Outreach, one of the University’s most important tasks.

Outreach should be meritorious

The University of Gothenburg is an enormous collective problemsolving organisation that contributes to development throughout our entire society. And yet, outreach brings little merit in academic circles. I am hoping to change that, explains Torbjörn Lundh. He is Professor of Biomathematics and the new Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Outreach and Utilization.

OUTREACH, OR THIRD-stream activities as it was formerly known, is often emphasized as something in which the university should invest more effort. But what is outreach, really? – I have just stepped down as the First Assistant Dean for Outreach at the Faculty of Science, and that was a matter that occupied me significantly initially. Uppsala University has a tripartite definition that I have taken to heart: outreach is about collaboration and utilization as well as information dissemination and exchange with wider society. These parts can then be specified further: information dissemination may be about popular science, participation in public discourse, school visits and so on.

However, many people find the term “utilization” a sensitive term. Research is supposed to be free, and not serve someone else’s interests. – A Mathematician’s Apology is the title of an essay from 1940 in which the British mathematician Godfrey Harold Hardy points to the beauty of number theory, a branch of mathematics that he argued only exists for its own sake, without providing benefit or inflicting harm. But number theory was the foundation for cryptography which, as computers have become ever more common, has turned into a very heated topic. The example tells us that it is difficult to determine what may become useful in the future, which of course is an argument in favour of the free search for knowledge. Anyone who dislikes “utilization” is free to come up with a different term, what is important is what we do, not what we call it.

TORBJÖRN LUNDH HAS contributed to utilization himself, such as by working with a vascular surgeon and a textile engineer to create a special bandage that is easy to apply using precisely the right pressure. – I had no idea there were problems applying pressure bandages, which is something that we have been doing for thousands of years, until I met with the vascular surgeon. So the collaboration led to new insights as well as to a new product.

Torbjörn Lundh’s field, biomathematics, operates in the boundary between chemistry, physics, medicine and computer science, in addition to mathematics and biology. Meeting with several different researchers has made him think about how to facilitate mutual understanding.

The example tells us that it is difficult to determine what may become useful in the future, which of course is an argument in favour of the free search for knowledge.

TORBJÖRN LUNDH – A FEW YEARS AGO a colleague of mine from Chalmers, Philip Gerlee, and I published the book Scientific Models. In it, we try to unravel what different researchers mean when they say that they use a model. Is it about a simpler representation of reality, a way of explaining a mathematical relationship, or an actual plastic structure depicting molecules? Difficulties in working together may arise from the fact

Torbjörn Lundh

Currently: New Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Outreach and Utilization. Background: Professor of Biomathematics, defended his thesis in 1996 at Uppsala University: Kleinian groups and thin sets at the boundary with a popular science summary called Dansande krabbor och fartyg på drift (Dancing Crabs and Ships Adrift). Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge and SUNY, Stony Brook, New York. 2015–2016 Visiting professor at Stanford University Hospital, California. 2018–2021 Vice Dean for Outreach, Innovation and Internationalisation at the Faculty of Science. Family: Wife and two adult children. Lives in: Billdal. Hobbies: Playing the trombone in Möbiusbandet (the Moebius Band), motorcycles, sailing and squash.

that we do not fully realise that we use the same word to mean different things. Whether you are collaborating within or outside the university it may thus be helpful if you imagine that you are visiting a different country: If you go to Japan, you know that you have to try to understand the rules and codes of conduct that apply there.

THE UNIVERSITY OF Gothenburg is a university with a broad scope that has tremendous potential for outreach, Torbjörn Lundh points out. – We have Jonsered Manor, the Science Festival, After work at Pustervik, researchers writing op-ed articles, conducting inquiries and working closely with industry. In the same way that you can go to a conference to get new insights, a collaboration with Astra Zeneca or with a school can lead to interesting meetings and unexpected questions. Research, education and outreach are all activities that enrich each other.

Outreach is both an obligation and an opportunity, says Torbjörn Lundh. – Outreach also makes the university more visible in our society and may lead to our getting a bigger piece of the pie in terms of research and education. Just as with all other important activities, outreach must be meritorious and I see that as something important to invest in.

– Research, education and outreach all enrich each other, and all activities must be meritorious, argues Deputy Vice-Chancellor Torbjörn Lundh.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg