INDEPENDENT STAFF MAGAZINE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG #5 NOVEMBER 2021
News
Teachers work for free News
Climate emissions your responsibility People
Utopian stories for the future
EVIL POWERS ANDREJ KOKKONEN STUDIES DICTATORSHIPS
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Gothenburg will halve emissions by 2030 T THE TIME OF WRITING, the COP26 climate summit will be in full swing in Glasgow, and the question is whether world leaders can agree to further advance their positions compared to the Paris Agreement in 2015. In the light of this global event, I see it as a step in the right direction that our university has decided to establish a carbon dioxide budget and very clear instructions to the entire organisation to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions in two stages – by 25 percent by 2024 and by 50 percent by 2030 (compared to 2019 levels). We know that it is critical to act and the measures that are now being taken are part of the work on the Climate Framework for Universities and Colleges. The measures and arrangements for the carbon dioxide budget have been extensively integrated within the university, and this model will give all areas of the organisation an opportunity to control the initiatives and adapt them to the prevailing conditions. ON A CRISP AUTUMN day in
October, we received a royal visit when the research vessel R/V Skagerak was inaugurated. It was a wonderful feeling to finally be able to show this ship and its potential to the outside world. Now
a journey of exciting research opportunities can begin. May happiness and prosperity follow you on the seven seas! October also saw the announcement of the good news that our university is one of the few universities to receive the highest rating when it comes to quality assurance in education. Among other things, the Swedish Higher Education Authority emphasized that we have a systematic focus on evaluation, a clear division of responsibilities and that the educational programmes are designed in a way that encourages students to be active. They have been reviewing all higher education institutions' systems for quality-assured education since 2018. In addition to extensive self-evaluation and documentation, the Swedish Higher Education Authority make site visits and obtain comments from students. A lot of work, at all levels, lies behind this excellent rating. For the second time this autumn, I can announce that the university alliance Eutopia has been expanded. Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania has now been included. As the tenth member, they complement and strengthen our alliance.
Vice-Chancellor EVA WIBERG
Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG
Editor-in-chief: Allan Eriksson, phone: 031–786 10 21, e-mail: allan.eriksson@gu.se Editor: Eva Lundgren, phone:031–786 10 81, e-mail: eva.lundgren@gu.se Photographer: Johan Wingborg, phone: 070–595 38 01, e-post: johan.wingborg@gu.se Layout: Anders Eurén, phone: 031–786 43 81, e-mail: anders.euren@gu.se Address: GU JOURNAL, University of Gothenburg Box 100, 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden E-mail: gu-journal@gu.se Internet: gu-journal.gu.se ISSN: 1402-9626 Translation: Språkservice Sverige AB The journal has a free and independent position, and is made according to journalistic principles.
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Contents
NEWS 04–13 04. Tired of unpaid overtime. 07. SEK 150 million in surplus. 08. New Deputy Vice-Chancellor with a lot on his plate. 10. Climate challenges are up to you! 12. Evacuation of library. 13. GU at the top among Swedish universities. PROFILE 14–17 14. The dangerous lives of dictators. PEOPLE 18–22 18. Utopian stories may change our future! 20. Economy as part of archaeology. 22. The Moment: Skagerack - the new resarch vessel.
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nen Pauli Korttei ty pu De w ne lor Vice-Chancel
Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG
Masthead
Actions speak louder than words T IS A FACT that colleges and
universities account for major climate emissions. According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, air travel by staff and students from higher education institutions in 2019 accounted for emissions of just over 45,000 tonnes, of which one tenth came from journeys that were shorter than 500 kilometres. The University of Gothenburg is one of 38 Swedish universities that have joined the Climate Framework, which entails halving carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. The team that worked with the Climate Framework at the University of Gothenburg initially proposed a climate transition, but it encountered resistance and now it is up to the organisation to achieve the goals instead. Student representative Elin Gunnarsson, who points out that actions speak louder than words, is critical of the fact that the University of Gothenburg has not set a more ambitious target. For example, Lund University has a much more challenging target, but it still remains to be seen if they succeed. In order to achieve the
goals, there must be a clear and effective means of control, but now the responsibility has been transferred to each faculty and department. But with freedom comes responsibility. It will probably be a delicate task to determine who gets to avail of air travel and who has the greatest need. In the original proposal, a levy of SEK 3,000 would have been imposed on flights to Stockholm. Unfortunately, however, it was removed. Even if it goes against the environmental policy, there is nothing to stop people from taking flights. What the pandemic has shown is that we can drastically reduce the number of flights within academia and that we have learned new ways of working. Travelling less is good for the environment, but can also have other positive effects. For example, a survey from the Gothenburg University Library showed that the number of publications last year was not particularly adversely affected. Perhaps less travel can give us more time for writing and reflection? Allan Eriksson & Eva Lundgren
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70 percent work overtime – only a few get paid Stress caused by all the new systems, digitalization, administration, grants and being constantly available to students. No wonder the paid working hours are insufficient for the country's university lecturers. But now, we have had enough of unpaid overtime, demands a new report from Sulf. Two lecturers at the University of Gothenburg point out that it is basically a nationwide problem that should be addressed. THE REPORT, Nu får det vara nog
– om det gränslösa, obetalda arbetet i akademin is based on the pandemic and how the country's university lecturers had to throw their course planning in the bin and deliver a new form of online teaching overnight. The results show that almost 70 percent of the lecturers worked more than their regular working hours and that the vast majority (77 percent) were not paid for it. Mats Persson, a lecturer at the Department of Law, says that although he was very tired during the pandemic, it was a state of emergency where as a citizen, you must contribute in whatever way you can.
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– Obviously, it is good that people are saying that they have had enough now, but we should have been saying that a long time ago. The major problem is that for a long time, we have gradually been asked to take on new duties, small things that are difficult to say no to. Ladok 3 is the latest example, where the reporting has passed from the administration to the lecturers. This does not mean that the administrative staff are sitting idle, they are suffering from the same problem. We have to start discussing what we should use our resources for because we are heading in the wrong direction, says Mats Persson who estimates that he works between 50 and 60 hours a week. KRISTINA ALSTAM, a lecturer at the Department of Social Work, also points out how increased administrative reporting requirements in line with increased digitalization have been foisted onto lecturers. – Teaching platforms, Ladok, plagiarism checks, booking rooms, personnel administration, research applications, individual study plans – everything is done in a different digital system for which you are responsible as a lecturer.
Teaching platforms, Ladok, plagiarism checks, booking rooms, personnel administration, research applications, individual study plans – everything is done in a different digital system for which you are responsible as a lecturer. ... KRISTINA ALSTAM
The email is also part of the digital problem, which she describes as a complete and utter black hole that occupies a large part of one's working day. – There is an expectation of accessibility from, above all, the students. It is easier to resort to email and ask the lecturer than to look in the learning platform where the information is available. There is also a collegial norm of trying to answer relatively quickly, as you do not want to have to let a colleague wait for an answer. MATS PERSSON also testifies to the fact that the attitude of the students has changed. – A minority, but still a sufficiently large number, want some form of individual treatment. And the answers to 90 percent of their questions can be found
in the course guide. This is a clear example of the question: what should we use our resources for? University management should clarify that students have an obligation to find out the information for themselves, and that lecturers should not have to answer such questions. HE DOES NOT want to say that
the students are worse than before, in general he thinks that they are more diligent and better at doing what they have been instructed to do. – But the next step is the very essence of what university studies should be about: How do we deal with a problem for which we do not have a solution? In this respect, they often have a difficult time. They prefer a manual. There are also a lot of stu-
dents, perhaps too many? – Even though you have a productivity deduction, a majority of the higher education institutions produce too many students, which means that you do not receive compensation for all of them. And it is clear that this will affect someone, first and foremost the lecturers, says Kristina Alstam. – We must also take care of students who need special support, for which we are not allocated extra time. There are a number of different aspects that affect the role of the lecturer. The reduction in the basic grants and the distribution of research funds via external grants, for which you apply in competition with others, are well-documented problems. According to Sulf's report, parliament and the government need to ensure that
We must also take care of students who need special support … KRISTINA ALSTAM
the higher education institutions are allocated sufficient funds so that researchers and lecturers are not “forced to work far more than their regular hours.” – IN ORDER TO BE allocated funds, well-thought-out applications are required, and it is really difficult to find the time required to do this. You often have to do it on Sunday evenings and at weekends. We are an academic institution, and we should and want to conduct research, which benefits the teaching, but the prevailing conditions for applying for funding, in a reasonable manner, are in short supply, says Kristina Alstam. Mats Persson says that he cannot assess which is the better way of making Swedish research more internationally competitive – to distribute research funds as
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basic grants or to have researchers apply for funds in competition with others. But as we have now chosen the latter, which shifts a significant part of the research resources to administrative activities, then you should have documentation that shows that your thesis is correct? At a seminar on Sulf's report, he asked that very question. – THE ANSWER I got was that
there is nothing to indicate that, in fact quite the opposite. So again, what do we want to use our resources for? What do we want researchers to do? As a member of staff, it is easy to direct your frustration upwards at management, but the problems are basically of a much greater structural nature, says Kristina Alstam. – The management team cannot swoop in with billowing capes and fix this, it is ultimately about the fact that since the 1990s a lot of funds have disap-
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peared from basic education. And they need to be restored. You can tweak the machinery and correct small system errors, but this is essentially a nationwide issue that we need to highlight.
Mats Persson loves his job but has too much to do.
“IT IS THE BEST JOB in the
world. The problem is that it's in hell.” The quote is an answer to the question: “Why do we complain so much when we are doing what we love?” Mats Persson, thinks that this anecdote that he heard from a colleague, albeit being somewhat exaggerated, really gets to the heart of the problem. – It explains why all employee surveys, despite all the complaints, show that people still enjoy their jobs. Basically, we love to teach and do research. The problem is that we have to do so many other things.
Text: Lars Nicklason Photo: Johan Wingborg
Basically, we love to teach and do research. MATS PERSSON
FACTS We have had enough – about the limitless, unpaid work in academia 89 percent of the members who answered the survey (a total of 4,099) worked full time in 2020. 68 percent of them worked more than their regular working hours. Every fourth person worked ten hours or more per week over and above their regular working hours. The main reasons for extra work: transitioning to online lecturing (70 percent), lecturing (63 percent) and administration (58 percent). 70 percent of women stated that they worked more than their regular working hours, compared with 63 percent of men. This could be due to the fact that women more frequently take greater responsibility for lecturing duties while men carry out research to a greater extent. 77 percent did not receive any reimbursement at all for their additional work. Only 5 percent of those surveyed were paid.
More surplus than expected Forecast for the year: SEK 150 million in surplus. That is 100 million more than expected and the main explanations are an increased educational mandate, increased grant revenue and lower costs. THIS YEAR, the University of Gothenburg
received just over 1,500 full-time study places from the government for initiatives to curb unemployment. It has not been a problem to put these into practice. The University of Gothenburg has even overproduced to a value of SEK 80 million. – A temporary overproduction will not have any major significance because you can save these places when there is a downturn, and thus even out variations over time. It is like having money in the bank, a kind of buffer, but it does not work forever, says CFO Peter Tellberg. Seven out of eight faculties are providing more education than they are currently being paid for. One of the faculties that has not achieved the goal is the Faculty of Education, which has an underproduction of SEK 8 million. This applies to teacher training, and they are close to the limit for reimbursement.
ANOTHER POSITIVE trend is that grant
income has increased by SEK 75 million, or 6 percent, compared with the previous year. The largest increase (59 million) is due to other state donors, but this part includes the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency’s extra contribution of SEK 35 million to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. – According to most analysts, other Swedish donors will have less money to distribute this year due to the pandemic. For example, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation has reduced its funding to the University of Gothenburg by SEK 62 million, states Peter Tellberg. For several years now, the number of employees has increased, albeit at a fairly negligible rate, by 97 full-time employees compared with the same period last year. In percentage terms, the increase is greatest at the IT Faculty, the largest decrease
is at the Faculty of Humanities and the Central Administration. A break in the trend is that more doctoral students have been employed and the number currently stands at almost 800. The fact that operating costs have been lower during the pandemic is clear from the results. This is due to fewer trips and conferences as well as a decrease in the purchasing of goods and services. As expected, the cost of premises has increased by 3 percent, mainly as a consequence of the new building, Humanisten. AFTER EIGHT MONTHS, all faculties have
reported a significantly better result than was budgeted. On the other hand, the Central Administration has been in a difficult position financially for a couple of years, with a savings requirement of SEK 25 million. Now it turns out that during the pandemic, the Central Administration had lower costs and managed to save SEK 26 million compared to what was planned from the beginning of the year. If the forecast stands, the University of Gothenburg will, by the end of the year, have added to its retained earnings by SEK 150 million, which will then amount to SEK 1.4 billion. Although it is a huge amount of money, Peter Tellberg emphasizes that the picture is more complex and that the situation is different within the university. – It is clear that such considerable retained earnings are a concern, and to have a large amount of unspent funds for assignments that have not yet been completed. This is something to which both the government and the National Audit Office have been paying attention. At the same time, many faculties are facing major challenges and it is understandable that they do not want to consume all the capital. Among other things, there is a concern regarding what the cost of all the new premises will be.
A temporary overproduction will not have any major significance because you can save these places when there is a downturn. PETER TELLBERG
Allan Eriksson
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Has a long to-do list – The pandemic led to a fantastic mobilization of employees, who quickly switched to remote working. Now we have to tackle a no less demanding task: to return to normal campus operations while taking advantage of the lessons we have learned, says Pauli Kortteinen, new Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education.
responsible for. One of the things that ends up on my desk is to follow up and take advantage of the many experiences that teachers and other employees have had during the pandemic. A working group has presented six proposals for projects for development. Project manager Daniel Lundell will develop a plan for how these proposals can be implemented, which will then be discussed in the University Board of Education in December.
HE HAS JUST HAD his first me-
– THEY INVOLVE enhancing the
eting as Chairman of the University Board of Education, which felt a little bit like coming home. – I have been a member of the committee before, during my three years as Associate Dean for Education at the Faculty of Humanities. During that time, I learned quite a lot about the university's educational programmes and strategic work, so even though I am new as Deputy Vice-Chancellor, I am familiar with the issues. Moreover, it is reassuring to have my predecessor Mette Sandoff, who is now Pro-Vice-Chancellor, in the room next door. She has a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge.
EVEN THOUGH HE has only been
the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for a few weeks, Pauli Kortteinen already has an entire list of things to deal with. – The University of Gothenburg's new vision shows the direction for the university, which is to be concretized through university-wide goals and strategies. It is clear from the strategy for the period 2021–2024 which activities I, in my capacity of Deputy Vice-Chancellor, am
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digital skills of, among others, managers, teachers and librarians. But also about improving communication and the access points to the University of Gothenburg; many students have stated that during the pandemic it was difficult to find information on the Student Portal and Canvas. Another proposal involves inspiring physical and digital study and learning environments. At some faculties, such as the new Humanist, it is possible to stream lectures and conduct hybrid meetings in virtually all classrooms, but this is not the case everywhere at the university. The Pedagog 2.0 project entails developing the teachers' skills based on the experience that the pandemic has provided: When are digital meetings best? What activities are better done on campus and how does hybrid teaching work? – We will also investigate user-friendly support for lecturers and other staff and try to find approaches that work throughout the university. Another project involves roles and responsibilities when it comes to IT support for students.
Pauli Kortteinen Currently: New Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education. Previous assignments: Associate Dean for Education at the Faculty of Humanities, Head of Department at FLOV (Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science), Head of Department, Director of Studies and Programme Coordinator at FLOV. Lives in: Central Gothenburg. Family: Husband Ronnie Hallgren, theatre director. Hobbies: Cooking and the performing arts (theatre, dance, opera, and musicals). Currently reading: Retour à Reims by Didier Eribon, Dolda Gudar – En bok om allt som inte går förlorat i en översättning (Hidden Gods – A book about everything that is not lost in a translation) by Nils Håkansson.
For several years, GU has taken digital initiatives through strategic investments in, for example, the INU and DigiKomp projects, but the rapid transition to distance has led many to really discover the various opportunities that new technology offers. IN THE COMING years, the qualification system will also be developed, so that collaboration and pedagogical skills are valued higher, says Pauli Kortteinen. – Among other things, it involves taking advantage of the skills of our excellent teachers. There are good examples of such work already underway. The responsibility for broadening recruitment, lifelong learning and contract education also now lies with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education. – Another central strategy in the new vision is of course
Pauli Kortteinen points out that we must learn from the lessons from the pandemic.
internationalization, where EUTOPIA is an example. It is about a university alliance between ten European universities. The collaboration is divided into different work packages where what is about education is led by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, with GU as co-responsible. The long-term goal is for a student by 2050 to be able to move freely between the participating higher education institutions. A shortterm goal is to start 30 “learning units” by 2022 with teacher teams that collaborate across borders. 18 such units have already been established. An important part of the internationalization work, which one may not think of, are the courses in Swedish for incoming students and staff that GU offers, Pauli Kortteinen points out. – We like to think that internationalization is only about
English. But for incoming staff and students, it is also important to learn Swedish. The assignment as vice-chancellor is 80 percent. Pauli Kortteinen hopes to be able to devote other time to research in the areas of contrastive linguistics and language typology. – MY DOCTORAL dissertation was
about the use of the Swedish position verbs stå, sitta and ligga (stand, sit, lie) and their French equivalents. In Swedish, position verbs can be used about objects. We can, for example, say ”det ligger en bok på bordet” (there is a book on the table) and ”det står en husbil på parkeringen” (there's a camper in the parking lot). The French direct equivalents can not be used in that way. The survey is based on just over 6,000 occurrences of position verbs in a Swedish-French paral-
We like to think that internationalization is only about English. But for incoming staff and students, it is also important to learn Swedish.
lel corpus, which I built with a doctoral student colleague. The corpus consists of original texts in both Swedish and French digitally linked with their respective translations into Swedish and French. – In recent years, I have also become interested in contrastive typological studies of mental attitude verbs, such as the English "think" and the French "penser". These verbs have a number of different Swedish equivalents depending on the context - is it about tro, tycka, tänka, tänka sig, mena (believing, thinking, imagining, meaning) … or maybe something else?
PAULI KORTTEINEN
Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
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Personal responsibility for emissions No mandatory climate transition, but a system based on flexibility and personal responsibility. That is the right way to go, says Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor Mette Sandoff, who is also Chair of the working group for the Climate Framework. What is new is that all emissions are counted, not just air travel. You have backed away from the proposal to introduce climate transition centrally and have given the faculties the mandate to decide for themselves how to achieve the Climate Framework's goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent by 2030, compared with 2019 levels. Why did you abandon the concept of a climate transition? – There wasn’t enough sup-
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port for it. The working group had extensive discussions with the various operations during the spring, through a number of workshops, discussions at strategy meetings and several meetings with deans and heads of department. The clear message was that they wanted to take responsibility themselves for their carbon dioxide reduction measures for all types of emission areas, instead of being guided by a model that only focuses on air travel. Our idea is to give the operations clear mandates that are based on personal responsibility and the opportunity to influence the situation. It is also in line with how we normally govern the University of Gothenburg, for example when it comes to work on quality. In the long run, a system that enables influence and responsibility is more likely to lead to a change in behaviour.
So what can you do at an overarching level to support the organisation? – At the central level, it is about supporting, encouraging and following up, and spreading best practice. The Faculty of Social Sciences, for example, already has a plan for how to work with this issue, while others may be further behind and need more help. Nothing has really changed in terms of the goal: to reduce emissions in two stages, 25 percent by the end of 2023 and 50 percent by 2030. Furthermore, technical system support will be in place by July 2022. The students are critical of the fact that the University of Gothenburg has not set a more challenging goal than the national minimum goal, and thus take the lead internationally. – We have obtained sup-
port for this in the working group, and there is a student representative who is part of the group. We think we are working on and taking the issue seriously. Based on the information we have discussed in the working group, when it comes to the work of other higher education institutions, the University of Gothenburg seems to be at the forefront in Sweden. This is a realistic goal that we believe will work for us. But how do you check that the University of Gothenburg's various activities will achieve the goal? –– The work to reduce carbon emissions will be integrated into the regular planning and follow-up process, and will be discussed in operational meetings from spring 2022. The planning and follow-up at the central level will align with
organisation's representatives are taking the task very seriously.
It is not feasible to sit and wait until 2023 and see how things go. METTE SANDOFF
Mette Sandoff
the specified levels in the vice-chancellor's decision, i.e. the faculty, university library and Central Administration. How you decide to organise the work within a faculty for example, is up to the faculty. This means that there is a great deal of flexibility and that different departments might have different goals. At the faculty level, you also have the opportunity to reprioritize, if
the staff at a department need to fly more. It is not feasible to sit and wait until 2023 and see how things go. Instead, action is required fairly immediately. The technical system support enables continuous follow-up, and if we discover that things are not going in the right direction, we will have to reconsider the decision. Based on previous experience, however, I believe that the
Another proposal, which has not yet been decided on, is to increase the standard fee per flight to be paid into the climate fund from SEK 118 to SEK 400. Why did you not increase it further? – Then we are back in the same situation as with the previous proposal, that a high price should be set for only one of the emission items. There was strong criticism that it could backfire, if a faculty wants to work in a different way. On the other hand, we think it is important to highlight the importance of reducing air travel, and the fee has not been changed for a long time, so making this adjustment will send an important signal. Would it not have sent an even more effective signal to tax domestic flights at SEK 3,000, as was the suggestion in the original proposal, in order to stop flights to Stockholm? – According to the travel policy, you should not fly to Stockholm, so that question is a separate issue and not part of the proposal we are talking about now. Introducing a very high fee for a specific emissions item could hit operations that are more dependent than others on travel in particular. It must not be a one-sided obstacle for the organisation, which then has to work on other ways of reducing emissions.
during the pandemic. When we talk about international collaboration, it is important to consider which trips are necessary. The former, narrow proposal, was aimed solely at taxing air travel, which could adversely impact an individual department that has to travel to conduct its business internationally. Then, that department should be able to compensate in other ways to make climate savings. Anyone who wants to use climate transition or another model is free to do so. When it comes to virtual international educational collaboration, we already have good experience from Eutopia, for example. Over the past year, both lecturers and students have been able to meet virtually and carry out planned activities of a high standard – a specific example of how international collaboration does not require physical travel.
Text: Allan Eriksson Photo: Johan Wingborg
Facts In 2019, the University of Gothenburg joined the Climate Framework, which is an agreement between 38 Swedish universities. The goal is to contribute to the climate transition and to not exceed a global temperature increase of 1.5°C. This means that universities and colleges are committed to halving carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 (compared with the base year of 2019).
How do you see the conflict of goals that the University of Gothenburg is, on the one hand, an international university with a high degree of mobility, based on travel, and, on the other hand, a university that is known for its work on sustainability? – Mobility can be promoted in various ways, including virtual meetings, which is something we have learned
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Evacuation of the Social Sciences Library Due to the construction of the West link, the Social Sciences Library will be evacuated from mid-December 2021 to the autumn of 2024. The new address for the Social Sciences Library will be Föreningsgatan 20 (near the large examination hall). THE LIBRARY CONTINUES to offer
the same service as usual in the new premises. Textbooks and other books will be moved to the new premises. Older newspapers and microfilms will remain in the library's current premises, and thus become inaccessible until September 2022, with a few exceptions for researchers at the University of Gothenburg. There will be all kinds of study places but they will decrease from 400 to 100. Therefore, the Economics Library, which has many study places, will extend their opening hours. The Social Sciences Library's opening hours will be reduced during the evacuation period. Read more about the evacuation, service and opening hours: https://www.ub.gu.se/en/ evacuation-of-the-social-sciences-library.
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The Social Sciences Library will move to Föreningsgatan 20.
News Ranking
Among the top universities in Sweden
1. Harvard University 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3. Stanford University
2021 Place
134
1. Karolinska Institute (48) 2. Lund University (95) 3. Uppsala University (113) 4. Stockholm University (123)
2015 Place
5. University of Gothenburg (134)
272 According to the US ranking list Best Global Universities, the University of Gothenburg ranks 134th in the world this year. Since 2015, the university has climbed 138 places. The main explanation is a clearly higher citation rate in medicine and science. THIS IS THE first time that investigator Magnus MacHale-Gunnarsson has analysed the results from the rankings made annually by the journal U.S. News &World Report (published October 26, 2021). "This is because the list has had a relatively large impact in a short period of time. Other higher education institutions are starting to talk about it. In the US, the sister survey best colleges gets huge attention, and serves as a guide for all college students". Best Global Universities
measures research, mainly through bibliometrics, but also partly through reputational surveys, where GU falls short. "We are either not so well known in the world or we have not organized our research groups in a way that fits this ranking. It is often important to be large throughout the scientific field. In addition, it is the size of research in medicine and natural beauty that governs. The indicators are designed so that the size of the university, measured in the number of publications in Web of Science, has an influence. It disadvantages a university like GU with a relatively small faculty of science. But despite that, GU is strong in bibliometrics", emphasizes Magnus MacHale-Gunnarsson. GU qualifies for fifth place in Sweden, just behind Stockholm University. The fact that GU has taken great strides in
There is plenty of potential for improvements there. MAGNUS MACHALE-GUNNARSSON
the ranking, from place 272 in 2015 to place 134 this year, is largely due to an improved citation rate. "It is clearly an improvement in bibliometrics, which is not due to a method change in the ranking. GU has also increased in volume, but the citation rate is most striking". TO RISE FURTHER on the list
requires more publications and citations, but the greatest potential is in the reputation survey. "There is plenty of potential for improvements there", says Magnus MacHale-Gunnarsson. When it comes to the subject ranking in Best Global Universities, GU is on 22 of 43 subject lists, of which the best placement has Endocrinology and Metabolism (11) and Neuroscience and Behavior (28).
Allan Eriksson
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DICTATORS WITH POWER PROBLEMS Primogeniture, meaning that the eldest son inherits power in a country, has throughout history led to inappropriate, incompetent and even mentally unstable rulers. But it is still a system that creates stability. – Who will succeed the leader was a major problem in the kingdoms of ancient times and it still is in today's dictatorships, states Andrej Kokkonen, Senior Lecturer in Political Science. Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
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s a political scientist, Andrej Kok-
konen has to answer questions about most things related to politics. Do the Sweden Democrats pose a threat to democracy? Is the current degree of polarization unusually high? Do politicians use emotional arguments instead of referring to facts? – One way to answer these questions is to compare the situation with what it is like in other countries or what it was like historically. For example, both our Nordic neighbours as well as the Netherlands and Austria have or have had governments that include or rely on parties that are critical of immigration. They have not become less democratic as a consequence of this. From a historical perspective, the polarization is not particularly extreme today either. In the 1930s, militias patrolled the streets of Europe and a general escalation of conflict led to a new world war. What is interesting is that over the years, the established democracies in the Western world have managed to withstand various totalitarian forces, which shows that they are incredibly strong, after all. More worrying is the development in Eastern Europe, Andrej Kokkonen points out. – In Hungary and Poland, for example, there is considerable distrust of those in power, which is partly due to the fact that judges and other senior officials were allowed to keep their jobs after the fall of the Soviet Union. There is also no popular left-wing movement that can balance the conservative forces. That people distrust the politicians is shown by the fact that relatively few people in these countries obeyed the requests of those in power and were vaccinated against COVID-19.
Already as a child, Andrej Kokkonen learned that a
historical and international perspective is important. He has relatives from both Estonia and Russia, but perhaps he was influenced most by his grandfather. – He was a Finn but grew up in the Soviet Union. During the war he ended up in a German prison camp while most of his family disappeared in the Gulag. He came to Sweden as a refugee via Finland. He could speak seven languages, was incredibly well educated and very good at telling people about his experiences. Moreover, he had very strong political views. He made a very big impression on me as a child. But I was also influenced by my cousin, whose grandfather was Jewish and had been in a German concentration camp.
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Just before the pandemic struck, Andrej Kokkonen and his family returned home from a two-year stint at Aarhus University. There, they are more aware of the importance of international experience than we are in Sweden. – To get a permanent job, you must have worked abroad for at least a year, and even doctoral students must study in another country for one semester. Maybe Swedish universities could take inspiration from this? As a Swede, you actually have a tremendous advantage because we have among the world's best population data. This means that studies of conditions in Sweden can also be interesting internationally, which of course increases the opportunities for different types of collaborations.
In Denmark, Andrej Kokkonen devoted himself to an area he had long studied in Sweden as well: political succession in dictatorships. How the shifts of power take place in a democracy is quite well studied: It is usually not so dramatic because the candidate who loses gets a second chance at the next election. The shifts of power in dictatorships, on the other hand, are much less well-studied. – It is a bit strange because power struggles in a dictatorship can have such serious consequences, in a worst-case scenario, civil war. Sweden, for example, had a very unstable government until Gustav Vasa introduced a hereditary monarchy in the 16th century. Although his sons were rivals for the throne, compared to previous power struggles, the new order brought about considerable stability, relatively speaking. Primogeniture creates a rather perfunctory takeover where the opportunity for intrigue decreases for both the monarch and the various pretenders to the throne, and where the successor is so young that he has time to wait his turn. This continuity was explained by the historian Ernst Kantorowicz by the fact that the monarch has two bodies, if you will: that of an ordinary mortal and also a political body, which lives on in the successor, says Andrej Kokkonen. – Today's dictatorships also have problems with succession. North Korea has introduced a kind of hereditary dictatorship which did not, however, prevent Kim Jong-un from having both his half-brother and his uncle executed. When he disappeared from the public eye for a period, it created unrest throughout the region as there does not appear to be a successor. China has had a reasonably orderly process for the change of power in
It is a bit strange because power struggles in a dictatorship can have such serious consequences, in a worst-case scenario, civil war. recent decades, but that has been altered as Xi Jinping abolished the limit on how long he can be president. Even in Russia, there does not seem to be a plan for who will take over after the increasingly dictatorial Vladimir Putin. For those who are interested in political history, there is a lot of material to study in Europe and parts of Asia. Developments in other areas are less well known. This is the reason why Andrej Kokkonen has been involved for some time in a unique project that will create a database of all the heads of state in the world during a thousand years. The database already contains 20,000 names. – If you do not know anything else about a country, you usually at least know the country's rulers during different eras. By compiling data on world leaders, we get a more accurate picture of global developments. We can examine what drives or impedes political stability, at what age one becomes a ruler, when a country has its first female leader, and so on. In this way, we also get a better picture of the transfer of power even in countries about which we otherwise do not have much knowledge.
If the political development in stable democracies
like Sweden does not particularly concern Andrej Kokkonen, there is something else that does concern him. – The state has never before in history had the opportunity to control people to the extent that it does now. In China, for example, there is a system that gives people points for how they behave in shops or public places, which then affects their job opportunities or their ability to travel. The democratic United States is also engaged in wide-scale monitoring of the everyday lives of its citizens. This development could also come to Sweden. Not only states but also private companies collect information about individuals. – Google, Twitter and Facebook have a monopoly position, which gives them tremendous power. From a democratic point of view, it was therefore portentous when Twitter shut down Donald Trump’s account. In a democracy, open debate must always be safeguarded, even less pleasant thoughts and ideas must be allowed to be put forward.
Andrej Kokkonen Works as: Senior Lecturer in Political Science. Currently: Engaged in a project on the democratic views of voters who are critical of immigration, and a project on affective polarization. Plans to publish a book next year with Oxford University Press on p olitical succession. Lives in: Majorna Family: Partner and five-year-old daughter. Most recently read book: The Horde by Marie Favereau. Most recently watched film: The Lighthouse, but watches mostly tv-series, such as The Mire 97. Likes to listen to: Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Townes van Zandt. Favourite dish: A bloody steak from Argentina. Preferably with a strong red wine. Hobbies: History, football (IFK Göteborg).
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People
A citizens' project with positive visions for the future Do you dream of a brighter future? Then maybe the citizen project Utopian Stories is something for you. The project collects positive visions of the future and experiences during the pandemic, from schools and and ther public, which will then be subject to climate projections. – Greta Thunberg urges the public to listen to the researchers. But in this project, the researchers will listen to the public to investigate possible future worlds. We are quite used to dystopian narratives about impending environmental disasters, extraterrestrial attacks or malicious artificial intelligence. However, Camilla Brudin Borg, Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies, believes that utopias, where one imagines a better world or a brighter future, are not only interesting but can also provide specific help in creating a more sustainable society. – During the pandemic, we have all had to change our behaviour: For example, we have not been able to travel or consume in the same way as before. Although we must do much more than that to help the climate, the changes have meant a step in the right direction. What we need to think about now, as we begin to return to a more normal situation, is how to take advantage of the experiences we have gained. Therefore, the first part of the project involves investigating which lifestyle changes we have not perceived as particularly negative, which we can therefore consider continuing with. The second part of the project is to
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Camilla Brudin Borg and climate researcher Alasdair Skelton cooperate to collect utopian stories about the future.
collect creative future stories, explains Camilla Brudin Borg. – They can be about anything and do not have to be realistic at all. But they must be utopian, i.e. depict a positive development that provides hope for the future. Each participant in the project is also encouraged to try to engage four more people, so that we get people of all ages and from all possible walks of life. The data collection will go on for one year. After that, the stories we receive must be analysed using digital technology. Camilla Brudin Borg's task will be to develop the different types of future
worlds that people propose. Alasdair Skelton, Director of the Bolin Centre for Climate Research at Stockholm University, will also estimate the climate impact of the various proposals.
This collaboration between a literary scholar and a climate researcher is something quite special, Camilla Brudin Borg points out. – The realization that literary studies can also contribute to climate research is the project's strength. For example, when the IPCC performs calculations on the future climate, they are based on what the world looks like today. But in literature and storytelling you do not have
The realization that literary studies can also contribute to climate research is the project's strength.
Vietnam, the USA and Tanzania. As our partner the Nobel Prize Museum has a large network and a variety of activities aimed at schools, the project is receiving attention both in Sweden and around the world. The facts: Utopian stories is a citizens’ research project that collects data on lifestyle changes people made during the pandemic, and encourages schools and the general public to contribute with utopian stories about the future. The project is a collaboration between the University of Gothenburg, the Bolin Centre for Climate Research at Stockholm University, the Royal Institute of Technology and the Nobel Prize Museum. The Nobel Prize Museum provides teaching materials for schools in the form of lectures on utopias and dystopias. The project leader for the research is Camilla Brudin Borg, Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies at the University of Gothenburg, and Alasdair Skelton, Geologist and Climate Researcher at the Bolin Centre for Climate Research. For more information: https://nobelprizemuseum.se/utopian-stories/. Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
CAMILLA BRUDIN BORG
those kinds of constraints. We can draw inspiration from science fiction, fantasy, folk tales and dreams, or perhaps from Thomas More's Utopia from 1516. The project is a collaboration between the Digital Humanities at the University of Gothenburg, Stockholm University, the Royal Institute of Technology and the Nobel Prize Museum. The museum will primarily focus on collaboration with schools and has produced different types of material for teachers who want to expand their participation with a thematic initiative on climate and sustainability. The research results will eventually result in exhibitions, where visitors can experience how the climate is being impacted by our way of life. – We hope that the exhibitions will be interactive so that visitors can explore different future possible worlds, for example via an app on their phone.
The project has just started but the
news has spread quickly, says Camilla Brudin Borg. – We have already received over a hundred future stories. We have also received encouraging greetings from teachers in Sweden and also from Bolivia,
Facts Utopian stories is a citizens’ research project that collects data on lifestyle changes people made during the pandemic, and encourages schools and the general public to contribute with utopian stories about the future. The project is a collaboration between the University of Gothenburg, the Bolin Centre for Climate Research at Stockholm University, the Royal Institute of Technology and the Nobel Prize Museum. The Nobel Prize Museum provides teaching materials for schools in the form of lectures on utopias and dystopias. The project leader for the research is Camilla Brudin Borg, Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies at the University of Gothenburg, and Alasdair Skelton, Geologist and Climate Researcher at the Bolin Centre for Climate Research. For more information: https://nobelprizemuseum.se/utopian-stories/.
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Economy as part of archaeology – When someone asks me what I work with, I reply that I study prehistoric economic systems. How do I do that? Economics is not about ideas, but about tangible things: people working, things being produced, the exchange of goods. No subject is as suitable for archaeological study as economics, except possibly DNA research. This is how Timothy Earle explained the subject at the Felix Neubergh lecture in mid-October.
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Economics is about seeking answers to the question “How?”, said Timothy Earle, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Northwestern University, USA. – How do you get people to give up their personal freedom to build, for example, the temples, fortresses, terraced slopes, roads and aqueducts for which the Inca Empire is so famous? The answer is the staple economy, a commodity export-oriented economy. The empire had conquered a lot of land from vanquished territory, but gave the defeated population the opportunity to work the land in order to earn a living. In return, they were hired as labour for the various construction projects undertaken by the Inca Empire. Since the prosperity of the Inca Em-
pire was not based on trade with distant lands but on domestic production, there are not many prestigious objects from that period on display in museums, not even in Peru.
However, it is a completely different ex-
perience visiting the National Museum in Copenhagen. The amount of objects from the Danish Bronze Age is overwhelming, Timothy Earle explained. Scandinavia, with its low population density, had a different kind of economy. It was based on trade in valuables, which is easier to control the further the goods are transported, and the more exotic they are perceived to be the more highly valued they are. Loyalty was created through gifts. The typical example is the
feudal lord who gave his vassal a sword, thus making the vassal forever obliged to serve him. At the same time, only a small proportion of Scandinavians seem to have owned the land they farmed. One way of paying for the use of the land may have been to participate in the construction of the ships that were necessary for long-distance trade, which is reminiscent of the situation in the Inca Empire. So, you could mix different ways of handling financial transactions.
Another economic system is where goods are exchanged for money. – Coin production requires a well-functioning state and is thus not something we find in prehistoric societies. However, there are possible exceptions, because certain archaeological material can be interpreted as a sign that seashells were used as a means of payment in some societies. After the lecture, Vice-Chancellor Eva Wiberg bestowed a medal and a cheque for SEK 50,000 on the speaker, tributes associated with the Felix Neubergh Lecture.
How do you get people to give up their personal freedom to build, for example, the temples, fortresses, terraced slopes, roads and aqueducts for which the Inca Empire is so famous? TIMOTHY EARLE
– The medal is not a coin but a valuable object, stated Timothy Earle. My accepting it means that I will forever be indebted to the University of Gothenburg. The cheque, on the other hand, is about money, the value of which is guaranteed by a well-functioning state. What we are experiencing today is thus another example of how different economic systems can be combined in a society. The fact that Felix Neubergh bequeathed a lot of money, without which this lecture would not have been possible, also shows how important economics is in all kinds of contexts, not least when it comes to creating bonds between people under festive circumstances. Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
Facts Föreläsningen A Deep History of Finance: Archaeological Investigations of Institutional Support in the Andes, Melanesia, and Central Europe hölls den 12 oktober av T imothy Earle, professor emeritus i antropologi vid Northwestern University, USA. Felix Neubergh-föreläsningen har hållits varje år sedan 1977. Vartannat år handlar föreläsningen om bank och finans, vartannat år om arkeologi. Timothy Earles föreläsning skulle ha hållits förra året, men blev uppskjuten på grund av pandemin. Timothy Earle is now for ever indebted to the University of Gothenburg.
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The Moment Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG
blic
Where? Who? When?
• Nya Varvet. • His Royal Highness King Carl XVI
Gustaf will inaugurate the research vessel R/V Skagerak in the company of Vice-Chancellor Eva Wiberg and Dean Göran Hilmersson.
• October 15, 2021.
Brief description – The aim of this floating laboratory is to make our country a world leader in research, teaching and collaboration about the sea. It is an admirable goal and I wish all the researchers success and good luck. These were the words spoken by King Carl XVI Gustaf in his speech from the inauguration ceremony of R/V Skagerak. The inauguration ceremony took place with the help of a bottle, made of ice, which the King swung towards the hull.
R/V Skagerak is 49 metres long, 11 metres wide and has a displacement of 1,000 tonnes. It has a crew of 5 people and can accommodate 16 researchers and students. It's home port is Nya Varvet. The vessel offers new research opportunities on oceans around the globe, including areas with limited ice cover, and is expected to contribute to a greater understanding of the global processes in the Earth's climate and marine environment.
