GUJ7-2015English

NO 7 | DECEMBER 2015

Relaxing with Mahler Göran Landberg wants to create one of Europe’s leading research centres FEW PERMANENT JOBS

EVIL SCIENCE

PERSECUTED RESEARCHERS

Fixed term contracts are more common

The research that threatens humanity

They have been given refuge here

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Vice Chancellor

Great interest in media for the University

A MAGAZINE FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF GOTHENBURG

December E D I TO R - I N C H I E F A N D P U B L I S H E R

W H E N I , A LM O ST exactly one year ago, wrote my last contribution for GU Journal for the year, there was political turmoil and a chaotic situation prevailing in Sweden along with a period of uncertainty. Since then, much has happened and political decision-makers, regardless of colour, have had to face and deal with many extremely difficult challenges. The refugee disaster due to the war in Syria, the EU’s inability to agree on migration policy, the growing terrorist threat in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris and many other places, are only a few examples.

The university is an important part of society and of what is happening in the world. Considering everything which is taking place right now, it feels important to state clearly that we can and want to be involved and help to address common global challenges facing society. But it’s not enough to simply talk. ”We must also show with concrete acts that we are doing something.

It is therefore particularly gratifying that our major interdisciplinary effort, UGOT Challenges is up and running. International experts have been identified the six projects which are now receiving financing, a unique initiative that has replication potential for other institutions.

IT I S A L S O important to emphasise that our primary mission – education and research – is a basic prerequisite for realising the ambitious goals of sustainable development for all countries of the world, as the UN recently stated.

There are many major issues being discussed right now within the higher education sector, and so too in our particular environment. The work on the next Government Bill for research is in full swing, the report from Stockholm University’s former Vice Chancellor Kåre Bremer’s investigation into how universities and other institutions of higher education should be governed in the future is out for consultation, and a new

PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG

quality assessment system is underway.

As far back as I can remember, at the end of each year I have concluded by saying this has been an intense and exciting year at the University of Gothenburg. I say this again now, but the question is whether 2015 doesn’t go down in history as the most eventful year, as even external interest for our operations has increased significantly. In the news media, we have also seen many contributions being published about the importance of research and education if Sweden is to have a chance of continuing into the future as a knowledge nation.

A S M A N Y O F you noted, the city’s local media recently showed an unusually great interest in the University of Gothenburg. I think it is fundamentally good and important that the news media is scrutinising the activities of public authorities and other governmental organisations. This involves activities that are financed through tax revenues. At the same time, I can say that it is a difficult balancing act for the media to combine and reconcile the facts with various types of whistle-blowing information to present an accurate and truthful picture.

Elsewhere in this issue of GU Journal, I have been interviewed by the Journal’s editor Allan Eriksson. He wants to know how I view the complaint sent to the Swedish Higher Education Authority, UKÄ, concerning if there might be a large number of posts in the University that are not handled in a proper manner. Until we know what conclusions UKÄ will arrive at, I obviously can not make any comments or observations regarding the matters raised in the complaint.

O N T H E OT H E R hand however, what I can say is that the recent attention clearly indicates that the University’s employment contracts seem to be an area where the rules are not always fully observed. This is not acceptable.

I have therefore requested that the University Board should give the University’s Internal Audit unit the mandate to review how we manage recruitment in relation to our employment regulations and legislation. The aim is not to find scapegoats but rather to identify any structural barriers and to ensure that we, as a public authority, are doing the right thing.

Finally. A huge thank you to everyone for their excellent work and contributions during the past year. Best wishes to you for the holidays and a Happy New Year!

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

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Göran Landberg, director of the new Wallenberg research centre.

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Contents

GUJOURNAL 7 | 2015

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10 A FEW WORDS FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR

2 Pam Fredman summarises 2015.

NEWS 4 Irregular employment practices can never be acceptable.

6 One in four teachers and researchers is without a permanent job.

7 V-Dem releases 15 million bits of data about the state of the world.

Cancer researcher returns home

8 The refugees are our responsibility, says Helena Lindholm.

After many years abroad Göran Landberg is leading one of the biggest research centres.

9 Six winners of UGOT Challenges.

PROFILE 10 The director with fingertip control.

REPORT 13 Afrah Nasser, blogger from Yemen, wants to see greater diversity in the newsmedia.

14 Will modern research create a paradise, or something else?

16 Polar Researcher Jody Deming is concerned about the Arctic undergoing rapid change.

18 Two persecuted researchers tell their stories.

Blogger from Yemen

16

Afrah Nasser wants the medias to embrace plurality.

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20 Arcaeology about life 5,000 years ago.

The Arctis is changing quickly

CHRONICLE 22 Thomas Sterner reports from Paris.

Jody Deming, American polar researcher, hosts GU during a few months.

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Excavations in rural Sweden Findings from 5,000 year old settlements.

Report from Paris

20

Thomas Sterner about a changing world.

Editorial: How do our readers rate GU Journal?

W E N OW H AV E T H E R E S U LT S of GU Journal’s fourth readership survey.

The web survey was sent out to 1,000 personnel at GU at the beginning of October, and about one-half responded. As the Journal is distributed at the workplace, the distribution is crucial. The survey shows that 84 percent are receiving the Journal, which means that there are problems with the distribution. About half receive the Journal in their internal post boxes.

It also shows that 53 percent read only the printed Journal, while only 4 percent read only the digital PDF

version. That there are so few who read the digital version is a result that really surprises us. We also asked the question if you want a printed journal in 2016; 61 percent said yes, only 14 percent want a transition to a purely digital product.

An overwhelming majority think that the Journal is moderately thick and comes out often enough.

The proportion of readers has decreased slightly since 2009, but nearly 70 percent of those who receive the Journal have read its contents.

Those who do not read it have indicated a lack of time as main reason. With

an overall assessment, on a five-point scale, the Journal receives an average score of 4.11, which is significantly higher than what we saw in 2009. One in four readers think the Journal is very good. What the readers appreciate most is news, features, investigative articles, and debate.

We have also asked questions about how they view the Journal’s relevancy, credibility, and independence. 80 percent think that the news content is relevant, about 70 percent that the Journal is credible, and half that the Journal is independent in relation to the University’s management (howe-

ver, many have no opinion on this issue).

For many of the questions, there was a possibility to write comments and many have done so. We will be reviewing all the responses, but so far we have seen that many want more debate and critical coverage of the University.

What we have learned from this is that overall our readers give GU Journal a good rating, but we face challenges that, among other things, include how we can make the digital version more accessible.

4

News

No acceptance of irregular appointments The complaint submitted to the Swedish Higher Education Authority concerning a large number of irregular appointments has received considerable attention.

“If the complaint is correct, this is a very serious matter,” remarks Vice Chancellor Pam Fredman, who has now proposed that the University Board allow the Internal Audit unit to investigate the issue.

JA N A LM Ä N G A N D Christer Svenner­ lind, both of whom have defended their doctoral dissertation at GU, have recently filed a complaint against the University of Gothenburg to UKÄ, the Swedish Higher Education Authority, for systematic violation of laws and regulations. The complaint listed 95 cases of “wrongful or improper employment decisions,” the majority of which are alleged to have taken place at The Faculty of Arts over the past 15 years. Most cases complained about concern fixed duration employment contracts that have been given without a public announcement and competition for the position.

Vice Chancellor Fredman says she is aware of three cases where GU received criticism from ÖNH, The Higher Education Appeals Board, but that in addition there are others, a total of eight hirings which earlier this year were reported to the University

by Helge Malmgren, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy.

“But that it might concern as many as the complaint to UKÄ suggests, this I was not aware of,” says Pam Fredman.

What do you have to say about the accusations?

They have been complained against as irregularities, but if it

proves to be true, this is very serious and needs to be given proper attention. There are some cases in which errors have been shown. The whole thing signals that the regulatory framework, the legislation, and Rules of Employment regulations we have

improvement has occurred in terms of recruitment from other universities and internationally. These are positive figures, which shows that we are working with the public announcements for applications for employment.

»If we do not live up to the requirements, this obiously is not something to be proud of.« PAM FREDMAN at the University have not been fully complied with. For me, as the Vice Chancellor, compliance with rules is an absolute requirement, we can not make any exceptions to that principle.

I nevertheless think that over the years we have done quite a lot. We have invested in training programs for managers, and HR expertise in all faculties and departments, and so on.

What do you, the Vice Chancellor, plan to do about it?

At the University Board meeting on the 3rd of December, I suggested that the Internal Audit unit be given a mandate to make a thorough examination of the entire University. We must have a basis to carry out possible measures in response. First, we need to know if there is a general problem with our recruitment and, if so, how big the problem is. It goes without saying that we must comply with the regulatory framework and laws. All managers have that responsibility. I am very keen that we follow up on employment contracts so that we create an open application process where everyone is given the opportunity to apply. Only then can we get increased mobility.

During the years 2012-2014, a great

How do you think all this attention affects confidence in the University of Gothenburg?

If we do not live up to the requirements, this obviously is not something to be proud of. I have no insight into what it looks like at other higher education institutions, but even if something like what has been said to occur, occurs elsewhere, that does not mean that it is acceptable here.

Our activities ultimately rest on public confidence and therefore it is important that we fully comply with laws and regulations.

The complainants claim that breaches of the rules have become a standard practice and that it has created a management culture in “free fall”? Is there anything to this criticism?

It makes no difference if it is a practice that has been regularly occurring. Laws and regulations must be respected and followed.

The complainants to the UKÄ also wrote that there is a general lack of interest from managers internally in dealing with the situation. Information about suspected official misconduct is disregarded or does not become registered as received, despite the

fact that in accordance with the Public Employment Act the University has the obligation to file a complaint for prosecution if there is reasonable suspicion of official misconduct.

It is the UKÄ which has received the complaint. Before we know what they conclude, I cannot have any comments on the matters to be considered.

One explanation put forward is that there may be ambiguities in GU’s Rules of Employment, in terms of Section 2.2 concerning information about the position: that the obligation to make a public announcement would only apply to employment for a term of more than 6 months.

I do not think there are any ambiguities. However, if the Internal Audit unit’s investigation shows that there is a need for clarification, we will of course do so. But the requirement to publically announce all positions is governed by law and is therefore a superior rule to our own Rules of Employment.

Last summer, Helge Malmgren, submitted a complaint to the University Director concerning eight cases where individuals have been employed with reference to the Employment Protection Act, LAS, but without any of them, according to Malmgren, having had worked sufficiently long enough to be considered to be locked-in. What is happening with that complaint?

At the moment, the complaint is being investigated by the Internal Audit unit. More than that, I don’t know yet.

TEXT: ALLAN ERIKSSON PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG

GUJOURNAL 7 | 2015

Pam Fredman is seriously concerned about accusations of irregular employments.

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News

Few permanent jobs Of the over 650 new recruitments which the U ­ niversity of Gothenburg has made during the first ten months of the year, only 19 percent are with permanent employ­ment­­ ­contracts. This is what an analysis made by GU Journal shows. “Alarming, and not good at all,” comments Martin Selander at Saco.

IT D O E S N OT look good, remarks Vice Chancellor Pam Fredman, who would like to see a reduction in the percentage of fixed term contracts in favour of those with an unlimited duration.

“This is an exceptionally important issue that not only we are working closely on, but also the entire higher education sector and not the least Sulf and the union organisations are working to improve. The percentage of fixed term contracts is far too high. The risk is that with fixed term contracts is that you circumvent the meritocratic system. The basic principle is to announce the opening up of a position in open competition.”

The Vice Chancellor hopes that the ongoing governmental investigatory commission, which under the direction of Ann Fust has the mandate to look into the conditions and career paths for young researchers, will lead to changes.

“There is of course nothing positive about taking in people on a limited duration contract and then later giving them permanent employment. This is within the purview of the investigator to look into this, so I’m optimistic that the situation will become better.”

On the other hand, there are qualification services that Pam Fredman would like to see more of.

“The fact that these temporary positions are regulated in our collective bargaining agreement, as well as in law, is of course something we must protect. As for the fouryear qualification employment, one should have a right to a review for consideration for long-term employment as a senior lecturer. We need to be able to offer young researchers better career paths and we are in favour of the proposal that a new national career system (“tenure track”) be introduced. That was exactly what emerged from RED10: If we are to attract scientific researchers and scholars internationally, we need to offer them decent terms of employment.”

M O R EOV E R , M O B I LIT Y is benefited by more calls for applications for permanent jobs, Pam Fredman reminds us.

“We get no mobility if the positions are not announced. I also believe that it promotes gender equality. Fewer women choose a limited duration contract job with poor conditions.”

Martin Selander, who is chairman for Saco at GU, is very concerned about the numbers.

“This is really disturbing and sends out all the wrong signals. More real new positions should be announced rather than continuing with the juggling with various forms of fixed term contracts. This is partly a structural problem of external funding within the sector, where the share has increased and many managers do not dare risk offering permanent hiring.”

Helena Rohdén, who is vice president of the ST union’s section at GU makes the same assessment. “ IT I S U T T E R LY unacceptable. We are not against fixed term employment in principle, but when this form of employment is becoming more common than the open-ended form, we have a big problem. For a long time we have worked to get more unlimited duration positions, but it seems not much is happening here. It is not uncommon that people are handpicked for appointments of less than 6 months and fixed-term positions are stapled together. By combining general fixed-term positions and substitute positions with various forms of qualification

PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG

O N E-T H I R D O F all who are engaged in research and/or teaching at the country’s universities and other institutions of higher education have an employment contract of limited duration. This is considerably more than in the labour market in general. At the University of Gothenburg, according to an analysis from 2014, one in four teachers/ researchers lack assurance of continued employment. But we have to ask, is this development moving in the right direction?

There is not much evidence of that. When GU Journal requested the statistics over all new employees for this year (until October), we found that the share of employees with a limited duration contract was 72 percent among administrative and technical staff, and 88 per cent among teachers and researchers. All staff positions are included in the figures except for doctoral students, who’s employment status is always temporary. On the other hand, the qualification employment positions, such as postdocs and associate senior lecturers, are included.

However the inclusion of these 54 individuals does not alter the picture. Half of all contracts are what is referred to as general fixed term contracts.

Martin Selander

employment positions, an individual can be employed with short-term contracts for as long as 6-8 years, and in some cases even longer.”

But there is also another problem, remarks Helena Rohdén.

“Having a contract of a limited duration means increased insecurity. It affects the power relations in the workplace.

Staff may not dare risk calling attention to deficiencies and problems, and this is something we need to seriously consider.”

E A R LI E R T H I S FA LL , Uppsala University’s ST section did a survey of how extensive fixed-term employment is. The result was disappointing: only 13.5 percent of all new hires during the first eight months of the year led to open-ended employment. Ingela Parmryd, alternate in ST’s section, conducted the survey.

“An employer hardly needs to justify such temporary employment at all. This is detrimental to confidence when a governmental agency which has the responsibility to manage the taxpayers’ money creates an uneven workplace where the employees have so different conditions. This leads to problems in both the working environment and with the health of the employees.”

Ingela Parmryd thinks it is particularly serious because temporary workers are not covered by the Trygghetsstiftelsen’s efforts, despite the fact that via their tax payments they are paying into to the Fund.

“It is like a reverse Robin Hood system,” she remarks.

ALLAN ERIKSSON

GUJOURNAL 7 | 2015

Gender equality promotes democracy

One of many maps from V-Dem.

especially gratifying to be a political scientist. Such as when the anticipated results are proven.

“Among other things, we can now show that almost all successful processes of democratisation are preceded by women receiving at least somewhat the same rights as men have,” observes Staffan I. Lindberg, head of the Varieties of Democracy, or V-Dem Institute. “One good example is Tunisia, where women were given relatively strong civil and economic rights back in the 1950s; another is the developments in Latin America, where women have often been pivotal in the democratisation processes.

One explanation is that the resistance to a dictator becomes more than twice as large if women are also involved. Thus greater gender equality is important for many reasons, but not least because it promotes democracy.

The research dates back to 1900, and encompasses the entire list of 173 countries.

It also applies to V-Dem’s new corruption index; the previous indexes have only gone back to 1995.”

Another gratifying result, which is supported by two independent studies, is the observation that a functioning electoral S O M E TI M E S IT I S

PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG

At the end of the year, the time has finally arrived! This is when V-Dem will be releasing the 15 million bits of data it has collected on democracy, which will then be available for anyone to peruse. Among the material there are two completely unique indexes, one on corruption and the other on the political influence of women.

“We have also started to publish brief summaries so that anyone who is interested can learn about the results in an easy to grasp way,” explains Staffan I. Lindberg.

Staffan I. Lindberg

democracy is also positive for other developments, such as increased life expectancy, reduced child mortality and increased personal incomes.

“One might think this might not be so surprising, but the examples of India and China have led many researchers to believe the exact opposite. Therefore we are the first in the world to show that free and fair elections are good for society even when it comes to increased life expectancy and reduced infant mortality rates.

»The trend goes both ways, it’s both getting better and worse.«

How does the situation look in the rest of the world?

STAFFAN I. LINDBERG

“We have new war zones, such as in Syria, while several large countries, such as Russia, Turkey and Indonesia, have developed negatively,” explains Staffan I. Lindberg. “But Nigeria, for example, which with its 160 million inhabitants is Africa’s largest economy, held this year for the first time a real democratic election where the President was replaced. Boko Haram’s ravages are of course appalling, but the civil and political rights have nevertheless been strengthened. So you could say that the trend goes both ways, it’s getting both better and worse.”

V-Dem does not only publish data. It also

offers free online tools, available via the website, whereby any interested individual could produce graphs, etc., and study the development in a state or compare countries and regions with each other.

“In addition to articles and reports, we’ve also started publishing brief reports of our findings,” explains Staffan I. Lindberg.

“Researchers, who are trained to report all material openly and in detail, often find it difficult to make a summary of perhaps a single page. But at the same time this is really essential; as political decision-makers, the news media and the general public may not have the opportunity to delve into and familiarise themselves with a complicated study. Therefore, we must become better at briefly explaining the essentials, without compromising on quality and without suddenly saying something that we do not actually stand for. This is what we are trying to do to a greater extent.”

EVA LUNDGREN

VARIETIE S OF DEMOC R ACY V-Dem, the largest social democracy project in the world ever, measures democracy on the basis of nearly 400 indicators, with 35 different democracy­indexes. The data comes from more than 3,000 experts, located in a total of 173 countries, and often includes facts from 1900 onwards.­V-Dem currently contains 15 million individual pieces of data. The Institute has published some 25 articles and about forty country reports.

V-Dem also publishes brief summaries of their findings.­All materials, especially raw data, are freely available to anyone to download. Read more at: v-dem.net/.

V-Dem will also be offering a public seminar on 15 January at 13:00. Location: Hörsalen Dragonen, Sprängkullsgatan 19.

8

News

The refugees are our responsibility “We have a responsibility to help individuals who are fleeing but also to raise awareness of all their knowledge that can benefit society,” remarks Pro-Vice-Chancellor Helena Lindholm.

Not only does she want to provide a safe haven for threatened researchers, but she also thinks GU should invest in internships and supplementary training courses for refugees newly arrived to Sweden. the University of Gothenburg was the first institution of higher education in Sweden to provide sanctuary for threatened researchers received exceptionally extensive coverage in the news media, observes Helena Lindholm.

“I have received an exceptional number of requests to accept more researchers.”

The University of Gothenburg is the coordinator of the Swedish node in the Scholars at Risk Network, SAR, an international network that helps to protect scholars suffering grave threats to their lives due to persecution, censorship or who are otherwise unable to work in their home countries.

Each year, the organisation assists about 80 researchers and with the crisis in the Middle East, the needs have increased.

“We want to show in a serious manner that we safeguard academic freedom worldwide and not only in Sweden,” comments Helena Lindholm.

»We want to show in a serious manner that we safeguard academic freedom worldwide and not only in Sweden.« HELENA LINDHOLM

T H E N E W S T H AT

C U R R E N T LY PR E PA R ATI O N S are underway to receive an additional researcher in 2016, providing him or her with a position of sanctuary.

“At the central level, there is money set aside for one to two researchers annually. But my hope is that the departments that are willing and able to do something express an interest to accommodate a researcher for one year with their own funds.”

Helena Lindholm likens it to a guest researcher position.

“The benefit is that there should be an exchange, a give and take, and that the individual contributes to the research environment at the department. If the department considers it appropriate, the individual may also participate in the academic instruction.”

“I think we at the University of Gothen­ burg are taking our responsibilities ­s eriously, but I had hoped that we would have progressed further with various different types of educational efforts,” remarks Helena Lindholm.

Helena Lindholm sees many worrying signs in the world that academics are being threatened to an increasing degree. Amnesty International warns that many Asian countries have imposed restrictions on freedom of expression, and that torture and illtreatment are widespread against dissidents and academics. Another trend is that a large number of academics are fleeing, not the least from Syria. institutions are increasingly being subjected to threats and risks. According to a report published by UNICEF, 13 million children in Africa and the Middle East are prevented from going to school because of armed conflicts.

“The attack in Trollhättan in October also shows that the Swedish school environment is exposed to threats and risks. Sweden has previously been spared this kind of attacks. Last April, 700 students were taken hostage, resulting in 148 deaths in a terror attack at Garissa College University in Kenya. These are certainly very different types of assaults, but what they do have in common is that they are targeting civilians and that educational institutions are becoming an arena for acts of barbarism.”

A L S O E D U C ATI O N A L

“In order to help, we should do what we are best at, namely teaching and research,” Helena Lindholm stres-

ses. Among other things she has presented the national government with a proposal to create a scholarship program for refugee students, which could perhaps become a complement to the programme for the Syrian students which the Swedish Institute has today. wild thought, is to make a national effort, in collaboration with Sida and the UNHCR, around training efforts for refugees who are in the refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Many of the refugees are young. Ten percent of the Syrian refugees are at university studies age, and many have been forced to abandon their studies. We hear now talk about a lost generation, a generation that is without educational opportunities. At the same time, Syria will need skilled labour when the guns have fallen silent and Syria is to be rebuilt. Sweden and Swedish higher education institutions could contribute to long-term stability in the region via training schemes, such as a combination of online learning and teaching in the refugee camps.”

“A N OT H E R , M O R E

H E LE N A LI N D H O LM A L S O wants to invest in internships for the newly arrived with an academic background.

“We have issued a request to all departments and units in the University of Gothenburg. Everyone can get involved and make a contribution that would mean a lot to those who are struggling to find a way into the Swedish labour market.”

There are also discussions under-

way about how the universities can, in an easier and faster way, validate foreign students’ academic records.

“Those who were forced to interrupt their studies, who have not brought their documents or certificates with them, or who lack formal qualifications, must have a chance to finish their studies. We could open up opportunities for refugees who are in the midst of the process where the grounds for granting asylum are being investigated and where they have yet obtained a residence permit, to participate in Master’s programmes in English where the studies could perhaps be credited afterwards.”

T H E G OV E R N M E N T has also announced the need for more complementary educational and training programs, and funds have been earmarked for this in the budget for 2016.

Helena Lindholm stresses that a lot of work is already being done at the departments, such as mentoring, language support, fast tracks for teachers and legal advice for the newly arrived. But there is also much to be done within research, she notes.

“I know there is a strong commitment on these issues. But we need to be better at raising the awareness of all the research available within a variety of areas that may benefit to society.”

TEXT: ALLAN ERIKSSON PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG

FACTS Helena Lindholm is not only Pro-ViceChancellor, but also a professor of peace and development research. One of her firm beliefs is that we tend to forget that migration has always been a part of an overall globalisation.

“What is happening in the entire Middle East is an extremely dangerous development that affects us in many ways. In the Arab world, there is disintegration underway from previously existing structures.

This coincides with climate change and the effects of globalisation in various different ways. The war in Syria is a humanitarian catastrophe for which the Western world has a responsibility. Likewise, we have a responsibility for the growth of Da’esh, the Islamic State. We have to take responsibility for what this creates.”

News

GUJOURNAL 7 | 2015

9

Great hopes to create something new

IT H A S TA K E N a year and a half to make the selection of the research centres which are now receiving a total of SEK 300 million, as finally decided by the Vice Chancellor at the end of November. An international panel consisting of eight special experts has selected the 6 (out of the 12 proposals that remained under consideration after the first round).

“According to assessors, there was no doubt that it was these particular projects that were the most the multidisciplinary, international and innovative, and best met the high standards of social relevance and scientific quality that was demanded in the public call for applications,” explains Staffan Edén.

H E ST R E S S E S that evaluation panel was unanimous in their decision. The research teams now receiving funding are all known, but are expected to introduce new perspectives of knowledge in their fields.

“That this involves wellestablished scientific researchers is nothing especially remarkable, as we want to invest in projects of the highest international quality which should also be multidisciplinary. One example is antibiotic resistance. Everyone knows that this is an important issue, but despite that, antibiotics are used in a way that contributes to the problem increasing. Therefore it is important that the scientific perspective is complemented with knowledge of, for instance, human behaviour and how one might influence decisionmaking.”

The various projects receive equal amounts of funding: the first two years, each centre receives SEK 6.6 million, the third year SEK 8.2 million.

Subsequently an evaluation is

PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG

Only six proposals reached all the way, and will now receive funding within the UGOT Challenges programme.

“The goal of the initiative is to contribute with new knowledge about the major global societal challenges,” explains Deputy Vice Chancellor Staffan Edén.

like this at any other university, and nor have I.” Last summer, three medical researchers expressed concern that the university management decides what is important and socially relevant research. But that the UGOT Challenges would somehow conflict with the freedom of academic research is something that Staffan Edén rejects. builds on Vision 2020, where over one thousand employees emphasised the importance of GU taking greater social responsibility.

We really tried to have an open, well-founded and transparent process as much as possible.

There is no hidden agenda. Many of the University’s personnel are very well aware that the world is undergoing rapid change and want to become engaged globally. Now a great responsibility rests on these six centres to tackle the major societal challenges for which they have received funding. For the world is not waiting for the University of Gothenburg.”

“ T H E I N ITI ATI V E

Staffan Edén hopes UGOT Challenges will lead to really new important research.

conducted, after which the Vice Chancellor makes a decision concerning the remaining funds.

“SEK 300 million is a lot of money, but still it is not even 1 percent of the University’s revenues,” Staffan Edén points out. “With this initiative, we obtain the chance to create something completely new, outside the box, something that will really make a difference.

The six projects which are not receiving funding from UGOT Challenges have hardly worked in vain, but rather those efforts can be successful in other contexts and obtain funds from other sources, for instance from VINNOVA or the EU’s Horizon 2020.”

T H E PRO P O R TI O N O F women research leaders who applied to UGOT Challenges was more than 40 percent at the beginning.

Since then, the women have gradually disappeared; of the 12 projects that went on the second round, only 4 were headed by women. Among the 10 research leaders who now receive money, only 2 are women.

“This may not look so good,” admits Staffan Edén. “However a gender equality perspective has not been a criterion for the evaluation panel. Plus one must not forget that there are many

women involved in the various projects, even if they are not the research director. And gender equality will be something we look closer at in the follow up reviews of the centres that will take place in about three years.” department stands out as the biggest UGOT Challenge winner: the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences is represented by three research directors and will also host two centres.

“This is not so surprising. The environment is one of our major global challenges,” adds Staffan Edén. “The process has stimulated new connections between diverse disciplines. The ambition is to catch even the groups that did not get all the way through the process, and try to find other funding and development opportunities.”

In working with UGOT Challenges, GU’s leadership has been influenced by, among others the initiative taken at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. But Staffan Edén stresses that what GU has done is completely different.

“None of our 31 international experts have ever seen anything O N E PA R TI C U L A R

EVA LUNDGREN & ALLAN ERIKSSON

UGOT C HALLENG E S The following centres will be receiving funding: Centre for Antibiotic Resistance Research, Centre for Collective Action Research, The Swedish Mariculture Research Centre, Centre for Ageing and Health, Centre for Critical Heritage Studies and the Centre for Future Chemical Risk Assessment and Management Strategies.

The University of Gothenburg Centres for Global Societal Challenges is an investment of SEK 300 million which the University of Gothenburg committed to in June 2014. In the first round, 78 applications of interest were evaluated by the experts. Subsequently, 12 projects were selected,

which were evaluated by 23 experts. Their statements of opinion were submitted to a panel of five special experts and GU’s international advisors: Iain Robinson, Arild Underdal and Krista Varantola. The panel selected out of those the six proposals which were “permeated with interdisciplinary cooperation, characterised by a strong global perspective, better placed to benefit society in relation to the defined challenges, and deemed to be best able to maintain a high quality in its planned research.” The panel’s recommendations have been the basis for the final decision, made by the Vice Chancellor.

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Profile

Music and research go hand in hand When Göran Landberg bikes through Vasastan, his 1700s cello is often with him on his back. The destination is then Oscar Fredrik Church, where he plays in an orchestra.

The music requires patience, concentration, and an ability to collaborate.

About the same qualities that are important in his role as Director of the new Wallenberg Centre at the University of Gothenburg.

R I G H T N OW, things are especially busy. This is partly due to keeping up with the rehearsals with Oscar Frederick’s Sinfonietta, where Göran Landberg, Professor of Pathology, plays the cello. He has two instruments to choose between, a newly built one from France and another one constructed in the 1700s in southern Germany.

T H E N T H E R E A R E his responsibilities at the new Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine, where he is the Director, and where he has recently begun the recruitment of the first group of top young research scien-

tists who will be contributing in making the centre known, not only in Sweden but perhaps the entire world. The centre, which entails investments of over SEK 600 million over a period of 10 years, is a collaboration between the University of Gothenburg, Region Västra Götaland, Astra Zeneca and the Wallenberg Foundation.

“The Wallenberg Foundation has made financial contributions to similar centres in Lund, Linköping and Umeå, but we in Gothenburg are the largest.

Our centre has progressed a bit further than the others, and the idea is that we should

complement each other and of course cooperate with SciLifeLab in Stockholm.”

And the University of Gothenburg indeed has much to attract young, talented researchers, in the view of Göran Landberg. “ W E O FFE R four-year positions for two postdoctoral researchers and two doctoral students, plus adequate money for advanced experiments. But what is equally important is the University’s good connections to the hospital; in Sweden we perceive ourselves as bureaucratically cumbersome, but someone form the USA or the UK, for instance, when they see our systems they become amazed at how efficient they are. Our personal identity number, for instance, makes it quite easy to find and get in contact with patients who were operated on a long time ago.

Additionally the fact that the University is collaborating with pharmaceutical companies that are 20 minutes away from the Department of course provides even more interesting opportunities for young research scientists.”

The idea is that the centre will focus on everything from

Göran Landberg bought his 1700s cello when he was very young and loves to play on it.

basic research to patientoriented studies in several large and strong new fields such as metabolism, neuroscience, inflammatory diseases, and cancer. “ T H E H O PE A N D expectation is that Sweden will regain the position within scientific medical research that we previously held.”

Göran Landberg himself is a professor and has been a breast cancer researcher for approximately 15 years. His

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latest project involves 3-D printed breast cancer models as a substitute replacement for animal experimentation.

“Previous research was focused on the cancerous cells themselves. Current research is now equally as focused on the cells and the environment around the tumour. The surrounding area can either block or promote the cancer, which is one reason why patients respond so differently to treatment. Among other things, low oxygen pressure

can result in that the tumour grows or becomes suppressed, depending upon which subset of the breast cancer it concerns. There are also times when the disease comes back after 15-20 years, and in such cases we want to know where the cancer remained during that time.”

PR E V I O U S LY O N E tried experiments where cells were grown in petri dishes.

“The 3-D models we are developing now very much

more accurately resemble what it actually looks like in a human. Our objective is to initiate a really good method which can be used in research on other cancers, and to reduce experiments on animals. But research entirely without experiments on animals is something that I do not think that we will be able to entirely avoid for a long time to come.”

One of the advantages of establishing the centre is that individuals representing so

»... research takes such long time.«

many different professions – biologists, chemists, engineers and medical doctors – will get the opportunity to work together, remarks Göran Landberg. “ I CO M B I N E M Y work at GU with a head physician position at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital. To be able to continue to meet patients along with their families, at least part of the time, is important, and naturally increases motivation. Still, it

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Profile

is extremely frustrating that the research takes such a long time. To develop a really successful product, such as Losec for example, requires perhaps 20 years of research.

Unsuccessful attempts in the process, or even absolute failures, are commonplace; most experiments lead nowhere concrete, so one has to be satisfied with progress that is made, as small as it may be, and to not give up.”

C A N C E R R E S E A RC H , as with all other medical research, has a very international aspect to it. Therefore Göran Landberg has moved around a lot over the long course of his career, always with his family accompanying him.

“My postdoctoral fellowship was in San Diego, California.

My wife and I went there with two suitcases and two children and stayed there for two years.

Then we returned to Umeå for a time, to eventually end up in Malmö and Lund, where I worked as a researcher and a head physician.

In 2007 everything was packed up and moved to Manchester. Göran Landberg had been recruited to a position at The Christie, one of Europe’s largest cancer hospitals, where he had, among other responsibilities, the task of building up a new breast cancer centre.”

“I was very comfortable there in England. People are professional, but also always extremely pleasant. The cancer institute I worked at was financed by England’s equivalent of the Swedish Cancer Society and other charitable organisations, which meant that many patients and their relatives made contributions but also visited the research team. But naturally there are problems too. Although the social divisions and socio-economic differences in Sweden are increasing, the situation here cannot by any means be compared with England.

In the north of the city of Manchester, the average life expectancy is about 15 years less than in the richest parts, and patients have tumours there that one simply does not see here.

T H E N U M E RO U S moves has meant that his children have had to adapt to vastly different environments during their years growing up.

“I think it has been useful for them, even if it is not always so easy to change schools and friends. When we lived in England for example, our youngest daughter went to an all-girls school with an outdoor gym in a t-shirt and pleated skirt all year round.

So it is a bit different compared with here.”

As Göran Landberg work responsibilities are so demanding, it is important for him to find the time and outlet to relax. Among the activities he likes to engage in is running.

But his most recent form of exercise is rather peculiar. “swimrun” and involves wearing both a wetsuit and jogging shoes, while alternating running on land and swimming in the water. The contests are done in teams of two, where they are linked together with a rope line in order not to disappear at sea during the swimming parts. Among the events I have participated in incudes the twenty-two kilometre long Öloppet Sprint in Gothenburg’s southern archipelago where the participates run over and swim between the islands along the race course. For me, it’s a fun form of exercise, but also allows me to experience and be a part of nature in every sense.”

But even more important for Göran Landberg is the cello. Before he made up his mind to study medicine, music was his main interest.

And wherever he has lived, he has sought out an orchestra to play in. In Manchester, it was the Stockport Symphony Orchestra, which is one of England’s most famous amateur orchestras. And in

“ IT ’ S K N OW N A S

»But best of all I think, is to play in a string quartet; It’s like a conversation between the two violins, the viola and the cello.« GÖRAN LANDBERG

Gothenburg, the orchestra is Oscar Fredrik’s Sinfonietta.

“When I want to play with a harder sound, I choose my new cello that I bought a few years ago in Copenhagen. But if I want a softer tone, it is the cello from the 1700s that I use. I bought it way back when I was in gymnasium in Halmstad. The neck has been replaced, but otherwise it is a few centuries old instrument which is super fantastic to play on, among other reasons because it is easy to play and has a pretty solid sound that does not change as much it does with newer instruments.

The cello has a tone that simply everyone likes. It has an enormous range, from high to low, and sounds intimate, almost human.”

PR E V I O U S LY, Göran Landberg practiced several hours a day.

There is rarely time for that nowadays. But before the concerts, such as the traditional Christmas concert in the Oscar Fredrik Church, however, he devotes a lot of time to his bow and strings.

“To participate in a powerful orchestral piece, such as Mahler’s fifth, is an amazing experience. But best of all I think, is to play in a string quartet; it’s like a conversation between the two violins, the viola and the cello. I really like Shostakovich a lot, but if I were to mention some contemporary musicians, it would be the composers Ola Gjeilo and Zbigniew Preisner.

However, there is an incredible amount of beautiful music out there, so to tell you the truth, I really can’t choose.”

TEXT: EVA LUNDGREN PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG

GÖR AN LANDBERG PRESENTLY: Director of the Wallenberg Centre of Molecular and Translational Medicine at the University of Gothenburg, a collaboration between the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Region Västra Götaland, Astra Zeneca and the University of Gothenburg. The venture comprises approximately SEK 620 million over a period of 10 years, and at least 10 career-oriented positions for young researchers will be added.

RESIDES IN: Vasastan and in Halmstad.

FAMILY: Wife and three grown children.

AGE: 52 years old.

PERSONAL INTERESTS: swimrun, surfing.

Göran Landberg’s research field is breast cancer.

Global Week

GUJOURNAL 7 | 2015

»My colleagues called me Mr. Afrah because they were not used to women expressing opinions.« AFRAH NASSER

With the blog as a weapon Afrah Nasser runs one of the most read blogs in the Middle East, fights for increased humanitarian awareness, and received the 2014 Dawit Isaak Prize.

During the Global Week Afrah Nasser gave a lecture on the importance of the news media for the world’s many migrants – and the migrants’ importance for the media.

ACCO R D I N G TO A survey conducted by CNN, Afrah Nasser’s blog was among the ten most widely read in the Middle East during the Arab Spring 2011. But how did she start blogging in the first place?

“Since 2008 I was working as the only female reporter of the English-language Yemen Observer, and I viewed it as a luxury to have such an exciting job. I wasn’t writing about politics but rather only about cultural and social problems. But the more I wrote, the more I realised that politics is intertwined even

Master students from HDK had arranged the event, which was part of the Global Week.

in these issues. My colleagues called me “Mr. Afrah.” That was because they were not used to women expressing opinions.

Actually when I started my blog, I really didn’t have a clue about what it would lead to.”

In terms of demographics, the Middle East has a very young population, with over half its population aged below 15.

“President Ali Abdullah Saleh had been in power in Yemen for 20 years and was preparing his son to take over after him. In other Arab countries, the situation looked similar. There were many of us who believed that the political system must be changed.

But nevertheless what occurred in the spring of 2011 came as a complete surprise.”

Afrah Nasser was visiting Denmark when the revolution started.

“I could hardly believe it was true that people actually took to the streets to protest and I started blogging about such things that the ordinary media dared not take up, such as police brutality. Quite simply I considered that I needed to do something, because I’m so privileged. I have a good education, am proficient in English, and I have neither a father nor a brother who can suppress me.”

Pretty soon it turned out that what started as a wave of freedom, in country after country quickly turned into violence and abuse.

“This is how revolutions progress, unfortunately almost always so. When a dictator is toppled, people are overjoyed at first. But then, various groups try to seize power with violence, and it will take perhaps several generations before true peace arises.”

A FR A H N A S S E R WA S being subjected to persecution and threats.

During a stay in Sweden in 2011, she realised that she could not return home.

“Many people wonder how I can write about Yemen, when I find myself so far away in Sweden. But the simple fact is that I have gotten closer to my native country by leaving it. I have a different perspective now and can see phenomena there in a new light. And despite all the misery, there is also a positive development: when I left Yemen, only 3 percent of the population had Internet access; now the figure has risen to 15 percent.

Now she is a Swedish citizen and collaborates with various media, including Radio Sweden.

“I try to get the media to understand that they must allow the immigrants themselves to tell their story. They have so much to say and many can, in the midst of all the misery, be very funny, too. Refugees are among the most socially disadvantaged in the society; they might find it difficult to make their voice heard, but then we have to help them along. And every person is an individual; no one should be regarded as only representative of her culture or a particular country.”

A FR A H N A S S E R ’ S LEC T U R E during Global Week, Migration and Media, was part of the Migration Future Lab, arranged by Masters’ students at the School of Design and Crafts (HDK).

TEXT: EVA LUNDGREN PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG

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Conversation with researchers

about a good objective, to end the war, and at the time we were willing to pay any price at all. One lesson to be learned is that just because the researchers want something good, that doesn’t mean that the results will always be good. Another conclusion is that it is not so easy to determine what is for the best, or what will cause the least harm, in any given situation.”

Technological development largely takes place in collaboration with the military. “Smart war” is the term used when drones, instead of real soldiers, are sent off to search for enemies in other countries.

“Today’s research can be likened to stepping on the gas pedal with one’s eyes intently staring at the speedometer, without looking out the windshield,” remarks Olle Häggström.“We quite simply are exploring areas where we do not know what it is that we don’t know,” explains Christian Munthe.

What are they talking about? Science as a threat to the existence of mankind.

R I S PR /C A S 9 is an entirely new method which has received enormous attention within the scientific community. According to the method’s proponents, it would, in an easy, convenient and inexpensive way, contribute to the eradication of genetic diseases, quite simply by cutting out the bad genes in fertilised eggs.

“Chinese scientists have already done tests on human embryos,” explains Christian Munthe, Professor of Practical Philosophy.

Another method is to replace the diseased genes with healthy genes in the cell’s power plant, the mitochondrion. That can occur in connection with assisted fertilisation and experimental treatment has now been approved in both the US and the UK. To eradicate hereditary diseases must surely be good?

“Sure; it is of course extremely important,” explains Olle Häggström, Professor of Mathematical Statistics.

“But we don’t know what the longterm consequences of these particular techniques might be.”

In fact, what this research is all about is more than simply processing or refining the genetic materials, something humans have been doing for thousands of years.

“Modern research goes inside the cell nucleus and moves the constituent elements around. In the long term

it may be possible to achieve things that never occurs in nature, which then is spread to future generations,” explains Christian Munthe.

Today’s research involves possibilities that previously man never came anywhere close to. We are talking about the Internet and smart phones, but also nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence (AI). But precisely because the possibilities are so great, the downside risks are also huge, something which more and more researchers have begun to pay attention to.

For instance, last summer a letter was published, signed by about a thousand researchers, including Stephen Hawking, that cautioned about recent developments within AI. “I’m a bona fide academic who always valued knowledge for its own sake and I really think it’s important to advance the frontiers of knowledge,” explains Olle Häggström. “However I have begun to realise that research within certain areas may have larger risks than the potential benefits, and in such cases, we should perhaps consider restraining ourselves.” “ T H AT T H E S C I E N TI FI C researchers themselves are aware that what they do can have dangerous consequences has led to several so-called moratoriums: on their initiative researchers voluntarily agree to the suspension of experiments in problematic areas for

a period of time,” Christian Munthe points out. “One such example is the moratorium on the utilisation of DNA technology when it was new in the 1970s. Additionally the international community and individual countries of course can impose a ban on such activity which seems ethically questionable. Thos might work in well-managed States, but hardly in countries that are corrupt.”

Still, at least so far, mankind has managed to cope with a very big risk. Despite the fact that 70 years have elapsed since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, no more nuclear wars have been fought. “ IT I S D I FFI C U LT TO judge whether this is due to luck or skill,” remarks Olle Häggström. “It may be partly because the consequences would be devastating even for the party who ‘wins.’ But the atomic bomb is actually an example of something else, namely how difficult it is stop working on fascinating research, even if they fully appreciate the consequences. When Nazi Germany capitulated in 1945, the original motivation to develop the bomb disappeared, yet nevertheless the research and development continued, partly because the research was so incredibly interesting.”

“Technological developments tend to have a life of their own,” comments Christian Munthe. “Since the bomb was available then, it was used. It was

“ P U B LI C O PI N I O N I N the US is usually against sending young Americans to their death in a distant land,” Olle Häggström reminds us. “That a drone war does not pose any immediate danger to the soldiers can however result in the unpleasant consequence that it becomes easier to argue to go to war. But to use military technology as a playground for artificial intelligence research is probably the most unsuitable thing man can think of.”

Military technology is also used to keep track of people. Edward

»However I have began to realise that research within certain areas may have larger risks than potential benefits.« OLLE HÄGGSTRÖM

Snowden’s disclosures of NSA’s surveillance of ordinary American citizens has stirred up the feelings of many people.

“And rightly so,” according to Olle Häggström. “But what if we end up in a situation where developments in for instance synthetic biology makes it possible for terrorists to produce deadly viruses at home in the kitchen? Is it really possible to protect society then, without very comprehensive surveillance?”

“A pandemic is the typical example of the great disaster when all civil rights will be restricted,” explains Christian Munthe. “But it’s also a reason to put a lot of effort to entirely avoiding such situations. Perhaps we are moving towards a new balance of

GUJOURNAL 7 | 2015

15

Olle Häggström and Christian Munthe warn against risks with new research.

terror in terms of AI, where we must create systems that make the cost of an attack so large that no one will want to start.”

When speaking about threat to mankind, it is often an individual or a terrorist group one refers to. be wickedness which leads to a catastrophe,” emphasises Olle Häggström. “There is a wellknown thought experiment where a robot, which has been commissioned to make paper clips, continues to do so until the whole world has become a single mountain of paper clips. Why? Because nobody knows how to stop the machine.”

“ B U T IT N E E D N OT

»Must we consider if they are persons just like us?« CHRISTIAN MUNTHE

“There is also this thought that in the future robots might be used to make difficult decisions. The idea is that they would have no personal alliances, and instead have a neutral global overview and the ability to figure out how different decisions affect populations in different countries. Thus, they might be able, in a few seconds, to make fair and just decisions that we humans wrangle with for decades. The downside is that it would lead to an extremely undemocratic expert rule.”

For we humans also want to have room to change our minds, explains Christian Munthe.

“The judicial system, for instance, has different levels precisely so that a case can be considered once more. So if the Court of Appeal was disbanded and the District Court was replaced by an algorithm, would people accept that? Or would we end up with a system that, despite the good intentions, becomes inhuman?”

A N OT H E R C H A LLE N G E is to try to take the future robots’ perspective.

For if we have robots working for us, perhaps they should be encompassed within some kind of rights?

“If we are now developing an army of intelligent machines, we must consider if they are ‘persons’ just like us?” explains Christian Munthe. “Robots can be designed as living beings, built of proteins, and if they start to behave like humans, will they perhaps also have emotions and consciousness as a human?”

“Actually, we do not need to decide whether they are conscious or not,”

interjects Olle Häggström. “I do not treat you as a conscious being because of something I know about your anatomy. If the robots behave like humans, we may have a moral obligation to them no matter how conscious we think they are.”

But isn’t there also a risk of being too cautious, namely that we miss out on a lot of important possibilities?

“Sure, if we do not dare to develop for instance technology that could lead to that everyone has access to clean water, this would mean that a lot of people die unnecessarily,” Christian Munthe emphasises.

“But both researchers and funders need to recognise that they have a responsibility,” according to Olle Häggström. “The freedom of research is important, but hardly more important than the survival of humanity.”

Technological development is driven by exciting visions of the future.

But it never works out the way one plans. asserted that technology is neither good nor bad in itself, rather it is the usage of it that is good or bad,” explains Olle Häggström.

“But once the new technology is developed, it’s not certain that the usage will be possible to control. For example, now that Amazon says that they are developing drones that can drop book packages outside one’s front door, it’s difficult to see what will stop the terrorists from using the same technique to drop bombs.”

“One basic condition of man is the need to constantly plan the future without really knowing what the circumstances will be then,” explains Christian Munthe. “Our common moral consciousness often works in such a way that we ‘think away’ all uncertainty. It is not just that we do not know what will happen, we actually are not so familiar with what has already happened either, and that we would rather avoid thinking about that.”

“ IT I S O F T E N

TEXT: EVA LUNDGREN PHOTO: JOHAN WINGBORG

Do you want to learn more?

In January 2016 Olle Häggström’s new book Here Be Dragons: Science, Technology and the Future of Humanity will be published. In 2011, Christian Munthe’s book The Price of Precaution and the Ethics of Risk was published.

Olle Häggström and Christian Munthe also highly recommend: Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century by Jonathan Glover, The Spire

by William Golding, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom and the film Ex Machina.

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Report

JODY DEMING AGE: 63 RESIDES IN: Seattle FAMILY: In a long-term relationship PROFESSION: Walters Endowed­ Professor of Oceanography at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Specialising in cold a­ daptation in marine micro­organisms.

The climate impact on the Arctic Everywhere ice, snow and more snow – an endless whiteness.

The meeting with the Arctic was a life-changing event.

Today, Jody Deming is a world leader in marine polar research and now a newly installed visiting professor at the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Gothenburg.

I C RO B I O LO G I ST Jody Deming has always been drawn to extreme environments. Her first job was at the US space agency NASA, where she worked in a lab and found new ways to analyse bacteria as part of the search for life in outer space. From outer space, her careers travelled, via doctoral studies at the University of Maryland, down to great depths at the bottom of the sea.

Through her research in the depths of the Caribbean deep sea, Jody Deming discovered an organism which, via its DNA, was found to have relatives all the way up in the Arctic region. And thanks to this finding, in 1987 she ended up on her first expedition to Earth’s northernmost region.

“The Arctic gave me a revelation,” she informs us. “All I saw was ice and snow, and it was so unspoiled and pure without the slightest trace of humanity. It felt like I had

found my special place in the universe.”

“I was filled with humility and reverence for our planet, and felt more than ever before that I, with my research, would try to contribute to understanding how everything works in the cold.”

This has been something that Jody Deming has devoted herself to ever since.

Today, the American professor of oceanography is an authority on marine polar research, where she specialises in cold adaptation in marine microorganisms.

Presently she is the Walters Endowed Professor at the internationally renowned University of Washington in Seattle, and since this autumn, she also holds a visiting professorship at the University of Gothenburg’s new Department of Marine Sciences, funded by the Hasselblad Foundation. “ IT H A S B E E N extremely exciting to come here and meet both the students and scientific researchers. I am certain we will benefit from interacting with each other,” she states when we meet in the Chemistry Building at Chalmers one rainy misty November evening.

In Gothenburg, in the autumn she is conducting a course for doctoral students and participating in a symposium on sea ice biogeochemistry in the Arctic polar region.

Perhaps she will also share a few anecdotes from one of her many trips there. At least one expedition per year; so it has been since her first visit in 1987, and the longest period she spent there was for three months on an icebreaker.

TO LI V E I S O L AT E D on an icebreaker with only a few hours of sunlight per day, minus 40 degrees weather along with strong winds; one would think this would cause bouts of cabin fever.

“Absolutely not, the more inaccessible the better,” reports Jody Deming, laughing.

“I love extremes. When at the extreme end, you get a perspective and an overview – something you can never get when you are in the middle. I’m able to clear my mind.”

“Plus, we have a whole lot of fun on the expeditions. People who are attracted to such environments are a bit crazy, in a positive sense. Everyone has an appetite for discovery, and all are very independent yet at the same time team-oriented. We must

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»It was a real awakening for all of us ...« JODY DEMING

work together in cooperation in order to survive up there.”

The picture of herself in a survival suit on the ice at the Earth’s North Pole was however not what the young Jody Deming could have imagined for herself. For girls in the 1950s and 60s’ Texas, where she grew up, their future was already well mapped out.

“I could only envision the path of getting married and becoming a housewife,” she reports.

B U T FAT E D EC I D E D otherwise. When her father passed away when she was 16, she had to find a means of supporting herself.

The solution for the ambitious and talented Texas girl was to apply for a scholarship for college studies. Which college she would choose became clear when she saw a picture of a New England campus in Massachusetts.

“It was nestled in snow. I knew absolutely nothing about the place but I felt I just had to go there. Growing up in Texas I had never really seen snow in person before.”

Jody Deming managed to get both a student loan for studies and an additional scholarship for training in classical piano.

The time in Massachusetts changed her.

“I became aware of what life as a scientist meant and discovered the pleasure of learning, I developed a thirst for more knowledge.”

And she got to experience snow.

“I and my friend from India ran out barefoot into the snow when the first snowfall arrived. We were absolutely delighted with the stuff!” It was her first experience with snow.

Pretty soon Jody Deming realised it was a research scientist and not a pianist that she would become. In science, she felt a creativity that she never experienced as a pianist.

“When I played the piano, I felt limited to interpreting other people’s compositions; I did not have the talent to become a composer myself. But as a scientist I can be creative and actually be a kind of composer,” she observes.

TO DAY J O DY D E M I N G alternates between spending time in the lab and the northern latitudes, and writing and teaching. But the joy over the progress and success of her own research is frustrating to a certain extent because she so clearly sees the consequences of environmental degradation and climate change, how the temperature of our planet is slowly increasing.

One eye-opener was an expedition in 2006, when she and a team of researchers would pass through the Northwest Passage on an icebreaker. The captain cautioned that it would be a tough trip where they would be forced to break through thick ice.

But when the icebreaker got there, the passage was open – there was no ice at all on the water.

“It was a real awakening for all of us, clear proof of what is happening to our planet.”

Professor Deming looks a little dejected when she continues: “There isn’t anything one single person can do on their own, but if all the individuals change their climate impact, we can slow the progression. I am unfortunately a little cynical, we humans have a tendency to wait to do anything until total disaster is upon us.”

Clearly, the planet will be a different place to live for future generations, she is convinced. Our own generation has failed to adequately anticipate the consequences of the environmental destruction we have caused, and now it is left to the next generations to clean up after us and try to slow down the climate changes.

T H AT B R I N G S U S to the 2015 UN Conference on Climate Change, also known as the “Paris climate summit,” being held between 30 November and 11 December. It is hoped that all countries of the world will sign a new global climate change agreement.

What will end up actually occurring is something that Jody Deming finds difficult to predict, but she hopes that the Arctic Ocean will play a central role during the negotiations.

“I want to see a situation where the Arctic region will find itself as a focus of discussion at the climate summit. What is happening in the Arctic is not an isolated incident but rather that is where the change is occurring most rapidly,” she informs us.

“Unfortunately there is a denial of climate change from some quarters, including in my parts of my own country, the United States. You put your head in the sand and refuse to acknowledge what is going on.

Awareness in Europe seems to be considerably greater.”

Environmentally conscious countries like Sweden have a tough task to get everyone else on board, because a new climate agreement is crucial to how things will progress for the planet, she explains.

Herself, she hopes to also be able to further contribute to an increased understanding of what is happening in the Arctic region. Jody Deming has already turned her gaze toward a new, extreme environment there preparing for her next research project. “ I ’ V E B E E N D OW N to the bottom of the sea, then at the ice-covered surface, and now I want to go up to the atmosphere over the Arctic region. There is an even more extreme environment up there, especially if you are a microorganism because there is no liquid and you are exposed to radiation and the cold of minus 55 degrees.”

Jody Deming wants to study the role microorganisms play in the link between the sea’s surface and clouds. The bacteria are

The climate change effects the Arctic the most, says Jody Deming.

a part of the process of creating different types of clouds.

“What do the clouds do? Do they insulate and make the sea surface warmer, or instead do they cool down the sea surface?”

Together with her Swedish colleagues, Jody Deming hopes to be able to make an expedition on the Swedish icebreaker Oden in order to investigate how microorganisms behave in the Arctic atmosphere.

“We bounce some ideas off each other now that I’m here in Gothenburg, and I have already started to apply for funding,” she reports.

“It would be marvellous if we found enough money to be able to implement this project. It would be my last little contribution to the science in the field, and to our planet.

TEXT: KARIN FREJRUD PHOTO: EMELIE ASPLUND

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Report

Open the window to mankind “The great tragedy of our time is that while the world is becoming globalised, the distance between the hearts of people increases. To make a change, we must start with ourselves.”

So says one of the two threatened researchers who in the autumn received sanctuary at the University of Gothenburg.

D N A N CO M E S FRO M the Middle East and Abu from Southern Asia.

For a year, they will be working at the University of Gothenburg within the framework of SAR, Scholars at Risk, an international network that helps threatened researchers.

We meet at GU Journal’s editorial offices on Erik Dahlbergsgatan. First Adnan and Abu take off their thick coats, hats and gloves.

They heat themselves up with strong coffee before starting to talk about their stories.

They can not disclose their real names, their host department nor elaborate too much on what they are researching, for fear of being identified and thereby exposing themselves and their families to increased danger.

“Half my family is in Europe, the other half remains back at home,” explains Adnan. “I’m very grateful to be in Sweden, but also terribly worried about my sons back home.”

H E E X PL A I N S H OW the secret police in his country are known to open fire on protesters and even abduct people.

“When the area I lived in fell into the hands of the opposition, the regime started to send rockets against us, one of which destroyed parts of my family’s apartment.

So we fled to relatives in another part of the country, but I was still very anxious. One day the military intelligence arrested one of my sons. By paying 1,000 dollars, I managed to get him free. But I decided to try to

leave the country. I was advised to contact SAR, which eventually led to me ending up here in Gothenburg.”

The other researcher, Abu, is engaged with human rights issues. He suggests that the terror we see today is a reaction to globalisation. society are affected: the economy, politics, legislation and the media. Unfortunately, not everyone assumes his or her proper responsibilities, when it comes to developing globalisation, in a good way. In my country, the news media is spreading stereotypes about people in other countries and spicing up international events with exaggerations, which unfortunately is all too popular with the public in general. We also have a law against blasphemy, which not only limits freedom of expression but is also abused by those who want to harm others. One of my friends’ sons was kidnapped; I myself have been threatened; and no one dares to go to the police, for fear of reprisals. Now I find myself here while my wife, son and daughter are scattered about in different countries.”

The causes of war and violence in the world are many. Adnan believes, however, that religion has a big responsibility.

“I’m appalled at the intolerance that exists particularly within Islam. It’s like a virus that spreads in which people start arguing about things that happened 1,400 years ago and claim that they will go to heaven if they kill people of other faiths.

How can we create understanding between

“A LL S EC TO R S O F

people with such beliefs? The fight for religious fanaticism has become a market where young people’s lives can be bought for money”.

We need a new, global social contract, says Abu. “The most important thing there is, is to get to know yourself. And one way to do that is by meeting people with entirely different backgrounds or worldviews. We all have blind spots which other people can help us to discover. The philosopher Bertrand Russell said that he would never die for his beliefs, because after all he might have it wrong. And that is what we must learn to understand: we must oppose selfrighteousness and really make an attempt to be tolerant, because we can actually all be wrong.”

A LT H O U G H T E R RO R I ST S and perpetrators of violence themselves have responsibility for their actions, it is of paramount importance that we examine what it is in society, for example in the schools, which creates this kind of behaviour, he says.

“The terrorists who blew up the twin towers in New York or those who were responsible for the terrorist attacks in Paris we all know did not grow up in Afghanistan or Iraq, but in fact in the United States and France. There must be something fundamentally wrong in our educational system that enables young people to become terrible thugs. Technically, our societies have developed tremendously in only the last twenty years, but morally and psychologically, we find ourselves on the same level

GUJOURNAL 7 | 2015

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ILLUSTR ATION: KICKI EDGREN

as when we were forced to fight for our survival. Today there is a wealth that should be sufficient for all; we must not fight, so why do we do it?”

We live in an unequal world where the greatest injustices and abuse is suffered by women.

“Even in educated families, women are often oppressed,” points out Adnan. “How can we develop our societies if half of the population is not allowed to be included as full members?” with global ethical and moral values is what Abu aspires to see one day.

“We have laws and regulations within each country, but between different countries we do not behave particularly well. We must learn to communicate and to trust each other, and not the least instil a spark of hope in the young generation.”

Adnan and Abu will spend one year at the University of Gothenburg. What happens after that, they do not yet know, but they hope to remain here, at least until the situation in their home countries become safe.

“Sweden is a safe and friendly country,” A G LO BA L PLU R A LI S M

»The terrorists who blew up the twin towers in New York or those who were responsible for the attacks in Paris did not grow up in Afghanistan or Iraq ...« ABU stresses Adnan. “But because terrorists can be found everywhere, even here, you have to be careful. We will study Swedish during our time here and try to integrate ourselves in the society. But I hope to return home eventually.”

D U R I N G T H E I R STAY at the university they will, among other things, develop online courses, open to students from all over the world.

“It’s all about reconciling our work with our passion,” explains Abu. “My hope is that these courses will be of some use even in my home country.”

“In many developing countries, half of the population are youths,” stresses Adnan.

“They need education and self-awareness.”

There is a philosophical principle within Sufi philosophy that says that the human body has ten windows, explains Abu. “We have eyes, ears, a nose and a mouth, which are open to the world. However the tenth window is often closed. It’s the one that faces people’s hearts and it feels like that now is the time to open that up too.”

EVA LUNDGREN & ALLAN ERIKSSON

FACTS The Scholars at Risk Network is an international network of 300 educational institutions in 35 countries that is dedicated to protecting threatened scholars, preventing attacks on higher education communities and promoting academic freedom worldwide. In Sweden, the University of Gothenburg is the national coordinator for SAR.

20

Report

“If we don’t move the soil, we won’t get anywhere” The early nature of agriculture and its economic and social significance is a matter of debate among archaeologists. For three years, researchers and students from the University of Gothenburg have engaged in archaeological excavations of a 5,000 year old settlement in Karleby right outside of Falköping, in a search for the answer.

S M A LL G R AV E L road winds through a farm, further down a slope until it ends at a white party tent standing upright in the corner of a grassy field. Next to the tent, which serves both as an eating area for hungry archaeologists and a storage space for the excavated finds, stands Karl-Göran Sjögren, who leads the excavation together with his colleague Tony Axelsson.

“There was one settlement over here, another one over there, a third settlement was there, and a fourth a bit further up the hillside,” explains Karl-Göran Sjögren as he points out those locations.

“Small elevations or berms in the cultivated landscape reveal where he and his colleagues have dug previously. Archaeologists from the University of Gothenburg have been studying the Stone Age society in Vastergotland for a long time, but excavations have been systematically underway in Karleby since 2012.”

T H E E XC AVATI O N S have revealed a system of settlements that are contemporaneous with the known passage graves in Karleby, which are lined up in the cultivated landscape west of the road through the town.

The habitations are on the other side

According to Carlos Parra pieces of quartz may have been used to scrape 5,000 years ago.

of the road, hidden from the passage graves in a sloping field behind a farm.

“We are not talking about large settlements here. There was room for one or two houses, and around them were the areas that people cleared and where the animals grazed. In the hillside slope, it was a bit more open than today and in the valleys, a dense forest. Most likely there was a road system between the settlements, served by ox-carts,” explains Karl-Göran.

The goal with the excavations is

to find out how the basal agricultural economy worked here 5,000 years ago. Scientists have found both well-preserved animal bones (cattle, pigs and sheep) and cereal grains, important clues that can help them understand the agriculture’s character and relationship to cattle raising.

WA S IT A S H I F TI N G cultivation or a more intensive use of the land, with permanent cleared areas that might have been fertilised? To answer this question, Karl-Göran and his col-

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GUJOURNAL 7 | 2015

leagues enlisted the help of scientific methods.

“We have made various analyses and found elevated levels of the Nitrogen 15 isotope in cereal grains, which suggests that those who lived here fertilised the fields as early as 5,000 years ago. We are speaking of stable fields and not a shifting cultivation. By studying the content of different isotopes in animal bones, we also see that many cows are not raised in the area, so therefore there was some kind of exchange or circulation system.”

AC RO S S T H E FI E LD , some figures dressed in colourful rain and work wear are proof of an archaeological excavation in progress. A well-trodden path leads to the digging site consisting of a number of so-called meter boxes, the excavated soil chunks, approximately 40–45 centimetres deep down to the settlement layer, which are examined by means of shovels, trowels, cutting ladles and small buckets. Some of the metre boxes are excavated next to each other in a long line, in order to thus follow the distribution of the finds.

On opposite sides of a single box sits Belinda Stenhaug and Wendy Rundström, on their knees and scraping in soil in a yellow scoop using cutting ladles. They are two of the nine archaeology students who are participating in this autumn’s twoweek survey.

“It is instructive to sit here with my nose in the ground, to wipe off, start digging, finding finds, straining and rinsing, and the final identification of what you find, reports Wendy. There is a big difference from sitting on a school bench and looking at the findings that others have excavated.”

“Finding small fragments and making sure that it is not stone but rather burned bones, it’s a lot of fun and educational, Belinda adds.

And it’s incredibly awesome to start thinking about a human who created a ceramic object 5,000 years ago, and here I am finding it today.”

A S H O R T D I STA N C E away is Malou Blank, a doctoral researcher in archaeology, in the process of digitally documenting the excavation. With the help of what is known as a total station, she produces a digital map by accurately measuring out the excavated squares, stone formations and other interesting objects.

“It’s really a lot of fun digging, she reports. And it’s interesting for the students to come here, there are very many finds in the ground. They learn to recognise pottery, flint and burned

For three years researchers and studentes have engaged in archaeological excavations of a 5,000 year old settlement.

»Today’s archaeology is very similar to the natural sciences...« TONY AXELSSON

and unburned bones, preserved thanks to the calcareous soil.”

Malou takes up the largest pottery shard they found out of a neatly labelled findings bag and places it gently in the palm of her hand. It is a few centimetres long and decorated with so-called cross betting patterns. The curvature reveals that it concerns a piece from a large pot. But like all other finds, the pot has been crushed and ground down through the millennia. “ W H AT W E A R E talking about is frag-

mented remnants scattered over such a long period of time, therefore it is not possible to say ‘this is what it was like here’ at this particular location.

There are expressions of many possible interpretations,” she says. “At the same time it is fascinating with all the information one can glean from the bone material, which can tell how the people lived, ate and moved about.”

All the soil that is dug up is placed in large black plastic buckets. With the help of wheelbarrows the buckets are transported to four water screens, positioned further up the slope. A humming diesel-powered generator ensures that the water is pumped up to the sieves.

Some students are retaining the

soil from the buckets on a sieve. The soil is washed away, leaving any finds.

One of the students, Carlos Parra, with delight displays of a piece of quartz, which may have been used to scrape when it was buried back in the days, 5,000 years ago.

“Those who lived here at the time must have been very resilient and tough; it cannot have been easy to live in small huts in this climate with such cold winters. And they must have been very active in order to find food and moved about around a lot,” he says, making a sweeping gesture with his arms.

He has studied two years in the biology program after completing the undergraduate basic programme in archaeology. Now he goes intermediate course and likes the combination of archaeology and science. interested in human evolution and development. And here the Stone Age is interesting, because it’s so, so long ago. And the methods to be able to date the material by means of isotopes is exciting.”

All the finds made in the water sieves are placed in find bags in order to be examined later after the excavation. Until that time, they are stored in “ I A M R E A LLY

the white party tent, where archaeologists and students now steering their steps. The time has come for lunch.

Outside the tent sits researcher Tony Axelsson on a bench with a cup of black coffee in his hand. He points at something that looks like a small yellow-white cart with an antenna, connected to a car. It is called ground penetrating radar, a kind of sonar created for use on land. He explains that it works well when excavations are smallscale and when one is looking for house foundations down in the ground. “ TO DAY ’ S A RC H A EO LO GY is very similar to the natural sciences as well as the humanities, and here we can offer our students the latest in technology in the form of total stations and ground penetrating radar, plus the traditional digging. And so it is; if we do not move the soil, we archaeologists won’t get anywhere.

TEXT: THOMAS MELIN PHOTO: ANDERS SIMONSEN FACTS The Neolithic Way of Life project is being financed by the Swedish Research Council. It deals with some key questions about how early agriculture was organised. The different ways in which people during the Stone Age, about 5,000 years ago, supported themselves, in what ways it affected how the landscape was organised, but also what communities that could be built up, are all part of the project.

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Chronicle

Where did humanism go?

Y S U N DAY H A S

been spent with the professors’ conseil meeting at the Collège de France, its highest governing body. About a thousand people are working on the premises but the governing cabinet is the prerogative of the 50 permanent professors. Many have large research teams with colleagues from other universities or postdoctoral researchers working in the laboratories. On three Sundays over the course of the year, they gather rather ceremoniously around an extremely huge table surrounded by large heavy paintings from the 1600s and 1700s. Unique collections of medieval mathematical writings appear in a showcase. Those of us who are new receive a document to sign and wait outside the door until we are summoned in, where we get a standing welcoming ovation. A collection of matters are presented to the conseil.

New professors must be elected, newly arisen issues be discussed, the budget needs to be reviewed, and all the other matters that ordinarily occupy a governing body are taken up. A professorship in aesthetics and art is to be discussed, the possible publication of a new more precise translation of Mein Kampf, as well as a tricky matter of a mathematician who is being challenged. On many issues, there is a vote. Each professor writes oui, non, or x on a scrap of paper which is placed in a silver ballot box. This seems a long way from professional rectors and powerful prefects. At one point, something becomes familiar: the professors are concerned about superficiality with research, a downgrading.

The best universities and institutions should receive the most resources.

Now however, parliamentarians from various regions are starting small universities as regional politics. France has 88 universities – far too many according to a colleague next to me – but (I think to myself) we do have many more per capita in Sweden!

We spent the morning at the Place de la République. This was utterly shocking. The magnificent statue with liberty, fraternity, and equality was

surrounded with official wreaths and solemn words about that the whole of France stands behind the fallen in the terrorist attack; that one must never forget. That France stands for freedom which will never be abandoned is mixed with defiant cartoons that god should get the “Nobel Prize in War” or “The terrorists have submachine guns, but we have champagne.” But it is when you come to the small lit candles, then it really hits home, that we know it is for real, and suddenly you see a photo of a young man, and waterfalls of tears begin to fall.

T H I S H O R R I FI C attack has led to heightened preparedness for the climate change summit, and many events have been cancelled, but the protesters are trying to find new outlets. Thousands upon thousands of shoes are exhibited in an installation to symbolise those who could not march in the cancelled climate change demos. Some white creatures go around – polar bears or angels, bearing signs “Coal Kills.” I ponder about it. Is that out of place next to such an agonising monument to the young people who were out enjoying themselves just a few weeks ago? Certainly many of them would have otherwise been here and been participating in the protests, but now their life is gone. So brutal, so evil, and so suddenly. Not only for them but for their parents, brothers and sisters, boyfriends or girlfriends, and for many, their grandparents, who have left so moving scraps of paper on the cold marble staircase.

has rattled everyone. The refugees on the move must be stopped and Erdogan help us. Where did humanism go? Even Iran becomes an ally by the logic of an enemy’s enemy... It does not feel like it is really the properly right time to discuss climate change. But then, when will be the right time? Those of us who are well-versed in the issue know that there is no time to wait. It strikes me that this might be what the future’s disintegration will look like. I read an article in PNAS which sought to show how the conflict in Syria was preceded by the worst drought ever because of climate change. During the 2010-2013, T H E T E R RO R AT TAC K

PHOTO: PATRICK IMBERT, COLLÉGE DE FR ANCE

agricultural output declined, food prices rose, and more than one and a half million inhabitants became internal refugees who fled from the parched rural areas to the cities. Added to this are war refugees from Iraq and other neighbouring countries. The latest research shows that hot – and poor – countries will be the hardest hit.

I see a vicious circle in which world trade, growth and the employment-topopulation ratio suffers, refugee flows and conflict grows and spreads. It is never convenient to talk about longterm energy issues and nerdy systems for emissions trading because we are always occupied by other issues such as political crises, waves of refugees, xenophobic parties, or the most recent terrorist attack ...

IT I S G O O D T H AT the climate change summit continues with a massive array of heads of state, in spite of the terrorist threat, but the popular festival is not to be. My hope is that

delegates feel the pressure of public opinion which nonetheless has a few aces up its sleeve to push us one step closer to a climate agreement with its prospective implementation.

FACTS Thomas Sterner was elected to be a guest professor, for the 2015-2016 academic year, at the Collège de France in Paris, which he regards as a great honour since the institution has a special status in the academic rankings of this hierarchical country. His primary task will be to contribute to the environment but it is not a question of many hours: “I will organise a two-day Colloquium and hold nine lectures. Each time I will provide an overview over an area; then I invite a French guest in who will give a seminar in the same field. No matter whom I ask, they all think it is a great opportunity to come here.” Read more about Thomas Sterner’s inaugural lecture and scientific conference on www.college-de-france.fr/site/thomassterner/index.htm.