NO 4 | SUMMER 2015
With a foot in two worlds Åke Ingerman is the physicist who switched paths STRONG DECLINE
A WORM SAFARI
THIS IS THE FUTURE
Difficult for distance learning courses
The vibrant life underground
Robots will be your colleagues
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Vice Chancellor
The bright future is ours T H E AC A D E M I C Y E A R is coming to an end, and one flatbed lorry after the other loaded with joyously whistling and yelling future students passes by the main university building in Vasaparken. At the same time, graduation ceremonies are underway inside our beautiful auditorium where parents and other loved ones have come to celebrate with and congratulate our current students on their big day. I hope everyone can look forward to a bright future. The future labour market for highly educated individuals is often portrayed negatively in the public debate. An increasingly common picture, that unfortunately many have embraced, is that institutions of higher education do not adapt their educational programmes to the labour market and the needs for the future, that there is what is referred to as a matching problem. However, it has been found that the factual basis for such claims often have large flaws, and this among other things is shown in a report by Daniel Berlin at our Grants and Innovation office. What we do know is that unemployment is significantly lower among individuals with higher education degree and they often change job tasks and professional roles during their working life.
obtain an academic degree provides one with subject knowledge, but it also trains the ability to think creatively and analytically, and encourages a critical approach. It is with these skills, that are essential to meet the changes that society is undergoing at an increasingly rapid pace, which our students will take with them and which will assist them in promoting the T H E PRO C E S S TO
PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG
development of society in both the private and public sectors. There is a lot of talk today about the need for innovation and that innovative environments require various different skills to be productive. In order to establish such environments, employers must, to a much greater extent than today, be open to this when seeking new employees. The discussion about this “mismatch” on the Swedish labour market is in my eyes, inhibitory. This risks leading to a situation where it becomes the politicians who determine which educational programmes should be available at the universities and colleges, instead of showing confidence in us to develop the course offerings and educational programmes on our own. My hope is that the national government will fulfil its pledged intention to give us more freedom, and not earmark student slots. I also hope that higher education will be a goal for many of the young people who are leaving gymnasium today, irrespective of their particular background. The Government has signalled the importance of widening participation and the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) has requested information about how we are working with this complex issue. This is a major and challenging area, but what must remain fundamental is that higher education is for everyone with the motivation and ability. A N OT H E R I S S U E on the Cabinet’s table on internationalisation, and here it is about far more than simply the number of incoming and the number of outgoing students. What I see from my perspective is that we essentially need to encourage our students to travel out of the country in order to obtain the experience that studying abroad can provide. It is equally important that we increase our appeal when it comes to attracting international students to study with us; this applies both European and non-European students. The latter group has declined dramatically since the introduction of student tuition fees and I really hope that the signals concerning general student tuition fees are not proceeded with. Education should, as I have expressed many times before, be available to all and this is important both for the individual as well as for the society as a whole. And finally for now, I want to thank all of you for your good work during the academic year. Now we will recharge our batteries and we will see each other again when summer comes to an end. As then new and exciting challenges awaits.
A MAGAZINE FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF GOTHENBURG
Summer 2015 E D I TO R - I N C H I E F A N D P U B L I S H E R
Allan Eriksson 031 - 786 10 21 allan.eriksson@gu.se E D I TO R A N D V I C 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 I C 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 Phillips , Semantix ADDRESS
GU Journal University of Gothenburg Box 100, 405 30 Gothenburg E-MAIL
gu-journalen@gu.se INTERNET
www.gu-journalen.gu.se ISSUES
7 issues per year The next issue will come out in September 2015 DEADLINE FOR MANUSCRIPTS
August 31, 2015 M AT E R I A L
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
Åke Ingerman, Professor in Pedagogics Photo: Johan Wingborg
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Contents
GUJOURNAL 4 | 2015
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Prioritises family Åke Ingerman, new Dean of the Faculty of Education. THE VICE CHANCELLOR’S MESSAGE
2 An overly negative picture of the future labour market. NYHETER
4 Universities cut down on distance education. 6 An infusion of 3 million kronor can rescue courses from being discontinued. 7 The Deputy Vice-Chancellor welcomes the Government’s plan for taking a long-term view. REPORT 8 On a worm safari with Christer Erséus. PROFILE
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10 Ake Ingerman, new dean of educators,
wants to strengthen research. AT THE END 13 We face an explosive development of computerisation, asserts Dean Jan Smith.
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14 46 professors were celebrated with pomp and circumstance.
Expedition to the Gothenburg Botanical Garden GU Journal goes underground.
Among academic world’s giants Per Karlsson likens the professor at a majestic oak.
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The Editors: Protect the independent courses! T H I S I S S U E O F G U Journal contains four debate contributions and a letter from a reader. We are very happy for these, as debate is what not only keeps a newspaper alive, but also promotes a good working climate. One contribution is about employment at the Faculty of Arts, where employees are placed in a locked-in position without the terms of the locked-in status being met and where therefore positions have not been announced. According to Helge Malmgren, this is not about some isolated cases of negligence on the part of somebody, but rather seems to be a culture where employment laws have been disregarded or
even infringed, something which is contrary to the University’s standards of objectivity. A N OT H E R LE T T E R TO the editor takes up the problem of a hollowed out education grant where the administration and other support takes more and more of the funds. Those who end up paying the price are the students, who have less and less of the teachers’ precious time. A further letter raises the issue of the difficulties in finding seminars and other activities at the University of Gothenburg. In this issue, we write about independent courses, the availability of
which has declined sharply in recent years, and which in turn has negatively affected distance learning education severely in general. In the past, there were many more courses at quarter speed to choose from. It is an unsettling development as the needs of continuing education and skills development has never been greater than now. Nevertheless there are positive examples out there, such as what the Faculty of Science has done with an investment in formation courses that require only basic prerequisites. The basic problem is that the economic system penalises courses that often have a somewhat poorer com-
pletion rate. One solution might be to offer other forms of testing or to invest in innovative renewed pedagogy: an advanced course in history is an excellent example. It is probably difficult to change the state allocation system but a hefty increase in the price tags could reverse the trend. AT T H E SA M E TI M E , we are facing new global challenges, where the range of courses offered without charge is increasing. What the university can compete with is quality and a high level of interactivity between teachers and students. This is something we must promote, and hold on to.
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News
Major challenges for distance learning courses the departments are free to control what educational programme they want, but the requirement is that it works out financially.” One reason for the decline may be, according to Åsa Wengelin, that in recent years the number of student slots at the Faculty has been reduced by about 500.
For many years, they increased sharply, with the support of the national government, but when universities began to have financial problems, distance learning often drew the short straw. So what does the future hold for them? At GU, one speaks rather of an investment in an online component and renewed pedagogy. B E N GT PE T E R S S O N , Director of the Pedagogical Development and Interactive Learning (PIL) unit, does not sound surprised when he hears the statistics. “The decline of distance learning education in the entire country is connected with the closure of many independent courses. But it is not just about throwing out a bunch of courses and programmes for distance learning, but rather that there has to be a well thought out plan. The courses that work well are most likely to have a high quality, a good pedagogical approach, and a high level of interactivity. Correspondence courses that were common in earlier times have most likely seen their day.” That distance learning in general has significantly increased is due in part to the fact that online courses at the University of Gothenburg received an additional grant of SEK 10 million (over a period of three years), with no requirement for an accounting. This support was discontinued in 2008. “When we handed out the last pennies from the account, one saw the gloomy faces of the humanities researchers,” remembers Bengt Petersson. D U R I N G T H E cutback years 2011-2013, it was primarily courses within both the humanities and the social sciences that were removed from the offerings, which negatively affected the distance learning programmes. Mette Sandoff, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Education, believes that distance learning is not something that GU is focusing on. “Instead, we encourage the development
of ‘blended learning,’ i.e. a combination of online web-based features and classroom lectures with on-campus personal interactions between teachers and students. Here, we have also initiated a GU common infrastructure investment, as well as distributing funds for the development of such educational efforts.” SY LVA FR I S K , Vice Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, points out that distance learning courses generally work better when they are addressed to more experienced students who already have a bachelor’s degree in hand. They are ordinarily less suitable for young, less experienced students. “It may also be a good idea to invest in especially unique courses or programmes in a national or international context. We are planning, for example, to start a new interdisciplinary master’s programme directed towards EU officials who want to progress further with their education.” At the Faculty of Arts (with over 80 percent of its full-year student slots on individual courses) Asa Wengelin, Associate Dean for Education, thinks that the faculty management has not done an analysis of distance learning courses nor formulated a strategy specifically for the distance learning programme. “There are distance learning courses that work quite well. But it requires a sufficiently high interest and high quality. One concern with individual courses, which applies even more so for distance education, is that some students often seek individual courses in reserve for another. The basis is that
Bengt Petersson
Maria Cavallin Aijmer
“ W E H AV E H A D to make strategic priorities. From the Faculty’s side, it was important to invest in programmes that rest on a strong academic basis and are included in comprehensive environments. Therefore, for example, the supply of orientation courses has declined.” The full implementation of a distance learning with high quality typically costs more than a regular campus course, which can be difficult to reconcile with a humanistic price tag, in the opinion of Åsa Wengelin. “Our economic system does not favour courses with low completion. If there is a very low level of achievement, one has to question if the course is of sufficiently high quality.” How important is it to have a wide range of distance learning courses? “Neither more nor less important for us than for any other faculty. Educational innovations, this is something I believe in. We encourage more web elements in all our courses and programmes, but not necessarily more distance learning courses.” T H E D E PA R T M E N T of Historical Studies has a large range of distance learning courses to choose from: ancient history and classical studies, history and archaeology. Together with two other colleagues at the Faculty, Educational Programme Coordinator Maria Cavallin Aijmer received funds to develop courses with elements of blended learning. Last autumn, the distance learning C-course in history was designed. “Since then, it has worked very well and we have a good completion rates, even if the number of students are few.”
GUJOURNAL 4 | 2015
5
600
500
The number of distance courses at different universities
2010 2015
400
300
200
100
0
s y y t y y y e y y e e y y y e e y eg ersity lleg kövd Wes ersit titute olog ersit ersit olog ersity olleg olleg ersity ersit ersit ience ersit ersit ersit urg log no nb Coll n e iv chn iv l Sc v v v iv iv iv Ins C iv C iv iv Co of S i i i e h h g n n n n n n n n c n n n y y h c y y e U l t t t U U U U U l U U U it it U a ra o Te si si Te ing U eus Te n Co ers e r s s i ty of fG of tad nsk i ng of Lund niver niver eden rebro rtör cultu holm Umeå psala te e gri y o Univ nköp Univ niver ersity Karls aroli itute inköp Linna rsity k p u t w Ö U U d c i t U i S s ö o K n ö t e U L S of A st iv d ad er Jö St rna lm ale Ins niv Mi Un nst e In Univ Dala Ma älard yal åU s i ty tia ng i o r e s l i k e R r M iv K Lu Ble Un ish d e Sw In the past five years, distance education courses have declined by 24 percent over the country as a whole. At the University of Gothenburg, the decrease is 37 percent. GU Journal has obtained the information from the Swedish Council for Higher Education’s statistical system, which means that it may differ from the information obtained from antagning.se.
Maria Cavallin Aijmer thinks that blended learning is particularly suitable for distance learning. “The students have received tasks and literature to read in advance in order to prepare themselves. We have regular web seminars around various topics and themes. For both the students and teachers, it’s been a great deal of fun having a so clearly student-centered learning process.” ACCO R D I N G TO H E R , one of the reasons that the course has become so successful is the combination of seminars and online discussions along with independent work. “In addition the teaching team is closely knit and takes a shared responsibility. The courses have a clear structure and welldefined tasks. By examining several smaller subsections of the course, it has been easy for the students to see what they have done and what still remains to be done. We have also recorded mini-lectures of about 10 minutes that we have posted. We have additionally put a lot of time into appointing academic advisors sufficiently in advance for the students’ essay writing.”
One lesson learned is to spend a lot of time developing the courses. “This means one has to think through the arrangement very carefully and be prepared to revise it over time. I believe it’s important to have a long-term perspective and take a comprehensive approach. The idea now is to build upon this model and elements of blended learning for our regular courses at the undergraduate and graduate level on campus, and our distance learning courses.” Bengt Petersson says that it is not a coincidence that educational institutions with a wide range of distance learning courses also have a well thought out strategy. This is something that the University of Gothenburg lacks. “For Umeå University, this has been a factor for their success, but the University of Gothenburg has not invested in it. Most likely, this is because Gothenburg is such an attractive city for students to live in.”
ALLAN ERIKSSON
DI STANC E LE ARNING EDUC ATION IN SWEDEN What distinguishes a distance learning course is that it is independent of time and place. It may be entirely online with no meetings in person, or an educational opportunity that is essentially online but consists of some on-campus meetings. In Sweden, the opportunities for distance education were sharply expanded in the early 2000s, which was supported by the then government in power which coordinated IT-support for virtual distance education under the name Swedish Net University. At the time, there were only 18,000 students who studied at a distance, just under 10 percent. During the following years, the interest in distance learning courses exploded to reach its peak in 2010. In autumn of 2011, there were about 65,000 students who studied at a distance (18 percent). Over the past five years, the number of distance learning courses has declined by 24 percent over the country as a whole. This coincides with the fact that in or-
der to save money, many institutions of higher education ceased offering many individual courses and instead invested in educational programmes. One reason is that the completion rates are lower in distance learning courses. For a course with face-to-face meetings, the completion rate is 78 percent, for an entirely online course, it is between 46-65 percent. The institutions of higher education that invest the most in distance learning are: Linnæus University, Umeå University, Uppsala University, Dalarna University and Mid Sweden University. Source: Swedish National Agency for Higher Education Report 2011:2: A survey of distance education activities at universities and other institutions of higher education.
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Three millions to promote independent courses
ACCO R D I N G TO Mette Sandoff, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chair of the Board of Education, this investment was made to slow the downsizing of courses. “We have seen that the use of individual courses goes down as program courses are prioritised. This is not consistent with our Vision; we want both to co-exist. There are many reasons why we want to maintain a level of individual courses: one is so that students will be able to round out their education, another one is so that the student can combine studies and work.” Last year, as this year, an extra investment of SEK 3 million was made in independent courses, something that emphasises our being “particularly interested in continuing education and inservice training.” The funds are taken from the carried forward capital at the management board level and are allocated all faculties, where each one received substantially a similar amount. The faculties themselves choose which courses (maximum of 10) will receive extra support. “ IT ’ S N OT R E A LLY a lot of money, but it should be seen rather as a stimulus plus it has a symbolic value. Nevertheless for courses which today are at the margin, it may be of great significance. Independent courses generally have lower completion rates and in times of cutbacks or changing priorities, it is usually these courses that need extra support. We trust that the faculties will choose the courses that are having difficulties in supporting themselves.” The concept behind the initiative is to provide special support for courses that are considered to be particularly important for continuing education and in-service training. But what it means in practice can vary quite a bit,
PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG
GU continues to invest in independent courses. The hope is to rescue courses under threat of closure. Over the past five years, the number of independent courses at GU has declined by 24 percent.
3 million kronor is not very much, but should be seen as a stimulus, says Mette Sandoff.
depending upon the subject matter and the profession. But these assessments are for the faculties to do, considers Mette Sandoff. support for existing courses, not for new courses. At the same time, we fully understand that 3 million kronor distributed among all faculties won’t really be much money in the end.” For example, the Faculty of Science received 317,000 kronor, which was allocated between ten courses. It is also the only faculty that is investing heavily in developing courses with a clear focus on scientific education. In preparation for 2015, 120 full-time programme slots for students have been allocated. “We want to spread a wide educational perspective to students, teachers and the general public. The education must be grounded in the department’s educational strategies and tie in with the research,” in the view of Marie Strandvall, who is the Faculty’s Undergraduate Teaching Coordinator. The Faculty will also invest in courses for practicing teachers. Marie Strandvall thinks that the courses are in great demand and
“ T H I S I S PROV I D I N G
»We have seen that the use of individual courses goes down.« METTE SANDOFF will attract students of all ages and categories. Mette Sandoff stresses that the small steps should be seen in light of that the Board of Education and Committee for Doctoral Education has a limited mandate and has no mandate to reallocate student slots. “ I N T H E B E ST of worlds, the Board should not have to steer so much. But it can be an engine and help to place important issues on the agenda and try to look ahead into the future. This autumn, the Board of Education and the Finance Unit will begin to work on more long-term planning for how carried-forward capital can be used in a reasonable manner, according to a new directive from the Vice Chancellor. In future we will hopefully make greater investments to strengthen our educational programmes.”
ALLAN ERIKSSON
FACTS: FROM A COU RSE U NIVERSIT Y TO A PROG R AM U NIVERSIT Y New statistics GU Journal has obtained confirms the picture that individual independent courses are decreasing. In 2010, the number of independent courses was 1,426. Five years later, the number is down to just over 1,000. The proportion of independent courses at GU has decreased from 54 to 44 percent. The trend is clear across the entire country. Over the past ten years, an increasing number of students are studying for professional degrees and general programmes, and fewer choose independent courses. The priority of the programme has negatively impacted the independent courses, especially distance learning. In addition, the national allocation model disadvantages independent courses, which often have a lower completion rate. GU has traditionally been characterised as a course university, but in recent years, programmes with a focus on the degree have increasingly taken over the offerings. In the Vision, the importance of maintaining a balance is emphasised: “Degree programmes and independent courses should complement each other in the University’s offerings of educational opportunities.”
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Long-term bill underway BY 2 N OV E M B E R at the latest, the universities and other institutions of higher education are to have submitted their views to the Ministry of Education and Research. At the University of Gothenburg, the faculties and departments have until the beginning of September in which to submit proposals on the content of the government bill. “It is to be about principle viewpoints and particular things that we consider to be especially urgent. We will build upon Vision 2020, which is of course our established approach. A couple of the areas of concern which the
cohesive research and educational system. “The government bill will have a ten-year perspective, which means that it needs to be broadly anchored. The Swedish model, with a large proportion of external funding, it is otherwise quite short term, which, among other things, affects the ability to make major investments. If research funds are at research groups with three-year grants, the possibilities to invest in expensive infrastructure is not so great.” The Association of Swedish Higher Education (SUHF) has been expressing a desire for
»The government bill will have a ten-year perspective, so it needs to be broadly anchored. The Swedish model, with a large proportion of external funding, is otherwise quite short term, which, among other things, affects the ability to make major investments.« STAFFAN EDÉN
University of Gothenburg especially cares about and may want to highlight might be, for example, a national coordination of the marine area and the commitments surrounding the tolerance project that the Cabinet recently decided upon,” explains Staffan Edén, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research Affairs. H E LE N E H E LLM A R K K N U T S S O N , Minister of Higher Education and Research, has already explained what the national government wants to prioritise. It is increased basic grants, reduction of inequalities and greater gender equality, and widening participation in general. The life sciences are also regarded as important, as is a
PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG
In autumn 2016, a government bill concerning a new research policy will be launched. The country’s universities and colleges are among those who will be involved including the content. Deputy Vice-Chancellor Staffan Edén is largely favourable to the government’s plan in terms of a long-term perspective. But he calls for a clearer statement about increased basic grants.
an overall allocation for both research and the educational programme for a long period of time. universities and other institutions of higher education better possibilities to have an effective control over the funds and thus also provide better employment conditions,” says Staffan Edén. ”An employee could, for example, work with education at 20 percent, with the society cooperation at 30 percent, and the rest of the time with research. The employee can thus show solidarity with the university as a whole, and the educational institution’s autonomy increases. Finland has recently introduced such a system “ IT WO U LD G I V E
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Staffan Edén points out that it is important to clearly prioritise the University’s key viewpoints.
and the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland also have an allocation system that works better than the Swedish. However, I am doubtful as to whether the government would take a positive view to such an overall allocation; they already worry enough that the educational institutions might then reduce the efforts and investments in the educational programme.” S U H F H A S A L S O stressed the importance of diversity, that not all educational institutions need to do the exactly the same thing. The Association is also critical of the so-called productivity deduction, i.e. that government agencies should not fully count on price and wage increases as they are expected to tighten up their finances. Staffan Edén is now hoping to receive some interesting perspectives and proposals from the faculties and departments. These
will then be further worked on by the university management and the University Management Council during the month of October. “We will of course try to prepare a proposal that is in harmony with SUHF and the contents from other educational institutions.” I N O C TO B E R , the national research councils will be submitting their comments. And the Ministry of Education and Research wants to have the answers from the institutions of higher education no later than November 2. According to Staffan Edén, “therefore we should then clearly prioritise the most important viewpoints and comments, from both a national and from a local perspective.”
ALLAN ERIKSSON & EVA LUNDGREN
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Report
Worms in the Animal Kingdom On a radiantly beautiful day in May, GU Journal sets off to the Botanical Garden to search for a rare species found only here in Sweden. But it is not a rare plant we are talking about. Instead we begin, along with zoologist Christer Erséus, to dig into the earth in search of a very special kind of animal – worms. LR E A DY T H E FI R ST spade of soil proves successful. Red threads wind around the excavated clump of earth and Christer Erséus, Professor of Zoology, lights up. “There it is! Haplotaxis gordioides, a small thin species which on the entire Scandinavian peninsula is only known from Vitsippsdalen in the Botanical Garden. Ordinarily it lives in Central Europe, in soil with exuding groundwater.” Christer Erséus takes out a plastic bottle with water in it and gently pushes down his find. “The worm belongs to the annelids group, also known as the ringed worms or
segmented worms. The first time I detected them in the Botanical Garden was in 2005, and how it is that that they found their way here one can only guess at. They may of course have followed along with other plants that came to the garden, but the species is not known to be spread by humans. It is red because it has plenty of the colorant haemoglobin, which is an adaptation to an oxygen deficient environment.” T H E C LU M P O F soil lump is found to contain an additional uncommon species. “An earthworm of the Helodrilus oculatus species; I have only found this at four places in all of Sweden!” Christer Erséus is one of the world’s leading experts on clitellata, which belong to the ringworm family, where ordinary earthworms, among others, belong. Of the world’s approximately 6,000 species of clitellata, he has classified and named about 10 percent. His expeditions searching for worms have gone to the all corners of the globe, from the Caribbean to Australia. But right now he is committed to a task closer to home: the Swedish and Norwegian species projects, which has led to countless trips throughout Sweden and Norway. But just how many different types of worm are there actually?
“Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of species! That all sounds a bit unbelievable, but the reason is that we use the word ‘worm’ for all long and thin animals that lack a vertebral column.” T H E A N I M A L K I N G D O M is usually divided into 35 main groups who all developed during the Cambrian geological period of half a billion years ago. Chordates is the group all vertebrates belong to, including humans, but also, for instance, birds and fish. “Every major group of animals has its own particular anatomy,” explains Christer Erséus. “We may think that humans and fish, for example, are not particularly similar, but the internal organs, such as the liver and spleen, work in a similar manner. And mammalian lungs are actually a development of diverticulosis in many fish, which have become swim bladders. Moreover, it is only among Chordates animals that there are the lungs, other animals get oxygen by other means.” For example, insects have a tube system that takes in air. Other animals, such as worms, take up oxygen directly from the water and therefore live where it is wet or damp. “ I N O R D E R TO explore how the spine arose once upon a time, among other things researchers have studied the lancet fish, which is not really a fish. The animal is a flexible rod and they have been around since our lumbar spine began to develop slightly more than 450 million years ago. The spine is the secret of the vertebrate’s domination, for without them, really big
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»There are also microscopically small worms that live between grains of sand that do not even have to dig.« animals, like whales and dinosaurs, could never have evolved.” One would think that Chordates animals are the largest group within the Animal Kingdom. But in fact, that is not the case at all, explains Christer Erséus. “In terms of species, the largest group are the arthropods where the spiders and insects belong. But at least half of the 35 major groups consist of worm-shaped small animals; genetically thus the variation between worms is significantly greater than the difference between man and fish.” That there are so many different kinds of worms is due to the simple fact that the worm’s life is quite practical. Why evolve further when one can get by just fine with crawling around and digging paths? “There are also microscopically small worms that live between grains of sand that do not even have to dig to get the moisture and oxygen they need.”
Above: A small Helodrilus oculatus. The two pictures below: Haplotaxis gordioides, in Sweden just known from the Botanical garden.
PR E V I O U S LY IT WA S thought that clitellata only existed in soil. But one of Christer Erséus contributions to the research is to show that some of their families also can also be found in the ocean. “All worms are actually marine animals, and soil normally of course contains an amount of water. In Sweden there are about 50 species of earthworms. Added to this is perhaps another 400 species of clitellata. The majority of these are small and are not counted among the earthworms, and this also includes the leech group with about 20 species. But just how many clitellata there are in the world generally, we simply do not know. Some years ago, I sent an intern to a workshop in South Africa and he took home with him a couple of hundred clitellata. It turned out that in just ten days he found 25 new species, and all were from the ocean!” Today, species determination can be made using the DNA bar coding, explains Christer Erséus.
WORM FACTS A marine species of the group slime worms can become over 50 metres long, and thus is probably the longest animal in the world! These bootlace worms are called Lineus longissimus, and are also known by the name Giant Ribbon Worm. They are usually thin like a standard electrical wire and commonly live on the seabed or nearby a tidal beach. You can have ten or more species of worms in your normal-sized garden. Some of the most common are the large earthworm, large or small Epigeic earthworms (leaf worms), grey earthworms/ field earthworms, long earthworms, pink earthworms, green earthworm and compost earthworm. In the Gothenburg area, we have good presence of blue earthworms, which can often be seen crawling on the asphalt when it rains.
“One investigates a gene that is found in the mitochondria, the cell’s power stations. The gene is sequenced so as to have a pattern similar to the bar code (that one see on items in the store). If the variation between individuals of clitellata exceeds 10 percent, it is almost always considered a different species. But the variation within species can thus be quite large. Worms in Europe, which because of the ice ages and other factors have been separated for hundreds of thousands of years, may have developed considerable differences in bar coding genes, however may nevertheless be the same species. Man, who is a very young species, has almost no variation at all in this gene.” E A R T H WO R M S A R E beneficial animals that eat bacteria and fungal cells, and loosen the soil. “But there are of course other, more unpleasant worms. Among flat worms, a giant group, about half are parasites, including the tapeworm.” Even though worm family, for the most part, seem to be rather tranquil animals, sometimes the strangest worm’s news spread. For example, a biology teacher in Norway recently found thousands of earthworms in the snow, which seemed to have fallen from the sky. “A similar phenomenon, where in southern Sweden worms are alleged to have been raining down, is described back in 1925. We do not know exactly what it may be due to, but most likely the worms have been spread with the blowing wind.” When Christer Erséus is out in forests and fields, he finds it hard to resist crawling down on his hands and knees and exploring how life is going for the worms in any ditch or watercourse. So as we continue along the creek in Vitsippsdalen he’s constantly looking for new places to dig. A N D T H E R E , O N a decomposed tree trunk that has almost crumbled to dust, he finds yet another of Sweden’s most rare earthworms, Little Tree Worm – Satchellius mammalis. Later he spots and picks up another worm that is almost entirely black. “Most likely it is an unusually dark Lumbricus terrestris, i.e. a large earthworm. But I don’t really recognise it, it could actually be a completely unknown species. So we will take it with us and analyse it in the lab.” In one year, Christer Erséus turns 65. “There is such an incredible amount that needs to be examined that I cannot possibly keep up with everything. But when I retire, I hope finally find the time to give my undivided attention to worms.”
TEXT: EVA LUNDGREN PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG
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The physicist who switched paths “I have never followed any specific career plan, but rather just done what I thought was fun,” explains Åke Ingerman. He has a PhD in physics, is a professor of didactics, and is soon to be Dean of the Faculty of Education. But he prefers not to work more than a 80 percent position. H E I S C U R R E N T LY
busy packing up after a five-month stay in Melbourne, where for the first time in many years he has been able to really concentrate on research. “The past few years have been hectic. With three young children, it was a real challenge for both me and my partner to organise our family and working lives. Both of us have worked part-time, and I picked up the children from school and preschool early, so that their days at school wouldn’t be too long. At the same time, it has been really busy at work. In 2011, I became a professor at the Department of Pedagogical, Curricular and Professional Studies where I found myself in the midst of a generational shift. Suddenly I was the only professor at an institution with approximately 75 employees. Despite several research grants, I almost never have concentrated time to be able to write focused.” T H E R E FO R E , the five months at the International Centre for Classroom Research, University of Melbourne, was something of a relief. “In January, we rented out the house in Örgryte and then off we went with the entire family. And it is really amazing how much the children have been able to learn in these months, not the least the nine year old who has become amazingly good at English. Now we are home again and trying to get settled
in among the suitcases and cardboard boxes. But other things arise all the time: yesterday I played chess with our four year old, and then it was time for table tennis in the dining room with the older kids.” Åke Ingerman has also had the opportunity to compare Sweden with Australia. “You realise how awesome the Swedish preschool is in terms of the opportunity to play and from the children’s own perspective; it is not the same in other countries. The preschool also provides the children with social skills and confidence, something that for me, I didn’t obtain until much later in life.” Å K E I N G E R M A N namely grew up on a farm outside of Karlskrona with three siblings who were very much older. “In fact, I really had no contact with children of my own age until I started school, so it took some time before I learned to socialise with friends. Being a bit of an outsider has followed me throughout life. Often, I went to the library and found comfort in reading shelf after shelf of books, especially science fiction. Reading has continued to fascinate me, even if the books increasingly rarely make me forget time and space, like they did when I was little.” Otherwise, mathematics was a favourite interest of his as a child. “My brother, who was fifteen years older than me, would take over the farm, so that particular desire I never had. There is no academic tradition in my family but nevertheless it was a given that I would pursue studying for an advanced degree.” It was when he began his third year
of theoretical physics at Chalmers, and while moonlighting as an exercise tutor for students at lower levels, that he became interested in pedagogics and teaching. “When I finished with my studies, I really didn’t know for certain what I wanted to do. But I came in contact with a doctoral student who was curious about didactics and suddenly I had decided to write a dissertation that dealt with both physics and about what it means to be a physicist.” Even as a doctoral student Åke Ingerman was therefore a little bit on the outside; no one really understood what he was engaged with. In 2002 he finished his doctorate at Chalmers with a dissertation that had a connection to the science of education. “Physics and pedagogy are of course quite different research areas. Within the field of physics, there is a disciplinary unity, there is agreement about what should be regarded as an answer; if something can be mathematically proven, it is accepted as a strong argument. Meanwhile, it is complex, even physicists are working in a tradition and must obtain their results consistent with established knowledge.” S O C I A L S C I E N C E R E S E A RC H is more malleable and to craft a well-written text is a part of the research itself. Even though social sciences research may include statistics, it hardly involves a large amount of uniform particles, but rather more often is about some people, who thus also are actors on the same level as the researcher himself and who behave in a non-predictable way. After obtaining his PhD, Åke Ingerman received a postdoctoral research position
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in Cape Town, funded by STINT. He moved there with his partner and stayed for a year and a half. “Both research and teaching are by their nature inherently teamwork. In Cape Town, it was however more about individual achievements because there is so little of organisation and support structures there. The stay in South Africa was very rewarding but also difficult, so when we came back home we had our fill of stays abroad.” After a short time in Luleå, Åke Ingerman obtained a research fellowship position at Chalmers. for 100 percent of all externally funded research within educational sciences there! After a couple of years, I moved to what was then called the IT University, and in 2007, I ended up at GU as a lecturer in engineering and physics didactics. Here, I have sat on the Faculty Board and the Academic Appointments Board, and additionally have run various different projects.” Among other things, he started the first major technology didactics project for teachers in Sweden. Throughout the entire Western world, interest in mathematics, science and engineering in schools has declined sharply, remarks Åke Ingerman. “There are several exclusion mechanisms within these particular subjects, including the notion that one is born with talent in mathematics and engineering, a notion which is not really conducive to a broader interest. At the same time, the community as a whole invests heavily to stimulate curiosity in the natural sciences, for example by various science centres.” The situation is certainly not helped by the fact that natural science teacher training
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has found it so difficult to recruit students; in the entire country, certain specialisations have only a few dozen applicants. “O F T E N , T E AC H E R S do not have the time for meetings with pupils where knowledge is shared on a deep level, to the extent they can see what learning opportunities each pupil has. But I am an optimist in terms of the school; there is a tremendous amount of energy and skills in many places.” Those who have obtained a degree in physics or mathematics have received a tremendous training in structured thinking, emphasises Åke Ingerman. “I have been largely perceived as a rather analytical person. When I meet new people who explain something, I find it easy to pick out the patterns that they might be groping for.” That capacity, as well as the fact that over the years he got to know not only a lot of people at Chalmers and the Faculty of Science but also social scientists and those involved in the humanities, will probably come in handy when on the first of July he takes up his new role as Dean of the Faculty of Education.
has been extremely successful, for example we received one third of all research grants that the Swedish Research Council’s Committee for Educational Sciences handed out last fall. Nevertheless, the Faculty skewed the balanced with too great an educational volume.” This gives rise to problems in regards the supply of skills and expertise, especially as so many are coming in late in research activities after having first worked for many years. Now, with the expansion of teacher training programmes, which will probably lead to even more educational responsibi“O U R R E S E A RC H
ÅKE INGERMAN CURRENTLY: From 1 July, Dean of the Faculty of Education. Works as a Professor of the theory of teaching, with a specialisation in science and technology. FAMILY: Partner Mia and three children: ages 9, 6 and 4. RESIDES: In Örgryte. AGE: 41 years old INTERESTS: Dancing, curling, golf, and literature. L AST BOOK READ: The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas. L AST MOVIE SEEN: Moulin Rouge. FAVOURITE COFFEE: Cortado at da Matteo.
lity, it becomes all the more important to reinforce research. Approximately 75 percent of the faculty’s educational mandate comes from the Board of Teacher Education. “The mandate goes directly to the departments, which creates a certain shakiness. We want to create a faculty where research and education are interconnected and do not slide apart, so it is something we have to work with. Another important area is internationalisation, something which is not so easy considering that our education and research primarily deals with the situation in Sweden. At the Faculty of Education there is also an incredibly strong commitment to the community at large, and this is something that must be taken advantage of. ACCO R D I N G TO Åke Ingerman, the hardest part of the responsibility of being Dean is to deprioritise things that are also important. “There are many things that end up on a Dean’s desk and each and every one is important, each in its own way. At the same time it is important to not get caught as the donkey between two piles of hay without actually accomplishing a few things.” For Åke Ingerman, it has always been easy to prioritise among the major responsibilities in life: first the family, then work, and last but not least personal interests. “I have worked part-time in various ways for nine years now and only now, when the young children period is over, it feels like it might be time for other things as well. I have many interests, including jitterbug, tango and salsa, as well as golf and curling, and playing the trumpet, and reading of course, if I’ll ever get time for it …”
TEXT: EVA LUNDGREN PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG
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The robots take over our everyday chores
IT WA S I N 2 0 1 3 that a couple of researchers at Oxford University made big headlines by calculating that 47 percent of all jobs in the US will be computerised within the following 10 years. “Probably Sweden will suffer even more, as we have more industrial work here,” remarks Jan Smith, Dean of the IT Faculty, who participated in the Vision Seminar The labour market of the future, at the end of May. The reason is that developments in computer technology are accelerating at a faster pace. “Ever since the Internet became widely available some 15-20 years ago, the development has exploded; ordinary smart phones, for instance, perform things that just 10 years ago was considered almost impossible. And when an evaluation of selfdriving cars was in made 2004, among other hesitations it was said that braking in the left turn was so complicated that the development of such things must lie very far into the future. But today we are already there; the latest Volvo, the XC90, brakes automatically when encountering that one is turning left.” I N T H E U N IT E D STAT E S , each year
some 4,000 people die in road accidents involving trucks, due to human factors. “When we get vehicles that drive themselves and are much safer than the cars of today, the question is if human drivers will be allowed at all driving on our roads.” The reason for today’s explosive development in computer technology was described back
PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG
In the near future, the cars on our roads will be not only safer and more environmentally friendly, but also completely self-driving. Then would something as unpredictable as a human being be permitted to drive a car? That was one of many questions that Jan Smith brought up during a Vision Seminar at the end of May on the labour market of the future.
affected by the growth of computers, predicts Jan Smith. “We have already MOOC, lectures from top universities available globally, where anyone at all anywhere in the world can participate in. This development has only just commenced.” What then will the computers of the future not be able to manage with? care and social care, robots will certainly be able to help but I do not think they can substitute for human contact. Computers are not creative nor do they invent anything new, at least not yet.” Today’s society is based on people working, earning money, buying things and thus keeping the economy running. The transition to a different way of life is certainly going to be difficult, observes Jan Smith. “But what the future holds for us in a longer-term perspective, whether it will be lightness or darkness, we of course don’t know. Maybe we’ll go to mass unemployment and huge social problems. But it could also be the opposite; that we learn to use technology’s unlimited potential and end up creating a society that is much better than what we can even imagine today.”
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Jan Smith, Dean of the IT faculty, says that there is no doubt that our working life will be deeply affected by the development in computer technology.
in 1965, in what is known as Moore’s Law, that it takes place exponentially. “It’s like in the old tale about the man who invented the game of chess,” explains Jan Smith. “He wanted to get paid in grains of rice, and on each chess square, the number of grains would double compared with the previous square. In the beginning, the doubling didn’t seem so dangerous, but it soon picks up speed. Halfway through the chess board, he would have 50 tons of rice; and in the end, it would be up to a thousand times the entire global production of rice.” Many are worried about artificial intelligence, robots that are smarter than us. “But the immense developments we have seen in recent years are not due to Artificial Intelligence, but rather due to
»But what the future holds for us in a longer-term perspective, whether it will be lightness or darkness, we of course don’t know.« big data. In 2011, a computer won at Jeopardy – simply because it had instantaneous access to Wikipedia. Superficial knowledge, yes, but much broader than any human can have at their fingertips. In the future, one can imagine computers which replace physicians when it comes to the diagnosis of diseases; in an instant, they can of course consider all of the medical literature in their memory.” Also, university studies will be
EVA LUNDGREN VI SION SEMINARS The Vision Seminar, Framtidens Arbetsmarknad [The Labour Market of the Future] was held on May 29th. Participants included Jan Smith, Dean of the IT faculty, Magnus Henrekson, Director of the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), and Helena Lindholm Schulz, ProVice-Chancellor. The next Vision Seminar will be held on 23 September and will focus on quality assurance of the educational programme. Suggested reading: The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. www.stratresearch.se/documents/folder.pdf www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf
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Professors as majestic oaks It is a reliable sign of early summer, the new professors’ installation at the University of Gothenburg.
still don’t know why one gets such a common, banal, but troublesome ailment such as lower back pain. During her speech, Ingrid Elam from the Faculty of Fine Arts, dwelt on that in O N T H E 2 2 N D of May, it was time for the traditional installation of 46 new profes- literature, the Professor is a character portrayed as being strange and difsors, which was held in an elegant cereficult to understand: mony at the Gothenburg Concert Hall. “In the literary novel from the In her speech, among other observa1800s and a few decades onwards, a tions the Vice Chancellor commented Professor is a brilliant but malicious that with the new Cabinet, higher man. But there are also instances of education policy has received partial change of focus: “The Red-Green Coalition government is investing in the expansion of higher education and an increased quality. This has a good sound to it, but I hope that research funding is included in the expansion and that the increased investments for research in medicine, technology and the natural sciences will also be seen in the social sciences, humanities and the arts.” INGRID ELAM Helena Brisby, from the Sahlgrenska Academy, observed in her Faculty speech that for almost 50 years we have been able to travel to the moon, but we
»A Professor is a brilliant but malicious man.«
portrayals in a positive light.” Per Karlsson, Vice President of the University’s student unions, likens the Professor to a majestic oak – quite fitting, as 22 May is the International Day for Biological Diversity: “Firmly rooted in the earth, you have stretched yourself out of the academic soil, up to the peaks of the tree of knowledge – for today, you with your colleagues, constitute an academic giant, a majestic oak which looks
out over the landscape, a landscape that you yourself have taken an active part in its shaping.” The musical elements, provided by students from both the Academy of Music and Drama and the Göteborg Academic Chamber Choir, were much appreciated. TEXT: TORSTEN ARPI PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG
What does the title ‘professor’ mean to you, privately and professionally? Jonas Linderoth, Professor of Education: “I see it as recognition for games research. Games are a bit overlooked as a medium. I have often felt like the class clown with my research interests, so this is a sort of revenge. I’m a little teary-eyed however today, in that that my mother didn’t get the chance to be a part of this.”
Helena Brisby, Professor of Orthopaedics, specialising in lumbar spine surgery: “It is a proof that what one is doing has a particular significance. Possibly I will become a little more listened to, although I personally do not think that titles are so important in and of themselves. It is obviously great to become a professor; maybe it’s more fun than to actually take up the responsibilities.”
Karin Wagner, Professor of Art History and Visual Studies: “Art and Visual Culture Studies is a fairly minor but important subject given that so much of the culture is particularly based on images. There are not many professors in this subject as yet. That I became a professor means that I will become a spokesperson in a different way.”