsigned material. Feel free to quote, but please give your source. C ov e r
Kristina Snuttan Sundell Photo: Johan Wingborg
Reg.nr: 3750M
Reg.nr: S-000256
Contents
GUJOURNAL 4 | 2014
3
THE VICE CHANCELLOR’S MESSAGE
2 The world around us affects our activities. nyheter
4 New policy that makes the University of Gothenburg more international. 6 Great support for Pam – but dissatisfaction with the process. 7 Too few foreign graduate students at GU. profile 8 Snuttan – the popular educator and fish researcher. REPORTING 11 Creativity is a process with no clear beginning, says Palle Dahlstedt. 12 The funding forces deteriorating articles, according to researchers. 14 Meet Liza Bergstrom, who left Australia to live in her dreamland, Sweden.
11 Creativity makes us feel good So says Palle Dahlstedt, who teaches his students to think in innovative and creative ways.
16 All new professors are welcomed
8 14 Grew up on the lab
12
Kristina Snuttan Sundell has been doing research on zoology all her life.
The Swedish dream came true Scientific tabloids
Liza Bergstrom left Australia for research in Gothenburg.
In search of sensational news.
The Editors: The chase for publishing leads to bad research D o n ot b e li e v e everything you read! This is something that all parents have certainly said to their children at some time or another. Nowadays, the same applies for those who read a research journal, even if it happens to be a prestigious journal like Nature or Science. According to the Alzheimer’s researcher Henrik Zetterberg, it is especially important to be suspicious as it concerns the especially highly ranked journals. For just as the tabloids, they rely on advertisements and therefore must publish articles that attract readers. Instead, it is in the smaller speci-
alty journals where truly interesting results are published. This may not really matter that much, you would think. But it is worrisome if, for example, Nature publishes a study that is then quoted in DN and GP, discussed at the kitchen table and in the schools, which then turns out to be completely erroneous or misleading. B u t a n ot h e r p ro b le m is that research fellowships and grants are increasingly based on bibliometrics, a quality measurement which also needs to have some discussion. In this issue we introduce the new
internationalisation policy. Helena Lindholm Schulz emphasises the importance of having a programme that also attracts students from outside the EEA. But for it to succeed it is not enough with nifty marketing, but rather more importantly, to offer scholarships. At t h e sa m e ti m e , master’s student Natalia Múnera Parra from Colombia points out several problems that international students face, not the least the difficulty of personal contact with Swedish students. In another article, we also write about that GU, according to the Swedish Higher Education
Authority, is among the educational institutions that have the worst record in terms of attracting graduate students from outside of Sweden. Although there may be deficiencies in the submission of reports to LADOK, one cannot escape the fact that GU is in a worse situation in terms of international recruitment. In the next issue, we will be writing GU’s involvement in Visby, among other interesting things. There will also be a major story on Ellen Lust. Have a great summer!
4
News
More foreign students wit
“We are increasingly getting better at attracting international student,” says Pro-Vice-Chancellor Helena Lindholm Schulz.
Almost two years after 2020 Vision was tabled, a new internationalisation policy and action plan has now arrived. “It fills in the gaps and straightens out the question marks,” comments Pro-Vice-Chancellor Helena Lindholm Schulz. T h e n e w p o lic y , which in late May the Vice Chancellor decided to implement, replaces the old one that was developed in the early 2000s by Bjorn Hettne who at that time was Professor of Global Studies. But don’t expect any major surprises from the new policy. “Much of what is contained in Vision 2020 can also be found in the policy and in the various action and activity plans at faculties and departments,” observes Helena Lindholm Schulz. “That which cuts through the visionary work, and perhaps is one of the strongest elements of the vision, is internationalisation, which is based on the fact that we today are not sufficiently globalised.” The university-wide policy on internationalisation extends to 2020 and it
is also associated with an Action Plan. That there was a need for a new policy has not been self-evident, though,” comments Helena Lindholm Schulz. “ B u t w e h av e come to the conclusion that it is good to have a policy that fills in the gaps and clarifies how we look at the globalisation issues. Internationalisation should though be integrated in our way of thinking with the educational programmes, research and joint collaborations, and not really need its own independent policy. But we are not there yet.” Nor is it clear who is doing what at various levels, in the opinion of Helena Lindholm Schulz. “That’s because the faculties and departments, due to completely natu-
ral reasons, have different abilities and needs. And they also have different need of support.” There are three main areas that GU needs to exert more effort with, emphasises Helena Lindholm Schulz. 1. Increased external and international recruitment with all new recruiting. Included in this is a commitment to improve the arrangements for visiting researchers and graduate exchange students (including more accessibility to housing). 2. In the next few years GU will invest a total of SEK 300 million on interdisciplinary research under the theme “global societal challenges” (UGOT). 3. Increased recruitment of students from outside the EEA.
“It is often taken for granted that everyone can manage just fine in Swedish and English, in both spoken and written form, but in fact this is not so. Swedes are proficient in English in a general sense, but many have an overconfidence of their knowledge. What is presently needed is support to assist our teachers in their efforts to teach in English.” Helena Lindholm Schulz agrees that it is important to have language support available. “We make efforts to provide language support, but the real question is how much we should do internally and in cooperation with other parties.”
But success requires a well-developed language support. That is the strong view of Rhonwen Bowen, who is the director of the newly formed Unit for Academic Language (ASK).
“We have not had such a discussion about how much we should increase in the various different fields. We will of course not be satisfied with a small increase for two consecutive years,
The Action Plan states that GU must increase in several parts, but why are there no measurable goals?
GUJOURNAL 4 | 2014
th new policy but rather there has to be a genuine improvement over time. But I cannot say today what an adequate level is, and how one should reach such a goal in quantitative terms.” Another goal is to increase teacher and administrator mobility, but how can this be done without additional resources?
how we can become better at taking care of our international students. Perhaps we need to establish some form of mentoring programme. We need a long-term change in attitude, and that is everyone’s responsibility. We teachers and those in the senior levels in the governance of the University must lead by example and emphasise that everyone is welcome.”
“Over the years we have invested
»No, our ambition is to be a global university and take a socially responsible approach to the entire world.« heavily in mobility and we will continue to grant funds so that our teachers and administrators will come out.” Another goal is to recruit more students from outside the EEA. Last fall 71 paying students came, here compared with Lund University which received some 200 students. So how is this going to be done in practical terms?
“It is not just about receiving more paying students, but rather to also accommodate more from our partner universities. An important part is that we need to have a range of programmes that attract this particular type of student. Several faculties, including the IT Faculty, the School of Business, Economics and Law, and the Faculty of Social Sciences, have already developed popular programmes but I still think we can do more. I would like to see more interdisciplinary programmes that for instance are focused on global health and sustainability, areas that we are already strong at. And it goes without saying that we must ensure the high quality of these programmes. In addition, I think that more marketing on the Internet would be productive. But even more importantly, is that we must be able to offer more funding. We are right now investigating how we might use the Adlerbertska Foundation to offer scholarships for incoming students from outside the EEA.” How good a job are we really doing today in our acceptance of international students, and what can we do to improve their situation?
“I have spoken to several foreign students and their stories make me sad; they don’t feel included in the learning environment. We really need a discussion with the student unions
Are there any particular specific regions that you want to specifically target?
“No, our ambition is to be a global university and take a socially responsible approach to the entire world. We also need to evaluate our university-wide agreements with partner universities; based on that we might conclude that we need to direct more efforts to certain regions, for example in North America where we presently do not have very many contracts. Nevertheless, we should not only work with the traditionally strong areas in Europe and North America, and not only with the developing economies of China and India, but rather we should work with the entire globe. This assessment is in line with the old policy, which was developed by Björn Hettne.” Text: Allan Eriksson Photo: Johan Wingborg
Facts in brief The Action Plan for specific aspects of internationalisation for the period 2014-2016, have five objectives: • Increased recruitment of students from countries outside the EEA • More in-depth and focused strategic areas • Increased teacher and administrator mobility • Increased participation in international networks • Developed and enhanced global engagement
5
Hey, Natalia Múnera Parra! You are from Colombia and are a student in the master’s degree program in Global Studies. Tell us: What is the best thing about the University of Gothenburg?
“There are so many things that are so good, for example, that my program is so interdisciplinary, that students are encouraged to think critically, that we often work in small groups so that we learn from each other, and that my fellow students come from so many different cultures.” “I also really appreciate the respectful and welcoming atmosphere that values diversity, promotes equality and opposes any form of discrimination. The staff is always friendly, whether it involves administrators, librarians or teachers. The campus is also very beautiful with green space, libraries, databases, study rooms and classrooms.” What should the University of Gothenburg improve?
“More students at my institution should be encouraged to make their voices heard and to participate in the international environment. What has happened is that two groups have formed, with the Swedish students hanging out with each other while the international students are in another group outside of this. It’s a shame, for you miss the chance to learn from each other.” “Very few students and teachers come from the world outside of Europe. My department has no partnerships with other institutions or organisations in Sweden or Europe, which could make it easier for international students to find an internship, even though this is included in the course syllabus. Information about partnerships and applications for internship are only sent to Swedish-speaking students.” “Also there is not much information provided to us about what is happening in other faculties or departments, so I’ve missed a lot of both academic and cultural events.” I understand you also think that the Swedish language education is not working out very well. What should the university do in this regard?
“International students could be encouraged to practice their Swedish language skills in everyday situations and more advanced students should be offered exercises in a group setting. And I think that the Swedish students could perhaps be more motivated to help foreign students with the language.” “What we see today in the Swedish language courses the university offers is that 40 students all at different levels of are studying together. Instead, the courses should be offered in smaller groups and with different degrees of difficulty, each level concluding with a test so that those who move on to the next level all have approximately the same knowledge and skills. The university should also seek to partner with both Swedish and European organisations so that even nonSwedish-speaking students can get internships.” “Create jobs within the university for international students and be more proactive when it comes to finding a place for the students to live. More subsidised dining options are also needed.” “All students, not just the international ones, should be more involved in ongoing research projects. Publicise the defence of doctoral dissertations and master’s theses so that students at all levels, regardless of discipline, are encouraged to attend them. That way they can become more involved in the academic life of the university overall.”
Eva Lundgren
6
News
»An unworthy process« But strong support for Pam Fredman A clear majority of the Representative Assembly supported the recommendation to give Pam Fredman a renewed mandate as Vice Chancellor until 30 June 2017. But some members of the Assembly, similar with the last time, were critical of the process.
Illustr ation: Ander s Eurén
GU J o u r n a l made a query to a selection of the members soliciting their view of how well the Representative Assembly functioned. The responses show that many have their criticisms, not to the re-election itself, but to the Representative Assembly’s role and the discussion, which according to many, went overboard. The Chair of the University Board Cecilia Schelin Seidegård says that the nominating committee was unanimous in its decision on how the election process should proceed. “In the beginning, we hadn’t thought about having a Representative Assembly, as it is not actually requi-
photo: lena hultberg
what actually is the case, and then it is easy to perceive it all as simply a rubber stamping. The procedure had the character of a referendum that was not actually decision-making, but rather indicative at best. A better way of obtaining staff and student support for a proposal must be found, perhaps via a questionnaire or a consultation process with the faculties and institutions.”
Cecilia Schelin Seidegård says that there was nothing strange with the election.
red. But the university administration and deans made appeals for it, and so we changed our position. Within academia, it is not strange or unusual to have an election where one votes ‘for or against’ a proposal.” S e v e r a l m e m b e r s were dissatisfied however with the speed of the process: in just two hours the Representative Assembly was to listen to the Vice Chancellor and then vote, as the University Board was to make its decision that very afternoon. One member, who wishes to remain anonymous, explains that he left the
meeting with a low level of confidence in the University Board’s capacity for sensitivity and responsiveness, and less esteem for GU’s organisation: “The Board doesn’t seem to realise what damage this particular process risks to cause in the form of lacking trust. However, it did not seem that the problems affected the confidence in Pam; who made a good and clear presentation.” Another member of the Represen tative Assembly said that the entire process seemed archaic: “The form gives the impression of more democracy and influence than
A n ot h e r m e m b e r who wishes to remain anonymous described it as an “unworthy” process, given that there were some individuals in the Representative Assembly who did not want to discuss anything other than process. “If a majority of the Representative Assembly thinks it was a good candidate, then the college had their say.” Kristoffer Hellstrand, assistant dean at the Sahlgrenska Academy, pointed out that he is accustomed to that important stances are first established among colleagues. “But we were expected to vote immediately after the Vice Chancellor’s talk and statement of future intentions, and our request for extra preparation time was rejected. No other candidates for the University’s most important position were allowed to be discussed, let alone be nominated. That the
Berner Lindström
Kristoffer Hellstrand
Representative Assembly had already protested at the previous election against the deeply undemocratic electoral process the University Board seemed to completely ignore; the procedure as it was now applied was even more undemocratic.” T h e r e w e r e s e v e r a l reasons why the process was so fast, explains Cecilia Schelin Seidegård. “The Board is well aware of the criticism of the process for the Vice Chancellor election last time. But this time, we had an exceptionally wellknown candidate, we wanted to complete the election before the summer holidays, and it was just a question of an extension of the appointment for an additional two years. So we did our best to avoid dissatisfaction this time too.” Berner Lindström, Professor of Education, thinks the process has been fair.
GUJOURNAL 4 | 2014
“Given the mandate one has as a member of the Representative Assembly, I see no problem in immediately taking a position. Most likely I am not alone in this view, otherwise the results of the vote would have been different. I’m entirely confident that I would have voted “no” to giving Pam a renewed mandate if I perceived that she had mismanaged her responsibilities. Now I see it is not so, even though I have been highly critical of some of the changes implemented during Pam’s time.” Several members are also critical of the fact that particular members were allowed to take up too much meeting time. That is the opinion of Daniel Brandt, chairman of the Göta Student Union, among others. “Most often, they said the same things over and over again, and then they complain that the time allocated to the Representative Assembly was too brief. For the next time, we would like to see Göta Student Union holding the meeting in order to ensure a good climate for the meeting.” Pr i o r to t h e n e x t Vice Chancellor election, the University Board will review the process once again, promises Cecilia Schelin Seidegård. “It is extremely important to have a nominating committee that works well. Next time there will be more candidates, and therefore it will be especially important that more time be given for reflection and consultation.” The election resulted in a strong confidence in Fredman as Vice Chancellor, explains Cecilia Schelin Seidegård. “I know that there is a lot of confidence for Pam Fredman internally at the University. Also, nationally she has a very good reputation, so I felt a great confidence that the level of support for the Vice Chancellor would be strong.”
Allan Eriksson & Eva Lundgren
facts The question the Representative Assembly had to consider on 3 June and state its position on was: The University Board recommends that Pam Fredman be appointed as Vice Chancellor of the University of Gothenburg for the term from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2017. Do you support this recommendation? Of the Representative Assembly’s 67 members, 47 answered “yes,” 9 “no,” 3 “voted blank” and 8 abstained from voting.
7
Few foreign graduate students at GU The percentage of newly beginning graduate students who were from outside Sweden was only 22 percent at the University of Gothenburg in 2013. “If this data is accurate, it’s a very bad number,” comments Professor Boo Johansson, chairman of the graduate studies Committee for Third-Cycle Education. T h e ov e r a ll n u m b e r of foreign students has steadily increased for the past several years. In Sweden, the proportion of graduate students from outside Sweden was 40 percent in 2013, according to the Swedish Higher Education Authority’s annual report. In the table of the institutions of higher education that have the most newly beginning foreign students, GU finds itself almost at the bottom with an average of 22 percent. “It does not look good, it really doesn’t,” observes Boo Johansson. “But I have no explanation that I can pull out of the hat. I can say however that this is something we take very seriously and will be addressed in the Committee for Third-Cycle Education. First, we need to take a closer look and conduct a deeper analysis of the figures. We expect that universities and other institutions of higher education with a high proportion of technical subjects will be higher up on the list, but that we would be so low on the list just doesn’t seem right.” Boo Johansson believes that there are deficiencies in LADOK which may be an explanation for the large differences. “The reporting is not submitted immediately but rather there is a lag, and sometimes the submission of the report is made at the conclusion of the studies. In addition, I suspect that there is a reluctance to register graduate students from other countries, given that it can be sensitive.” B u t t h at t h e University of Gothenburg would be slower at submitting reports is not so, asserts investigator Ingrid Pettersson at Swedish Higher Education Authority. “We obtain the numbers from LADOK that the universities have submitted. But the submission of reports lags somewhat, which means that in fact there tends to be about 3 percent more graduate students.” GU Journal has also requested data about the total proportion of foreign graduate students in various disciplines at the University of Gothenburg. During the fall of 2013,
there were only 17 percent who come from other countries, compared with an average across the country at 33 percent. That the percentage is lower at the University of Gothenburg is due to that the largest percentage of foreign graduate students are in the fields of engineering and the
notes however that the Sahlgrenska Academy has an active program of international exchanges. see more foreign graduate students. We have repeatedly, including in RED 10, identified this problem and sought to bring attention to it. It may be that more needs to be done at the central level in order to provide more support and assistance, such as finding housing accommodations.” Boo Johansson will take up the issue this fall.
“ I ’ d li k e to
»It does not look good…« boo johansson
natural sciences, and in this area, GU has only a few graduate students. In the humanities and social sciences, GU is relatively high on the list, but lower in medical studies and the health sciences with an average of 11 percent, compared with an average of 24 percent in Sweden overall. D e a n O lle L a r kö says that he does not have a good explanation for why the situation looks as it does, but
“There are many steps in the submission of reports that needs to be examined in order to make a deeper analysis. And we will start with that work in September. If there are large systematic differences, we must consider what this may be due to, and come up some ideas of what to do in response.” Allan Eriksson
Number of Number of International new students International new students University 2013 new students (per cent) Total
3 110 1 250 40
Royal Institute of Technology
300
190
65
Sw. Univ. of Agricultural Science
90
50
53
Chalmers
170 80
48
Mälardalens University
30
20
47
Uppsala University
380
180
46
Stockholms University
260
120
45
Luleå University of Technology
80
40
45
Karolinska Institute
370
150
40
Umeå University
180
70
39
Lund University
500
170
35
Linnæus University
40
10
31
Linköping University
170
50
29
University of Gothenburg
250
60
22
Örebro University
60
10
22
Number and percentage of foreign postgraduate students spread over the institutions that had more than 10 foreign beginners 2013.
8
Profile
Fish scientist reach Kristina “Snuttan” Sundell has devoted thirty years of her life to studying the intestines of fish. Kristina is also a popular educator of renown. And now she is passionate about the possibilities for sustainable fish farming on the west coast of Sweden, and would love to become an entrepreneur in the Atlantic wolffish industry – if only she could find the time. n u t ta n (her real name is Kristina) has recently been in Norway and picked up inspiration for how fish farming could be designed and constructed here at home in Sweden. In the fjord outside of Haugesund, there is a brand new pilot facility – a giant plastic tub that has been lowered into the sea. The fish cannot escape and the water is treated before it goes out again.
interesting what I saw; a promising technology that can be developed and become even better.” Her vision is that both offshore and land-based fish farms should be in existence on the west coast in the near future. Snuttan and her colleagues have recently received SEK 15.9 million from Mistra, The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research, for research into the development of a marine sustainable aquaculture – which has the potential to become an entirely new source of food. Modern technology will hopefully solve the problems that accompany traditional fish farming, such as sea lice infestation of salmon, escapes and eutrophication. Snuttan has been conducting research on fish all her life and basically grew up at the Department of Zoology. Both her parents were animal physiologists and as a child, she often accompanied them to work, which at that time was on Fjärde Långgatan. “Often I sat at the lab bench and drew, and I still hear from old lab assistants how they sometimes changed my diapers when I was a little girl.”
“ It wa s v e ry
W e m e e t u p in the break room at the Department of Zoology that is now at Medicinareberget, and that once upon a time was built up by her father Lasse Sundell. Today, she is herself a professor here. Her parents first worked at Uppsala
University, but when the University of Gothenburg in 1957 wanted to start courses in zoophysiology, the assignment to start these was given her father Lasse. Her entire family moved afterwards, to an apartment on Doktor Lindhs gata in Guldheden, not far from here. The whole family shared the same scientific interests, and both Snuttan and her brother chose to study biology. “With two young people studying biology and two parents who are biologists, there certainly were many stimulating dinner discussions. I focused on physiology at an early age; not sure to what extent that is my dad’s fault.” first professors, Johan Axelsson and then Ragnar Fänge, were good friends of the family and the Icelander “Uncle Johan” often visited. He was Snuttan’s favourite who also contributed to the interesting conversations. Snuttan still has the large network of contacts from people in the field of biology what she got to know as a child. During the summers, her family lived in a graduate residence nearby the Kristineberg Marine Research Station in Fiskebäckskil, because mama Gunnel Sundell researched the Hagfish [Myxine glutinosa], fish who live in deep water in Gullmarsfjorden. “The summers were lovely.” Mama Gunnel eventually began working at Astra, while Snuttan and her father kept themselves busy at the Department of Zoology, where they worked together for a number of years. “I have taken courses from him, which some people think is cool and wonder ‘so, how was it?’ There was nothing strange about it, because when you go into the lecture hall, papa is not papa any T h e d e pa r t m e n t ’ s
longer, but rather the lecturer. The most distinctive feature was that my exam was corrected much harder than my classmates’.” Tjärnö and the Marine Biological Laboratory, where she arrived as 22-year-old biology student to take a course and was blown away by the environment, have a special place in Snuttan Sundell’s heart. “I came to this stunning place in a fjord cove. We stayed in a camp with like-minded students and got do what we thought was the most fun thing in the world.” S n u t ta n co n ti n u e d to do her master’s thesis on Tjärnö and dragged out the time in order to be able to stay as long as possible. It was about sea snails - “kubbonger” [winkles] as they are called in Bohuslän – and she wanted to find out how the animals can survive in the salty ocean and how they adapt to changing environments. Snuttan would have liked to continue to research on snails as a graduate student, but it turned out that no one was working with this in Sweden and it became too complicated to find a doctoral advisor abroad. Snuttan instead focused on fish and how fish can survive in salt water. Up to that time, mostly the gills of fish had been studied, but Snuttan realised that the intestine was also important for the uptake and excretion of salts and water. “For some reason the intestines were studied very little when I first began, so I focused on it as my bit. It’s always fun
GUJOURNALEN 3 | 2014
hing out
to say that one devoted thirty years of their life to fish intestines. The same applies to fish as for us: if our stomach doesn’t feel well, we don’t feel good overall either.” S n u t ta n e a r n e d h e r PhD in calcium metabolism in cod with the question: why doesn’t a cod turn into cement? The marine environment contains a lot of calcium and if fish would be unable to regulate their calcium intake, they would turn into blocks of cement. Papa Lasse posed a lot of questions and challenged her in her doctoral thesis. “With every right, he got me to go in deeper into some of the literature, to rethink and rewrite. It wasn’t his field of expertise actually, but he had a deep foundation of knowledge about most things in physiology. I miss him so very much; it would have been so great to have him with me during my career. He was there for the oral defense of my dissertation, but then a short while later he sadly passed away.” In her doctoral dissertation, Snuttan Sundell was able to show that certain dogmas from academic textbooks were not correct. This was primarily about the vitamin D3 system, which according to the textbooks, had no function in saltwater dwelling fish. But she showed that they have a very significant function and additionally different functions in different stages of life. “When one questions something that is generally accepted and can prove that it in fact is not true, this is exciting! Sometimes you get results that are the opposite of what you thought you’d get, and then it can be exciting in a different way, that one has chanced upon another solution.”
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Profile
Snuttan Sundell has developed and honed her techniques in the lab, including in vitro techniques which involve taking out organs and continue to study them outside of the animal. The perfusion technique is one such. When she kills the fish, she picks out the intestines and keeps it alive and replaces the blood with a saline solution that circulates through thin plastic tubes that are inserted into the blood vessels. In this manner, she can study what happens in the intestinal tissue when she puts in various substances. “It is very fiddly, a type of precise surgery on fish.” An Ussing chamber is another in vitro technique used in order to study transport mechanisms across the epithelium, the layers between the outside and the inside. After having successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, she was eager to learn more about this and as a postdoctoral fellow travelled to the University of Rhode Island on the US east coast, where they were renown for this particular technology. But when she got there, it turned out that the sole expert had left the lab two years prior and the equipment was sitting on the shelf collecting dust. “There was nothing else to do other than to just take it down from the shelf and dust it off and try to learn how to use it by myself. Which in the end resulted in that I developed my own technique and it is now the backbone of my research group, our uniqueness.” S n u t ta n i s o n e of the most outgoing researchers there is, and she loves to spread her knowledge to the interested public. In 2013 she received the Ångpanneföreningen Foundation for Research and Development’s knowledge prize for her educational work directed at the general public. These activities had already begun during her doctoral studies. At that time it was not so common that work and projects received wide exposure, but the department held an open house in order to show outsiders what they were engaged with. Snuttan made posters and display materials, and then it continued on from there: with “Alltinget” on the radio, academic quarters in town, and Studio Nature on SVT – which will return in the fall. “I have always enjoyed teaching situations, and science outreach promoting public awareness and understanding of science is a form of teaching. One talks about the things that they think are the most exciting thing on earth: You certainly understand that this is doing something of essential importance, and it is fun and exciting! Both teaching and science is about being passionate about what you do.” Sometimes she gets it wrong, but this encourage her on. Snuttan remembers one of the Allting broadcasts in which she was asked a question about king crabs and said they grow to 8 metres between their ambulatory legs – which was a bit too generous in size. Ov e r t h e y e a r s , she has increasingly drifted over to zoophysiological research, which has a practical application and a benefit to society at large, particularly in aquaculture. This interest originated during her postdoctoral period in the US. There, on the east coast, there were a lot of hydroelectric plants that had been instructed to put out salmon-fry as compensation for that the spawning grounds had been destroyed. Snuttan had rich opportunities to study the
development of salmon-fry, known as parr-smolt transformation. The young fish which are born in fresh water and are called parr, will change both physiologically and behaviourally in order to become smolts and be able to live in saltwater. The process is started and controlled by light and temperature, but also by good food. “It’s an amazing period for a physiologist to study because so much happens in the animal in a period of only a few months. Understanding how this works is a prerequisite for being able to raise fish in an efficient manner. But my primary focus is not that fish farmers will be able to obtain higher returns, but rather to improve the growing environment so that the fish will feel good and
»Sometimes you get results that are the opposite of what you thought you’d get.« have resistance to infection – it is all about animal welfare and well-being.” W h e n S n u t ta n c a m e back to Sweden, encouraged by colleagues in Norway she increasingly engaged in research on fish farming, especially salmon. Today, she is director of the Aquaculture Centre West located at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, which she co-founded in 2011. Last year, a study was conducted there looking into which species has the best biological and economic preconditions for cultivation on the west coast of Sweden, and six candidate species were selected of which the Atlantic wolffish was one. “It could work like this: a fisherman who cannot fish all the time due to reduced quotas will have work with Atlantic wolffish farming to supplement his income. An extra leg to stand on, so to speak. I think that many fishermen could be interested in this; they need to find alternative employment and they have a knowledge that is outstanding in terms of operating this type of
small-scale fish farming. It is an advantage that we presently do not have any fish farming on the west coast as this means we can do right from the very start.” Shellfish has also been looked at and lobster was selected as one with the most possibilities. The Mistra project will hopefully contribute with knowledge that can inspire entrepreneurs to farm fish in such a manner that is gentle to both the fish and the environment. The entire spectrum can be found here in the project: biology, fodder development, cultivation techniques, economics, business models and life cycle analysis. Snuttan Sundell envisions exciting scenarios ahead: one could, for example, cultivate fish, mussels and seaweed together. If the fish farming releases nutrients, the mussel cultivation can filter that which is bound in particles and the sea vegetable farming can extract the dissolved nutrients. A plus-minus zero impact in terms of discharges. There are also promising studies underway in food development where the clams that are too small for consumption or broken can be ground down to a meal to be used as fish feed. The goal is to have a pilot plant underway for both Atlantic wolffish and lobster within the next four years. On her part, Snuttan wouldn’t mind becoming an entrepreneur in the fish farming industry in order to test her own theories. “I really would like to become actively involved in fish farming. But as you know, one cannot do everything. I already do quite a few things and don’t see how I could fit anything more into my life. But who knows, perhaps when I retire?” Text: Helena Östlund photo: Johan Wingborg
Kristina Snuttan Sundell Currently: Professor of Zoophysiology at the Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences. Chairman of the Aquaculture Centre West. Expert in the new season of Studio Nature of SVT in the fall. Age: 54 years old. Family: Husband and two daughters, 21 and 18 years old. Horse and rabbit. Resides: Toltorpsdalen, Mölndal. Interests: Has previously been involved in dressage and jumping competition, but now mostly a horse groomer and keeper of her daughter’s horse. Dogs hold an interest, but she does not have one right now. Interested in design: furniture, glass and pottery. Favourite food: Likes cooking and what she is craving depends upon her mood. “Do not think I could survive without cheese.” Reading interests: Including detective fiction, preferably by British authors. A strong memory of something that occurred on the job: “I took part in an expedition to Greenland in the summer of 2009. It was an absolutely wonderful period. I worked a lot, but have never felt so relaxed and thoroughly rested as I did during the trip. We stood and fished for our own experimental fish with rod, placed them in a small bowl and brought them into the lab. It was so wonderfully primitive; we built everything from scratch with the equipment we had with us in large containers. We were playing MacGyver all the time in order to get everything all together, and yet we were able to perform high-tech cutting-edge research.”
Creativity in research
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allow your thoughts to freely flow. Much of the researchers’ time is taken up by the meetings and bureaucracy that causes much downtime. Today, one uses a lot of their free time at work in order to get anywhere. The university will have to trust the researchers more with what they are doing and give them the freedom to test things out and explore. As unexpected things can come out of unexpected situations, that are not always funded, it is important that there is funding for research on different levels.” How can one become more creative?
“Dance like nobody’s watching – said Mark Twain. I think it’s about one getting rid of their inhibitions, freeing themselves from the limitations that are not in the problem or in the question itself. To stop thinking about ‘what everyone else thinks.’ I believe that everyone is creative in the beginning but this is often hindered and perhaps even destroyed in the environment one grows up in.”
»I think it’s about one getting rid of their inhibitions, freeing themselves from the limitations that are not in the problem or in the question itself.«
Learn to let go! Anyone and everyone can be creative. Just let go of your inhibitions and free yourself from artificial restraints. Palle Dahlstedt does this with the help of a computer. What is creativity?
“Traditionally, it has been defined as the ability to create something new that has a value. One can distinguish between that which is new to me and that which is new to the community at large. Much research and popular literature is focused on how to get new ideas, but I however see creativity as a process that may not even have a clear idea from the start.” Must there be a value in “the new”?
“This has been intensively debated. Certain creativity researchers assert that it’s easy to come up with something new, but it must have a value in order to qualify as creativity. Others argue that the value cannot be included in a definition. What is not appreciated as having value right now may have its value appreciated at a later date. Something may be given/assigned a significant value now and later proved to be incorrect. I think that both the value and the new arises indirectly during the creation process.” Tell us about your research.
“What interests me is how the process looks like from the point when I have an original idea until there is a final work. The idea is realised in
a sketch that I consider, evaluate and reinterpret into a new, revised idea, which in turn becomes a new revised sketch. As the course of events are going back and forth so many times between these forms, the work becomes – whether it be music, text, images, or other results – more detailed and each time things are added that are new even to me. There is not much written about this process. For me it is more interesting than the magic “ahah” moment. I have also started to create computer models of the process, in order to test the model and see how computers can behave creatively. I have done this based upon my own and others’ musical creation processes. Another test is a project with composers invited to The Lindblad Studios who document their processes in journal form. The evidence suggests that the model is also applicable to technical problem solving, for example. For some time, I have been sitting on the board of directors of the transnational Tällberg Foundation. There is considerable interest here in how my thinking about creativity and improvisation may be relevant to such fields as crisis management and decision-making, which has led me to see my research in a new light. It is both fascinating and fun to see that specific artistic issues have been shown to have a general interest. What is a creative research environment?
“You are creative if you feel well. It is important to set aside time for reflection and to
Is it possible to teach creativity?
“It is about helping students to manage, refine, and implement their own ideas. Some need to learn how to fly and others how to land.” Is it financially profitable?
“Yes, it is both profitable and necessary. Moreover, we feel better. It’s a nice sensation to create things. Young people today grow up in a society where technology is readily available. They get a good sensation from seeing their own art or own production and with creating something, which also causes them to reflect.” When are you feeling creative?
“Constantly. My brain is spinning all the time. I am creative when I have time to play with ideas and go further with the thoughts that come up. But even when I am under great pressure and do not have time to test all the variables. My bank of systematised notes will come in handy at some date.” Text: Helena Svensson Photo: Johan Wingborg Palle Dahlstedt is a composer, improviser, Associate Professor in Computer-Aided Creativity at the Department of Applied Information Technology, artistic director of The Lindblad Studios at the Academy of Music and Drama (HSM), and an instructor of composition at the Academy of Music and Drama.
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News
Frenzy to publish creates bad articles Exaggerated headlines, heavily slanted texts, and sloppily reviewed facts – these are things we generally like to associate with the tabloids. But scientific journals also have increasingly begun to engage in startling attention getting methods in order to be seen in a competitive market. I n 2 0 1 0, N o b e l l au r e at e Paul Greengard publishes an article in Nature in which he claims that the cancer drug Glivec also is effective against Alzheimer’s disease. He shows that the production of beta-amyloid, which builds up the senile plaques in the brain in this disease, in a powerful way is inhibited by the drug. The article garners a lot of attention, even in the well-known mass media such as the New York Times. Kaj Blennow and Henrik Zetterberg, professors of neuro-
chemistry, get the idea to test whether this holds for patients starting Glivec treatment for reasons other than Alzheimer’s disease. They can quickly see that nothing happens to these patients’ beta-amyloid levels, and that the conclusion of the Nature paper therefore is wrong. So they send a note to Nature’s editors that convey this through to Greengard. “Greengard replied that our results were irrelevant because we used a different method. His experiments on mice should therefore outweigh our experiences from real patients! Because Nature believed that a famous Nobel laureate must of course be more reliable than our little research team, they didn’t publish our comment. It was instead the less prestigious journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia which did, where researchers within the field discuss research findings without the ambition to create sensational
headlines. Alzheimer’s Association also did a thing on the whole story, where it turned out that a number of other researchers had not been able to repeat Greengard’s findings, but however had put their results aside. The Nature editors did not comment on this. For those of us in Alzheimer’s research, Nature lost some credibility with us after this, while our own journals seem even more relevant. Just a few weeks ago also Nature Medicine published an appallingly bad article on plasma lipids’ phenomenal ability to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. This article is completely wrong and has drawn ridicule on Nature Medicine among people who work with these methods on a daily basis.” T h e r e a lly b i g prestige journals are dependent upon advertising and also compete with each other. Therefore, they are always
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on the lookout for something exciting to publish. And as an article in a really highly ranked journal may be the determining factor in a researcher obtaining a grant or not, or an attractive academic position, it is also in the author’s interest to perhaps exaggerate a bit or avoid reporting results that go against his hypothesis. Sensational journalism has reached even highly qualified editors of some journals, for example, Nature and Science. “Anyone who follows these journals for a few years will soon become quite tired of all the new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease that are constantly popping up and subsequently found to unsustainable. Often it’s about curing Alzheimer’s mice. It can be done in more than a hundred different ways, but nothing works on humans. The lesserknown specialty journals are more reliable and that is often where the really interesting results are presented. The first article on the fact that beta-amyloid accumulates in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease came in the low ranked journal BBRC.” It i s a l s o increasingly rare that negative results are reported, observes Henrik Zetterberg. “Most of the hypotheses a scientific researcher has turns out to be incorrect. But the dead-ends are of course just as necessary
Henrik Zetterberg
Peter Jagers
Thomas Lindkvist
the eating habits of grandmothers and the illnesses of grandchildren. Next, determine how certain you want to be, for example that 5 percent may be due to chance. If the study then gives a significant result, i.e. a relationship that is higher than 5 percent, is all fine and dandy. But today, when it has become increasingly easier with the help of a computer to conduct a large number of trials at the same time, there is increasing risk that inaccurate results will be produced. Of the 100 surveys, for example, statistically speaking about one-twentieth will show a positive result that is solely due to chance.” Random positive results aren’t really a problem in and of themselves, as long as the researcher goes further and tests the results on new material. This is something that the research team that looked at grandmothers’ eating habits did not do, but rather publis-
»Of the 100 surveys, for example, statistically speaking about one-twentieth will show a positive result that is solely due to chance.« peter jagers to report as the successes. It is therefore important that the design of the one’s experiments is done in a manner so that the results are interpretable, whether positive or negative.” Research is about establishing a hypothesis, which you then try to disprove, asserts Henrik Zetterberg. The more the hypothesis resists disproving, the more likely it is that it is correct. “Research groups in the US work a little differently: they devote more time to pursuing a hypothesis which can be productive. But the risk is that positive data is over interpreted while less weight is assigned to negative responses. I personally do not believe in a particular result in Alzheimer’s research until it is repeated by other research groups using other methods.” O n e e x a m ple o f a sensational scientific news, which recently received considerable attention, both in professional journals, and mainstream media, was that researchers in social medicine claimed that granny’s eating habits affects her grandchildren’s risk being affected by illness. The article was based on incorrect use of the concept “statistical significance,” explains Peter Jagers, Professor of Mathematical Statistics. “A study should be based on what is referred to as a ‘null hypothesis,’ namely that there is no correlation between, for example
hed a study based on the principle: “what he looks for he finds.” “Another problem we statisticians often encounter is that researchers are using simplified models on complex situations, such as giving a simple explanation for a change in public opinion, which may in fact be due to a variety of different things. Therefore it is important that researchers are restrained in their conclusions.” Wit h i n t h e e x ac t sciences however, an error will be corrected sooner or later, points out Peter Jagers. “When the Kazakh mathematician Mukhtarbay Otelbayev recently claimed to have solved a classic problem within the differential equation, it was not long at all before other mathematicians studied the evidence, which unfortunately, soon proved wrong. Research funding and the obtaining of academic appointments have increasingly been associated with bibliometrics, but nothing can replace traditional scientific peer review. Peer review has its flaws, but there presently is no better system.” One reason that researchers in science and medicine are more in a hurry to be published, than for instance social scientists or those in the humanities, may be that research in these areas so quickly becomes outdated. So says Thomas Lindkvist, Professor of History.
“In the humanities and social sciences, the “sell before date” is often many years in the future and the competition is therefore less intense.” Even though researchers in the humanities usually still write monographs, there is however increasing pressure on them to publish in journals, preferably in English. “But the scientific publishing method does not fit in with the humanities particularly well. Certainly, an article in the field of archaeology, for instance, can deal with an exciting find that questions earlier perceptions and understandings. But research on man as a social creature is more often about seeing new connections, or giving different interpretations to known material which complicates the picture that one already has.” Fo r s o ci a l s ci e n ti st s and those in the field of the humanities there is another danger, in the opinion of Thomas Lindkvist. “The risk is rather that we adapt to the zeitgeist or what we think may be accepted for publishing. One example is the research on Engelbrecht, who led the 1434 uprising against Erik of Pomerania. Since we do not know much about him, there is a great deal of leeway for different interpretations. During the nationalist 1800s he was perceived as a Swedish heroic figure of the people; his statue in the town square in Örebro was modelled with Garibaldi as a model. Later historians, critical of the sources, with Erik Lönnroth in the lead, saw him instead as a representative of an aspiring bourgeoisie class of German descent. During the war, some historians regarded him as a popular leader in the class with Hitler, while during the radical 1960s, he was compared with Mao. Another example is an exhibition about the Vikings that was presented at the National Museum in Copenhagen recently where their importance as merchants were emphasised. Parts of the exhibition are now displayed in the British Museum in London, where the focus lies more on the plundering and looting expeditions.” I f a l s o h u m a n i st s and social scientists are forced to write short articles in English in specialised journals, there is a risk that multiple values will be lost, according to Thomas Lindkvist. “History may be seen in a short-term perspective where, for example, Nazism is explained away by the economic crisis of the 1930s, or in a longer-term perspective where the explanation lies in Germany’s deficiencies in its democratic traditions going back for hundreds of years. The more complicated discussions and perspectives other than the Anglo-Saxon ones are liable to disappear in short articles in international journals. Humanities also has an important audience outside academic circles that can be forgotten about if specialised journals become the only important thing. For history is a science that is constantly recreated, based on the needs of our times.”
Text: Eva Lundgren Illustration: Tomas Karlsson
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Report
Swedish dream came true For nearly 30 years, she dreamed of being able to one day live in Sweden. Now, the dream has become a reality. Liza Bergström, a speech-language pathologist from Queensland in Australia, has been a visiting researcher in Gothenburg for the past two years. And she likes just about everything here, especially the winters. li k e n at u r e , and Sweden has a fantastic nature,” comments Liza Bergström in nearly flawless Swedish. We are meeting up in her office at the speech therapy clinic at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, on a warm and sunny day in May. The windows are wide open and outside there is a large flourishing tree. Liza is serving coffee. Not simply to be polite to me. Liza Bergström has jet lag following a very long flight from Australia the day before, and needs the caffeine to stay alert. For 15 years she has worked as a speech therapist, both in her home country Australia and the United Arab Emirates. Now she is a PhD student at the University of Queensland in the Australian city of Brisbane, but is also doing her graduate research work in Gothenburg. Here, she is involved with two different research projects. The first one focuses on patients who have had oral or throat cancer and have difficulty in swallowing after tumour treatment with chemotherapy or radiation. Swallowing problems often means that one finds it difficult to eat or drink. For this, there are special exercises one can work with to overcome this situation. T h e ot h e r p roj ec t concerns voice, communication, and quality of life in patients receiving radiotherapy treatment for cancer of the larynx. It often means that one has a weaker voice and a part of the project is to evaluate the impact of voice training in speech pathology. With this project the patients are monitored for a long time, sometimes up to 10 years.
Liza Bergström is a speech-language pathologist from Australia who now works as a researcher in Gothenburg.
Liza Bergstrom, who turns 40 in July, was born and raised in Australia. Her father is Swedish, hence the Swedish-sounding name. He went to sea at the young age of 17, and a few years later ended up in Australia. “There he met mom and ‘the rest is history,’ as they say,” laughs Liza Bergström. Her parents got married and had two children, Liza and her brother. When Liza was 10 years, her father took the entire family and travelled to Sweden and stayed in Stockholm. It was her first visit and she got to meet her paternal grandparents and other relatives. The visit lasted for one year and 10-year-
old Liza went to a Swedish school for one term. “I thought it was absolutely fantastic here in Sweden. I felt that I wanted to live here for a chapter of my life. I was so influenced, in a very positive way.” Si n c e t h e n , the dream has been there in the back of her mind, that at some point she would live in Sweden. When Liza was 18, she had saved money and travelled here again. Since then there have been some short visits every three or four years. “This is about strong personal emotions that have always drawn me back to Sweden.”
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»This is about strong personal emotions that have always drawn me back to Sweden.« Liza Bergström Pl ace of birth: Rockhampton, Australia. Age: Turns 40 on 30 July. Resides: Gothenburg. Background: Training for the profession of speech and language therapist in Brisbane, Australia. Worked as a speech pathologist for 15 years. Currently: Graduate student at the University of Queensland in Australia, with a placement at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology. Family: Single. Interests: Traveling. “I really like living in Europe. It is so easy to come in contact with other cultures and be exposed to other languages. Over the past two years I have travelled to Estonia, Iceland, Spain and the Champagne region in France, among other places.” “To see my Swedish family and spend time with good friends. I like how the Swedes celebrate festivals such as Christmas and Midsummer.” L ast book read: Det blod som spillts by Åsa Larsson. “I was active in a book club back in Australia. We were eight women, each from different backgrounds. It was so enriching. We met every two months, ate good food and drank good wine. Sometimes, we discussed the book too ... Now I have gotten a book club together in Gothenburg. But here, it gets a little more serious.” Favourite food: “I like Vietnamese food. And Swedish food is fascinating. When I came to Sweden as a 10-year-old, I got to eat pea soup and Swedish pancakes. In loved that! Today, when I eat pea soup and Swedish pancakes, it reminds me of my grandmother and grandfather.”
That her academic tutor in Brisbane, Professor Liz Ward, is collaborating with Professor Catarina Finizia at the Sahlgrenska Academy, helped to facilitate matters three years ago when Liza Bergström decided to do get graduate degree here. Language however was an obstacle. Therefor she studied Swedish in a Komvux adult education program for a year before she began her graduate studies. In parallel with her courses in Swedish, she participated in an advanced graduate research course at the University of Gothenburg. Taking the Swedish courses and learning
Swedish meant that she now is also a licensed speech pathologist in Sweden, and can work here in her profession. Li z a d e s c r i b e s the manner in which “guest-service” manages the reception of visiting researchers as “excellent.” “They are exceptionally friendly and provide good information and support.” Liza Bergström mentions courses on language, culture and festivals, as well as guided tours in Gothenburg as some good examples. Her accommodations she arranged by herself, but she enjoys participating in some of the activities.
“Each month, there is the international café. This is a place you can meet other visiting researchers, get a bite to eat, learn things about Swedish society. It is often something that is relevant for the season. Before Easter, for example, we ate cream buns. What was that day called? Is it Fat Tuesday?” We figure out that it was Pancake Day that she was thinking about. Liza has made new friends via the meetups at the international café. “It’s amazing. We usually think of something over the weekend, maybe we’ll go on ‘Friday after work.’ We are all new in Sweden and naturally one can feel lonely, but this is a really good network.” Liza Bergström thinks it’s a great advantage to have worked in the Australian, then the Canadian and now in the Swedish health care system. The research she is engaged with, in Gothenburg, is about following along with and studying the patient over a period of time but also about trying to improve the patient’s quality of life at the same time. “And also I get to live in Sweden. It still feels so exotic to me.” Even the climate, she appreciates. “It is so beautiful when it snows.” In Australia, she was active in a number of different sports. “I was involved in beach volleyball, triathlon, water skiing, wakeboarding and touch rugby. Here in Sweden, it’s such a different kind of weather so I am less active in sports here. I thought I would learn crosscountry skiing, but I’m not so good at it. So now I’m only swimming, a couple times a week.” Liza Bergström thinks that in Australia, engaging in sports is more a social activity than it is in Sweden. “You can have a sports team at the hospital, for example, which meets after work. Then go for a beer afterwards. It would never happen in Sweden,” she says, laughing. “In Sweden, it’s more about being competent.” This summer, her parents along with her brother and his family will come to Sweden from Australia in order to visit and celebrate her 40th birthday. “I’m so super glad they’re coming. It is going to be especially fun in that my brother’s children are coming too. They are 5 and 8 years old, and they have never ever been outside Australia.” Text: Annika Hansson Photo: Johan Wingborg
Festive installation of new professors On the 9th of May, a festive event took place in the concert hall, as 56 new professors were installed at the University of Gothenburg. Vice Chancellor Pam Fredman stressed the University’s responsibility to the society in general, and the many speakers gave glimpses from various disciplines within the fields of science. n h e r w e lco m i n g address, Vice Chancellor Pam Fredman spoke about her recent visit to Boston, where all the researchers also teach at all levels. In Sweden, it is rather common for university employees to “buy their way out” of teaching, as it is not perceived as particularly meritorious to them personally. “But it is the students who are the future, and to provide quality education must be as important as conducting research!” Linda Boström, vice president of the University of Gothenburg Student Unions (GUS), reminded everyone that this day also was World Migratory Bird Day. “Incrementally, you put air under our wings, the air that teaches us that we too may be capable and powerful migratory birds that can fly over mountain ranges.” But what would a professor installation be without the Academy of Music and Drama? Frida Hagman and Caspar Engdahl sang Mozart, Puccini and Lehár, while Alida Fabris played the Fauré Impromptu on the harp. For the final contribution, the Gothenburg academic chamber choir sang Summer Psalm among other songs. The day ended with a “mingle” reception, with food and music. What would you say to, for example, pesto grilled chicken, cheddar cheese pie and blackened salmon fillet?
When you look back, what made you decide to become a professor?
Uta Sailer, Professor of Psychology: “Human behaviour is one of the most important things one can study. So many different aspects are contained within the field, which is on the boundaries of medicine and biology. That I became a professor was certainly due to my husband’s support, but also partly because I had the privilege to work with so many knowledgeable and inspiring individuals.” .
Per-Anders Nilsson, Professor of Musical Performance and Interpretation, specialising in audio and media production: “I started listening to Jimi Hendrix when I was 13, so it was perhaps already then that my path toward becoming a professor began. But of course I wasn’t aware of the scientific community until much later. An older colleague encouraged me to start studying music and make better use of my interest, and after a series of events, I eventually I arrived at where I am at today.”
Staffan Larsson, Professor of Computational Linguistics: Pia Williams, Professor of Education: “During my studies, I have met many good models which continually made me desire to further pursue my studies. But the most fun was, and still is, all the contact with the children; it is the primary reason that I’ve become a professor.”
“After I successfully defended my dissertation and was awarded my doctorate, I ended up in a sort of a crisis. I was completely worn out, and in addition I didn’t know what I wanted to do. But then I obtained a postdoctoral position for a four years period that gave me the time and space to think of new ideas. It was a luxury that I would not begrudge others from obtaining, something which gave me a perspective on life and desire to continue researching.”
— next issue in september —