New horizons 2 2017

NEW HORIZONS M AG A Z I N E F RO M U P P S A L A U N I V E R S I T Y

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ISSUE 2, 2017

Ulf Landegren

INNOVATOR

Page 20

theme DEMOCRACY INSIDE:

What is a citizen?

Robots in the classroom The frogs in Chernobyl

Page 8 Page 15 Page 18

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NEW HORIZONS ISSUE 2, 2017

PHOTO: MIKAEL WALLERSTEDT

IN THIS ISSUE: TEMA: DEMOCRACY 4 Populism is growing in the shadow of democracy 6 “Great breadth of debate” 7 New role for warlords 8 What is a citizen?

540 years of development UPPSALA UNIVERSITY is an international research university. This year,

we have a record number of international applicants, even more than before tuition fees were introduced six years ago. We attract talented students from every corner of the world, have an office in Southeast Asia, and arrange alumni meetings around the world to keep in touch with our former students. This autumn will see the completion of the research evaluation Quality and Renewal 2017, in which we use foreign experts to find out how we can further develop our research.

Our students and cooperative partners have the right to expect the best.

As one of the world’s one hundred best universities, we should be a flagship for research and education. We have always strived for this. This autumn the university will be 540 years old. At the same time, we will re-inaugurate the University Main Building that has been a meeting place for researchers, students and visitors from around the world for 130 years.

In this issue of New Horizons, you can read about some of the many exciting research projects and meetings taking place at the University right now. As you may notice, there is a wide range – from researcher participation in Almedalen week and experiments with robots in schools to how maternity care can be improved in Tanzania. We endeavour to be a comprehensive university that offers unique subject combinations, formative education and knowledge that prepare today’s students to meet the societal challenges of tomorrow.

Respect for knowledge and openness to society should permeate everything done at Uppsala University. I think this is reflected in the magazine you now have in your hand. n

Eva Åkesson, Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University

10 Mass experiment on source criticism 12 In brief 15 Report: Artificial teachers on the way 18 The frogs are thriving in Chernobyl 20 Researcher profile Ulf Landegren: “I want to build the Company with a capital C in Uppsala” 24 Outlook: Cooperation can improve maternity care 26 Shared interests facilitate integration 28 Innovation: Meeting place for innovations 30 Pioneering allergy test from Uppsala 31 Innovation Prize winner collaborates to improve 32 Addiction researchers who are seen and heard 34 Local perspective to provide global answers 36 Alumni: Breaking new ground in conservative industry 38 One of the first sociologists 40 The last word by Li Bennich Björkman: “Liberty, equality, fraternity!”

New Horizons is Uppsala University’s magazine about research and education. It is issued twice a year, in English and in Swedish (Nya Horisonter). The magazine can be ordered free of charge or down­loaded as a PDF at www.uu.se/new-horizons Address: Communications Division

Uppsala University

PO Box 256, SE-751 05 Uppsala, Sweden Editor: Annica Hulth, annica.hulth@uadm.uu.se

This autumn will see the completion of the research evaluation Quality and Renewal 2017, in which we use foreign experts to find out how we can further develop our research.

Editorial board: Magnus Alsne, Anders Berndt, Anneli Björkman, Reihaneh Dehghani, Sara Gredemark, Linda Koffmar, Anna Malmberg Executive editor: Urban Lindberg Layout: Torbjörn Gozzi Printing: Danagård Litho English translation: Semantix English language editor: Timothy Chamberlain

The paper is produced in Sweden, and the amount of water used in its production is uniquely low. The raw materials come from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) forests.

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NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

Populism is growing.

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What is a citizen?

Political scientist on the new threat to democracy.

Artificial teachers.

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Frogs in Chernobyl.

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The rules on citizenship vary between countries and over time.

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Innovative.

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Democracy in practice DEMOCRACY means government by the people, but how is the will of the people realised

PHOTO: LINDA KOFFMAR

in today’s modern societies? In recent years, populist parties critical of parts of our democratic systems have won growing numbers of votes in general elections. The speed at which populism is growing today surprises even political scientists, explains Sverker Gustavsson in an interview on page 4.

One of democracy’s problems today is ‘alternative facts’ or half-truths being spread online. What news can one actually trust? A full 20,000 school youths are participating in the News Evaluator project by examining their news flows. Read more on page 10.

Further on in the magazine, we look into the future of robots that are on the way into the school world. Perhaps not as teachers, but as teaching assistants that encourage and motivate students. Also, meet Ulf Landegren, a well-known researcher and innovator in biotechnology, who dreams about building the company with a big ‘C’ here in Uppsala. n

Annica Hulth, editor annica.hulth@uadm.uu.se

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THEME: DEMOCRACY T E X T : A N N I C A H U LT H P H O T O : D A N I E L L E A L O L I VA S P O R T R A I T : M I K A E L WA L L E R S T E D T

Demonstration for science and against populism in London. Around the world, more than one million people demonstrated in more than 600 cities under the slogan “March for Science”.

POPULISM IS GROWING IN

the shadow of democracy A wave of populism is washing over the world. The parties of discontent are growing in many countries and coming to power in general elections. This indicates a vulnerability in our democratic system, according to Sverker Gustavsson, Professor of Political Science.

THE STRENGTH OF POPULISM has recently shown itself in a number of widely noted elections. Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in the US presidential election is one example. Another is the success of the far-right French party Front National led by Marine Le Pen. One person who knows a great deal about the subject is Sverker Gustavsson, well-known researcher in political science who is also active in public debate.

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What actually is populism?

“This question is not all that easy to answer.

It’s not that all ideas that come from the grass roots and call attention to social injustices can be called populism – they can indeed be highly justified criticism of society. Some authors talk about ‘unconventional behaviour’ – which matches such politicians as Berlusconi and Trump, but isn’t true of all of them”.

A better definition according to Gustavsson NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

is the populists’ “fundamental illiberalism” – in other words, that they object to parts of our liberal democratic system.

“They’re not against universal suffrage, on the contrary, they’re fans of universal suffrage and majority rule. But they’re negative towards the other side of democracy. A functioning constitutional state, professionalism and legitimate oppos­ition are things they absolutely don’t want.”

THE RAPID GROWTH of populism today surprises even political scientists, even if they recognised in purely theoretical terms that this could happen.

“Ever since World War II, we’ve lived in a kind of state of triumphalism, as if our democratic system is beyond question. This isn’t true, as we are now seeing. It’s not a given that people want to have the liberal side of democracy. Here in Sweden, we are extremely naïve because we haven’t had any serious antidemocratic movement in the past hundred years.”

He calls it a shadow theory of liberal democracy, which seizes on a few weak points. For example, it is not obvious who belongs to the people; this changes through migration and war. Nor is it obvious where power should lie or how it should be organised. Another weakness is that it is unclear where the line goes between what civil servants should do and what elected represen­ tatives should do. Opinions also differ about the actual goal of politics.

“A liberal of my kind would then say that the very point of a liberal democracy is that we are not in agreement about what it’s about. We can work on the issue of what the right organisation is and where power should lie. But when we can’t really be bothered with this discussion, we open up for the ‘shadow theory’.”

Does populism become a threat to democracy?

“If by democracy you mean that there should be certain barriers between popular opinion and what is decided. One should investigate, one should have courts, one should have journalism that questions the politics. We’ve lulled ourselves into a sense of security far too long and don’t really see what our form of government demands of us.”

The political parties have an important role in liberal democracy – namely to identify the voters’ needs and tell them what is politically possible. When this does not work, it paves the way not only for populism, but also for technocracy – the idea that politics are too important to be managed by politicians and that we must therefore engage experts. They may be economists, lawyers and experts in other areas, according to Gustavsson.

“Democracy presupposes loads of expertise, but what happens when these experts begin to say that the politicians are no longer capable of giving us orders? Then we have generals who want to manage the armed forces and economists who want independent central banks and a ministry of finance that acts independently, so that it’s not drawn into the electoral process.”

So on the one side we have the populists and on the other the technocrats and what they have in common is that they distrust the party system.

In the past 20–30 years, technocratic thinking has been common, not least in the EU. “The more technocratic solutions are introduced, the more it paves the way for the popu­ lists. And if the populists gain influence, the other side says that we have to have rules so that our expert areas aren’t drawn into the electoral process,” says Gustavsson.

IT IS A DRAMATIC development, which political scientists are monitoring with interest. This spring, elections were held in France, with the far-right Marine Le Pen as one of the candidates for president, and on 24 September, it was the Germans’ turn to go to the ballot box.

In this election, the populist party AfD won 12.6 per cent of the vote, making it the country’s third largest party. America and Europe share a free-trade model that opens their countries up to the world. Citizens need to feel confident that they do not risk losing out, says Gustavsson.

What can be done to turn the tide?

“I believe in classical politics, investing in infrastructure and making sure that people believe their children will have a better life than they did. Then, it’s important to raise the level of edu­ cation and healthcare and this requires higher taxes. The idea that people’s ultimate dream is to shop more underestimates the voters.”

Gustavsson emphasises the importance of preserving the tension between the parties of the right and left. On the international level, it is important to find a balance between the open borders of free trade on the one hand and national self-determination and democracy on the other.

For example, this can involve the conditions in the labour market differing in different countries.

“If you want to maintain confidence in pol­ itics, it’s not realistic to say: ‘We have to get rid of the collective agreements in the labour market because there have to be equal conditions for competition everywhere’. If you do that, you’re playing into the hands of populism. And different countries must be able to levy different taxes so that the citizens find it meaningful to vote and have faith in the future.” n

“We’ve lulled ourselves into a sense of security far too long and don’t really see what our form of government demands of us”, says political scientist Sverker Gustavsson.

what happens when these experts begin to say that the politicians are no longer capable of giving us orders?

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THEME: DEMOCRACY T E X T : A N N I C A H U LT H P H O T O : M I K A E L WA L L E R S T E D T

“Great breadth of debate”

Johannes Heuman, researcher in history with a focus on French post-war history, divides his time between Uppsala and Paris. During the presidential election in France, he commented on the election in several Swedish media outlets.

Johannes Heuman, researcher with a focus on French post-war history.

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“I DIDN’T FOLLOW the French election as a

historian, I did it because of my general interest in the French debate on ideas. Having said that, history feels very much present and of course that adds to my interest. History has helped me understand different positions in the debate relating to religion, culture and issues of identity,” Heuman says.

The election in France attracted great international interest, as one of the candidates was Marine Le Pen from the far-right party Front National. As it turned out, she did not win (the winner was Emmanuel Macron), but there is growing populism in Sweden.

Similar trends are in evidence in several other countries. What is special about the situation in France?

“The globalisation of recent decades has been particularly painful in France as it has coincided with economic stagnation. Since the post-war period, France has lost its great power status and that has increased resistance to globalisation here. Both Marine Le Pen and the far left have attempted to appeal to these opinions,” Heuman says.

“It’s not certain that this is a crisis of democracy – it may be a sign that the political landscape is changing. I find the debate very lively and interesting to follow, and a broad spectrum of views have been expressed. In that sense, what has been happening has not been purely negative.”

One example of the way in which the polit­ ical climate has changed is the new direction for the left, says Heuman.

“The Socialist Party, which did very badly in the election, has failed to pick up the votes of the shrinking working class and the underclass.

Just talking about welfare is not tenable, you have to appeal to the anxiety provoked by free trade, open borders and a flexible labour market.

The far left has understood that. They want to strengthen France’s independence internationally and have begun to talk about reality as it appears to the losers of globalisation, not just the middle class.”

What will happen now, after the election?

“One risk in the election lies in the expectations that Emmanuel Macron represents something new. To be sure, he has new proposals, but there’s not that big a difference from the former President. There’s a risk of a backlash when people notice that things are going on much as before.

It’s easy to mistake new blood for new times.” n NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

T E X T & P H OTO : A N D E R S B E R N D T

4 QUESTIONS TO ANDERS THEMNÉR … Senior Lecturer at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research and the Nordic Africa Institute, who is the editor of the book “Warlord democrats in Africa”.

NEW BOOK In the book Warlord democrats in Africa, 11 researchers examine the influence of former warlords on the emergence of democracy in African countries.

New role for warlords You are the editor of the book Warlord democrats in Africa. Can former warlords really play a part in democratisation processes?

“Given the right conditions, they can often support the emergence of democracy and in many cases peace might not be possible at all if the warlords were not allowed to stand in elections. Instead of engaging in armed warfare, they become democrats engaged in political competition.”

But isn’t there something odd about warlords suddenly turning into cham­ pions of democracy?

“Well of course their participation in building dem­ocracies is controversial. But it’s also import­ ant to see it in context: in many African countries it’s often difficult just to play a single role – this isn’t tenable in poorer areas where the state has little power. In these areas, the individual leaders and their networks of followers are much more important. As a result, the warlords play several different roles – they may be business leaders, heads of sports clubs or politicians. These countries often experience rapid transitions and the warlords adapt their approach to the context to keep control of their network.”

Do they turn their back on war?

“Not completely, but generally they have no desire to start another war. On the other hand, they use war rhetoric in the political game to play on the fear of conflicts. As former warlords they’ve shown they can guarantee the security of their followers and they like to remind everyone that though there is peace today, who knows what might happen tomorrow?”

What lessons can be learned from the cases you have studied?

“They have an incredibly important role for forward thinking and in persuading their followers to exchange war for democratic processes. But of course there are negative aspects as well with organised violence, war rhetoric that plays on people’s fears and they often mix up the exercise of state power with crime. Often they start out supporting the emergence of democracy but revert to more aggressive behaviour after a few years.

“When peace processes are created one has to be aware that the main thing that makes the warlords turn menacing is when their networks are threatened. They can be relatively good at initiating democracy, but not at managing it; often a new generation is needed for that”. n

When peace processes are created one has to be aware that the main thing that makes the warlords turn menacing is when their networks are threatened …

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THEME: DEMOCRACY T E X T : A N N I C A H U LT H P H O T O : M I K A E L WA L L E R S T E D T

Patricia Mindus has developed a theory of citizenship that can solve a number of concrete problems.

What is

A CITIZEN?

What determines who is a citizen and who is not? The answer is that in many cases it is rather arbitrary, which can have major consequences for democracy, according to Patricia Mindus, Senior Lecturer in Practical Philosophy.

SHE IS LEADING the new interdisciplinary pro-

ject Exploring Citizenship, which is a collaborative arrangement between lawyers, political scientists, philosophers and theologians at Uppsala University. With her colleagues Anna-Sara Lind, Jonas Hultin Rosenberg and Johan Wejryd, she will conduct research on voting rights, a highly topical issue today when the number of people moving across borders is growing while political decisions are affecting many people outside territorially delimited states. This poses new challenges to both democratic thinking and the foundations of the rule of law.

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“Citizenship is after all the very bedrock of a democracy. It concerns the right to vote, but also participation in the democratic dialogue between elections. There is an asymmetry here: there are non-citizens who in various ways are involved in society and there are citizens who are not, who might have moved away long ago.

When states decide who is a citizen, it can be very arbitrary from a democratic perspective.�

The rules on citizenship vary widely between different countries and over time. From the 1980s and onward, many changes have occurred without provoking much political discussion, acNEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

cording to Patricia Mindus.

“Citizenship rules are of a constitutional nature, since they affect the state’s constitutional identity. The form of government of a state, whether it is a democracy or not, depends on who qualifies as a citizen. In spite of this, the interpretation of citizenship rules is often entrusted to bureaucrats in the public administration.”

For Patricia Mindus, the project is a spin-off of her research as a Wallenberg Academy Fellow.

She already leads a research team that is investigating discretion and arbitrariness in migration policies in the EU. “It’s fascinating to investigate why we exclude people from political citizenship. There are exceptions, but generally, you cannot vote if you are not a citizen of a country. Why is this?”

There are other groups that do not have the right to vote – such as minors or those who lack full legal capacity – but they are exceptions, justified departures from the rule of universal suffrage.

“When it comes to non-citizens, the system is designed in the opposite way. Then the baseline assumption is that they shall not vote. This is a very different situation,” says Patricia Mindus.

CITIZENSHIP AND VOTING RIGHTS • The citizen’s constitutional role depends on what legal obligations and rights one has as a citizen. This may include military service, paying taxes, the right and obligation to go to school or to vaccinate one’s children.

• A European citizens’ initiative allows EU citizens to propose legislation. Since the Treaty of Lisbon (2009), an initiative backed by at least one million citizens can invite the European Commission to propose legislation on matters where the EU has competence to legislate.

• In some countries, it is difficult to obtain citizenship, which means that some people are resident non-citizens for many years. Sometimes, citizenship is also not passed on from parents to children.

• The right to vote is sometimes retained when citizens leave the country. Some countries have ministries that represent non-resident citizens.

Axel Hägerström (1876–1939) was Professor of Practical Philosophy in Uppsala, best known for value nihilism.

He was also a sophisticated legal theorist and source of inspiration for Scandinavian legal realism.

HER INTEREST in these issues arose during her

ten years as a researcher in Turin, Italy, where she specialised in democracy theory. She has developed the functional theory of citizenship according to which what a citizen is determines who should have citizenship.

“An example is European citizenship, which entitles a person to vote in European Parliament elections. If EU citizenship entitles a person to vote in EU elections, how reasonable is it that the EU cannot decide who counts as an EU citizen?

The criterion for becoming a European citizen is citizenship of a Member State, which is something the Member States have a pretty free hand with. Some sell national citizenship; others deny it to certain groups. The citizens of the Faeroe Islands, for example, are Danes, but not EU citizens. They have a different passport and different rights. When it comes to European citizenship, it can be shown pretty clearly that there is an imbalance between who is a citizen and what citizenship consists of,” says Patricia Mindus.

In this way, the functional theory of citizenship offers interesting solutions to a number of concrete problems. She recently applied the theory to explain what will happen with EU citizens after the UK’s exit from the EU. Her most recent book is European Citizenship after Brexit where she defends democratic ways to protect political rights, among other things.

“Philosophy contributes creative solutions to public debate,” says Patricia Mindus, who is

Axel Hägerström.

Photo: Gunnar Sundgren 1932

happy that her book has paved the way for two citizens’ initiatives at EU level.

THE BOOK was frequently cited this summer in

the European Parliament’s analysis of the negotiations with the UK. “I hope to put legal philosophy back on the map, not least in Uppsala, and I believe that we are well on the way to succeeding in this.”

She is alluding to the heritage from Axel Hägerström and Scandinavian legal realism, which was the topic of her first book. The ‘Uppsala School’ is known internationally and lives on at various universities.

“There are many legal realist school formations today, with a very large footprint in the Latin world. It’s mostly only here that it’s thought of as a historical phenomenon, but it’s a major tradition that is associated with Uppsala.” n

I hope to put legal philosophy back on the map

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THEME: DEMOCRACY T E X T A N D P H OTO : A N D E R S B E R N D T

MASS EXPERIMENT

ON SOURCE CRITICISM

The News Evaluator, a research project on source criticism in digital media, is attracting great interest. The use of social media to spread fake news makes this an important democratic issue and research shows that applying source criticism to social media requires a special approach.

THE NEWS EVALUATOR was a mass experi­

Thomas Nygren is examining young people’s news flows with the help of the young people themselves.

ment during the Researchers’ Night event in September 2017 and addressed secondary school pupils. Nearly 12,000 young people participated in the experiment. The researchers behind the News Evaluator had hoped for 3,000–5,000 participants.

“It’s great that so many are involved. More results are no problem for us. We have a database that can handle it and it means that we will get a broader base for the research, so it’s only positive,” says Thomas Nygren, Senior Lecturer in didactics and Docent in history with an educational sciences specialisation at Uppsala University.

He is one of the researchers behind the project, carried out in cooperation with Public & Science. In the project, young people review news in their news flows based on set criteria and report the news and their conclusions to the researchers. The criteria are based on new research on how news can be reviewed using a source-critical approach.

“We want to examine how credible young

people’s digital news flows are and have therefore invited young people to serve as research assistants assessing their own news flows, and at the same time, we of course hope that the young people who participate learn to take a critical approach to the sources of news,” says Nygren.

Research has shown that critical thinking differs according to the subject and how and where the information is published. To critically review digital news, a high level of education and a general critical attitude are not enough. For example, researchers tested letting experienced researchers in history apply a source-critical approach to digital news flows.

Historians work with source criticism daily to evaluate various sources they use in their research. But it turned out that the historians in the study were not much better than others at reviewing news in digital news flows. Among other things, they stayed on the news website they landed on instead of looking around on the internet for other sources.

THE RESEARCHERS also examined how news

FACTS Public & Science is an association for dialogue between researchers and society at large. Members include various organisations, universities and private individuals.

Researchers’ Night is an event at which the public and researchers meet, established by the European Commission and held on the last Friday in September every year.

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editors in journalistic media work and it turned out that these professionals were experts at critically reviewing digital news flows. They had a different approach. For example, they immediately began looking for the same news in other channels.

“Everyone who wants to reach out with fake news knows how to make a good website that’s not exposed by existing source-critical checklists.

So you have to learn a different way of being critical about the sources of digital news.”

NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

Besides a critical approach to the sources of digital news, Nygren emphasises the importance of pupils having broad knowledge. To expose fake news, source-critical criteria are not enough.

One also has to have a knowledge of various phenomena in society to be able to assess the texts and images one is exposed to.

Can you see any tendencies in the material?

“So far, the impression is that the pupils have many good and sensible discussions about source

criticism and the assessment of different news stories. They engage in quite a lot of careful consideration. It will be very exciting to see where it ultimately ends up.”

The researchers plan to publish a popular research report in March 2018. However, everyone can follow the research project in real time since the assessments the young people send in are shown on the project’s website, generally with direct links to the underlying news. n

PUPILS’ COMMENTS Headline: Youths chased away wolf from playground Credibility: 8 out of 10 Comment: “There is little evidence that the news is really true, but we find it relatively credible as the sources that shared the news are credible. The county administrative board is a government website and we therefore rely on their information being true.”

Headline: Rating The Real Rich Wives Of Russian Officials Credibility: 5 out of 10 Comment: “The website is dependent on financing from the US government, which might make it less objective. The article uses evidence, but it’s unclear where it comes from anyway. Anyway, there are other websites on the internet that have similar information. This makes the source more credible in context.”

Headline: New bluff message spreading – no Fabrizio will hack your Facebook Credibility: 6 out of 10 Comment: “Since the news source was the Swedish national public service TV channel and they are an independent news source, we felt it was pretty credible, but at the same time they didn’t have much evidence.”

About 12,000 participants are assessing their own news flows and learning to apply source criticism to news stories. PHOTO: MATTON

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IN BRIEF

Gender shifting in older literature

Medicine meets technology

LASSE-MAJA, a thief who appeared both

as a man and as a woman, is one of the trans characters in 19th century literature studied

by Sam Holmqvist in the thesis Transform­ ations. The thesis shows how trans characters in the literature of the period both supported and undermined gender norms at a time when the word ‘trans’ had not yet become a concept. Other examples are the androgynous Tintomara in C.J.L. Almqvist’s novel The Queens’ Tiara and suspected imposters in Aurora Ljungstedt’s thriller Mod­ erna typer [Modern characters]. n

HOW CAN RESEARCH in medical tech-

The autobiography of Lasse-Maja is said to have been Sweden’s most read book. ILLUSTRATION: ANON 1840.

Online support helps depressed parents ONLINE SUPPORT can help parents of

children with cancer to handle symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression.

These are the findings of a study at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health. Some of the parents in the study underwent a 10-week programme of inter­ net-based self-help with email support from a psychologist, while others were randomly assigned to a waiting list and later participation in the programme. The results show that parents who received access to the programme reduced their symptoms

of posttraumatic stress and depression to a higher degree than those who were on the waiting list, even at follow-up 12 months after the programme. n

nology better match existing needs in healthcare? The centre MedTech Science and Innovation at Uppsala University Hospital is creating new interfaces between researchers at Uppsala University and clinical practice.

Uppsala University Hospital and Upp­ sala University are the first in the country to take a joint interfaculty initiative in leading medical technology. The centre will enable closer collaboration between researchers at the Faculty of Science and Technology and the Faculty of Medicine. This will link basic scientific questions in medical technology more closely with needs in healthcare.

MedTech Science and Innovation is co-financed by the Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology and the Discip­ linary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy at Uppsala University and by Region Uppsala. n

The genetics behind rapidly growing chickens PHOTO: MATTON

Unique pathology atlas for cancer researchers A UNIQUE pathology atlas was recent-

ly launched that is being made available to researchers around the world. It maps cancer-related genes and opens up a new path to individualised cancer treatment. The work on the atlas is led by Professor Mathias Uhlén at SciLifeLab, KTH Royal Institute of Technol­

ogy, and is being developed in cooperation with Uppsala University. The analyses of data from 8,000 patients and 5 million path­ologybased images cover all human genes involved in 17 common forms of cancer and show the consequences of their respective protein levels for patient survival. n

The ‘Virginia lines’ are a specially bred chicken population. PHOTO: CHRISTA HONAKER. WHAT GENETIC mechanisms have made

The pathology atlas is now open to researchers worldwide. PHOTO:THE HUMANS PROTEIN ATLAS

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it possible to breed today’s rapidly growing chickens? By using a unique experimentally bred chicken population, the ‘Virginia lines’, researchers at Uppsala University and Virginia Polytech, led by Örjan Carlborg, have studied the complexity of the genetic architecture that made it possible in just 50 generations to produce chickens whose weight at eight weeks of age had increased more than 15 times as much as other chickens. n NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

Woman, viking – and warrior WOMEN ALSO held high positions on the

battlefield during the Viking Age. These are the findings of a DNA study of a Viking Age warrior from Birka made by researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University. The study is the first to present genetic evidence that the warrior profession was also open to women during the Viking Age. The grave from the middle of the 10th century is in the Viking town of Birka and was first described in 1889. Despite several characteristics of the skeleton indicating that it may have belonged to a woman, it

was always assumed that the person buried was a male Viking.

Archaeologists therefore turned to gen­ etics researchers to have the sex of the warrior confirmed. DNA from the skeleton was analysed and proved to contain two X chromosomes and no Y chromosome.

“This is the first time it’s been possible to formally and genetically confirm a female Viking warrior,” says Mattias Jakobsson, Professor of Organismal Biology at Uppsala University.

In her grave, the warrior was accompanied

by a sword, armour-piercing arrows and two horses. There was also a full set of game pieces and a game board.

“The game indicates that she was an officer, that she worked with tactics and strategy and could lead troops in battle,” says Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, archaeolo­ gist and researcher at Uppsala University, who led the study.

The isotope analysis of the remains confirms that the woman lived a travelling life that fits well with the warrior society that dominated northern Europe from the 8th to the 10th century. n

Sketch from the first excavation of the grave in the 19th century.

ILLUSTRATION: EVALD HANSEN/HJALMAR STOLPE.

Ultrafast test

40+ and passé

Independence?

RESEARCHERS at Uppsala University

JOB APPLICANTS are filtered out as early as age 40. This was shown by economist Stefan Eriksson at Uppsala University, one of the authors of a new report from the Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU). In the study, the researchers sent more than 6,000 fictitious job applications to then compile the employers’ responses, such as invitations to job interviews. It turned out that job applicants who were middle-aged or older are often filtered out. n

HOW SHOULD universities be governed to

have developed a new method for very rapidly determining whether infection-causing bacteria are resistant or susceptible to anti­biotics. The antibiotic resistance test is fast enough to enable a patient to take the right antibiotic home from the health centre straight after the first appointment. The test is primarily intended for urinary tract infections, which affect approximately 100 million women a year and account for 25 per cent of antibiotic use in Sweden. n

make them autonomous and independent organisations? This is a hot topic at present.

Political science and business administration are strong fields of knowledge at Uppsala University, and five books by researchers affiliated with the University have appeared on this topic lately. One of them is by Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg, Associate Professor of Political Science, and several colleagues, who have written the book Det hotade universi­ tetet [Universities under threat]. n

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IN BRIEF T E X T : A N N I C A H U LT H P H O T O : M I M M I M A T S S O N

4 QUESTIONS TO KAJSA KRAMMING … Doctor of Social and Economic Geography and Project Coordinator at the Swedish International Centre of Education for Sustainable Development (SWEDESD).

Kajsa Kramming investigated how 343 young people view the future in the thesis Environmental collapse or sustainable future?.

What hope for the future?

You’ve written a thesis about young people’s view of the future that shows that many of them are afraid of an environmental collapse. How did you come to investigate this?

“I’ve worked as an upper-secondary teacher in geography and have taught a lot about sustain­ able development. I’m passionate about environmental issues myself, but found it hard to convey this commitment to my pupils. In a workshop on how the Earth’s various systems are affected by consumption, the pupils concluded that it would lead to major environmental problems and the end of the world. It was all very drastic and deterministic and I wanted to investigate it further.”

You’ve met young people in focus groups and workshops. What emerged in the discussions?

“It turned out that they weren’t at all negative towards the future in general, but as soon as the environment came up, things turned negative.

They feel powerlessness and hopelessness about the environmental problems. They want to do

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the right thing, but they can’t really find their way, which leads to a sense of hopelessness.”

So they don’t find support for an envir­ onmentally friendly lifestyle in today’s society?

“No, they understand that they can recycle bottles and sort waste, but don’t feel that’s enough.

Solar power and wind power are too big and complicated to relate to. They can’t really find the middle ground that is relevant to them and feels meaningful. They would like to see environmentally friendly trends from the likes of bloggers and clothing chains, or political decisions like banning diesel cars. As it is now, they have to take it on themselves and risk leaving the social mainstream.”

So how should teachers teach about sustainable development?

“The emotions can be a barrier to making progress if they’re not included in the teaching. One way is to talk about why it’s difficult and what processes can change it.” n NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

IN FOCUS T E X T : A N N E L I B J Ö R K M A N P H O T O : M I K A E L WA L L E R S T E D T

teachers on the way On the blackboard, somebody has drawn up tables and a few textbooks are on the teacher’s desk. It looks like any other classroom. Except that a robot is standing behind the teacher’s desk.

Jona is just a head, with facial features like eyes and mouth projected from inside, and can help people putting together puzzles.

15

IN FOCUS THIS IS NOT A SCHOOL, however, but the CONT.

Artificial teachers on the way

Social Robotics Lab at Uppsala University, and the classroom scene has been temporarily rigged up. Here, various kinds of robots are programmed and studied to be able to participate in teaching-related experiments.

One of them, Pepper, follows me attentively with its gaze. The large round eyes do not leave me so doctoral student Alex Yuan Gao ultimately takes hold of the robot’s head to break the sensor ray and thereby the motion setting. I feel relieved. It is not surprising that the machinery creaks, however. Research on social robots is still in its infancy. But there is great interest in artificial learning, as seen from the number of projects at the robotics lab.

“In general, we work on teaching robots to interact with people in a socially intelligent manner,” says Ginevra Castellano, Senior Lecturer and head of the laboratory at the Department of Information Technology. “The goal is to develop robots that can be a support for people in everything from education and healthcare to entertainment. Our current focus is on creating scenarios for learning in classrooms and offices, for example, where robots can be instructors for children and adults.”

projected from inside. Using various sensors and cameras, animations are created for the face. The robot can also be programmed to follow people with its gaze and read emotional expressions and behaviours.

On the table in front of Jona is a kind of board game.

“The puzzle is pretty challenging and the robot is intended to serve as a supportive partner,” says doctoral student Maike Paetzel. “If you get stuck, the robot should be able to pick up if you get really frustrated and help you with hints about how to solve the puzzle. So it’s not a game against the computer, but a game where the robot and the human cooperate.”

The lab’s other two robots, NAO and Pepper, are made by a French-Japanese company, Softbank Robotics. At 50 centimetres, the full-body robot NAO is reminiscent of a toy doll, while

HER RESEARCH TEAM recently received EUR

Ginevra Castellano, Senior Lecturer and head of the laboratory at the Department of Information Technology.

In general, we work on teaching robots to interact with people in a socially intelligent manner

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500,000 in the EU project Animatas, or Advan­ cing intuitive human-machine interaction with human-like social capabilities for education in schools. The four-year project begins at year-end and includes participants from eight countries with expertise in robotics and artificial intelligence, as well as education and psychology.

“We are a good mix of people with different competencies in the project, as well as broad expertise so that we can bring together different aspects of the area,” says Castellano.

Within Animatas, her team is responsible for developing and implementing the algorithms that the robots are programmed with. The next stage is for the robots to head out into reality for experiments with people. There are many challenges, above all equipping the robot with the ability to read the pupil it is interacting with and provide responses appropriate to the situation.

“It’s always hard to build skills and abilities for robots that can serve in different scenarios and for different users,” says Castellano. “Social inter­ actions are very complex. But the assignment or the subject determines to a large degree how successful the robot is at teaching.”

In the laboratory’s latest experiment, the robots helped adults solve logical puzzle games and build Legos. One of the participants is Furhat, or Jona as he is also known. Jona is just a head, with facial features like eyes and mouth NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

Pepper’s 130 centimetre-tall body stands on wheels. This also has a major effect on how people interact with them and how the robots can be programmed, says Castellano.

“Since Pepper is quick and mobile, you can imagine he might help by moving about the classroom. A robot face can instead be used for face to face tasks or as virtual support on a screen. It’s all a matter of going back to the users and first investigating their needs before we program something.”

According to Castellano, careful planning is necessary around which pupils, teachers and subjects are to participate in the experiments, and what is to be measured. One of the chal­lenges is building abilities in the robots that enable them to interact with people over long periods like weeks and months. But this is difficult to test for several reasons.

“For example, I might need to work with ten children for ten weeks in a school, and all of these children need to really be available every week. That’s one of the practical difficulties in our experiments.”

Castellano’s research team is, however, already in contact with a school that they will cooperate with in the Animatas project: Katarinaskolan in Uppsala. More schools are waiting in line. “Our long-term ambition is to be able to integrate robots into the school’s curriculum, with the teachers deciding what roles the robots can play, not as a replacement for the teachers, but as a new way of thinking about teaching,” says Castellano. She adds: “This might involve subjects that some pupils find a little difficult to approach and where social robots might be able to help by making the pupils more enthusiastic about certain things.” n

Robot Pepper runs on wheels and is quick and mobile. He can help by moving around in the classroom.

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IN FOCUS T E X T : A N N I C A H U LT H P H O T O : G E R M A N O R I Z A O L A

AFTER THE DISASTER:

THE FROGS ARE thriving in Chernobyl

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is still devoid of people 30 years after the disaster. But many animals live there.

“It’s a paradise for animals,” says zoological ecologist Germán Orizaola, who was there gathering samples from tree frogs.

ORIZAOLA is a researcher at the Department

of Ecology and Genetics at the Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC). In May, he travelled on a 10-day research trip to the Exclusion Zone in Chernobyl, Ukraine, to investigate more closely how animal life has been affected by the nuclear disaster.

He gathered samples from tree frogs living in the no-go zone that is still devoid of humans after 30 years.

“Nuclear accidents, like in Chernobyl and Fukushima, have a huge impact on humans and on nature. But that acute impact lasts a few weeks or months and then radioactivity levels decrease dramatically,” explains Orizaola.

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“Still it is rather high, 20 or 100 times higher than here, but it hasn’t become a dead zone as was expected. Just one or two years after the accident there were many animals in the zone, and they seemed fine. Now, 30 years on, it’s a para­ dise for animals, like wolves, deer, wild horses and amphibians. We want to understand what’s happening there.”

IN THE EXCLUSION ZONE, there is a field

station with a laboratory and with that as their base, the researchers set out to find frogs in the terrain. Besides keeping their eyes out, they listened for the frogs’ special call.

NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

The researchers are gathering samples from tree frogs to find out how they are affected by living in a radio­ active environment.

Germán Orizaola made a research trip to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

May is the perfect time to look for tree frogs since it is their mating season. Even though it was cold for the time of year, the researchers managed to gather samples from 74 frogs. They were picked up in five different areas, with varying degrees of radiation. Together with last year’s work, they now have samples from eight different locations and nearly 200 tree frogs.

“Amphibians are interesting because they live this double life, in water and on land. And frogs don’t move that much, so you can almost connect an individual you have collected to a small area, and the precise radiation level of that area, either on land or in the sediment of a pond,” says Orizaola.

some cases even bigger than a nuclear accident.

Of course, not in the acute stage but in the long term,” says Orizaola.

It is the same in Fukushima in Japan – which was a smaller but more recent accident.

“We are also planning to go there and start tracking from early on what happens. Since Japan is limited in its space for humans there is also much more pressure for humans to go back to the area. Therefore, our research is important there.” n

Amphibians are interesting because they live this double life, in water and on land

NOW THE RESEARCH will continue at the

Evolutionary Biology Centre in Uppsala, but the samples are also being analysed in Cadarache in France, Seville in Spain and Kiev in Ukraine. The researchers are looking for genetic changes in the frogs, among other things.

“We’re looking both for signs of adaptation to living with radiation and for mutations that may affect them somehow. One of our hypotheses is that animals in Chernobyl may be living shorter lives, because they accumulate radiation. But as long as they live long enough to reproduce, that is fine and should not be a big issue.”

What can we learn from this?

“Since no humans are there, there is no hunting, there are no pesticides and no agriculture.

It’s quite sad to say, but it looks like the impact that humans can have on the environment is in

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RESEARCHER PROFILE T E X T : M A G N U S A L S N E P H O T O : M I K A E L WA L L E R S T E D T

“I want to build the Company with a capital C in Uppsala” He ran his first laboratory as a teenager, established his career at Caltech and, since his return to Uppsala, his team has brought forth a string of companies worth billions. Ulf Landegren’s CV is one few can match, but there are still visions to achieve.

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NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

ULF LANDEGREN

Age: 65.

Family: Wife and three adult sons.

Reading: Howard’s End on my mobile phone – which has room for a rather extensive library.

As soon as I have time: I travel to our summer home in the Öregrund area.

The last compliment: Was one I recently gave to a capable colleague and recommended him a job he should apply for even if I would prefer to keep him on our team.

Ultimately, I want everyone: To live a rich, intellectual life and acquire enough knowledge to avoid populism.

“MY FIRST CONTACT with research came about almost by chance. A high school girlfriend got a job at Ultuna, so to be close to her I arranged a job as an adjunct lab assistant. I got a lab to myself and had a huge amount of fun.

I re-invented other people’s wheels, tested my own ideas and wrote my first article at the age of 20. The relationship ended soon, but I had found my place anyway,” observes Ulf Landegren, Professor of Molecular Medicine.

It is 45 years later and his passion for science has anything but cooled – and his enthusiasm is reciprocated. With his team, he has built an exceptional pa­ tent portfolio in the molecular medicine field with inventions that have in turn laid the foundation for a string of successful companies.

“Several of my doctoral students have become euro millionaires, but for me, money has mattered less than the opportunity to influence the business. My vision is and continues to be to build the Company with a capital C and keep it in Uppsala. Unfortunately, the companies are often sold as soon as the price is right. I haven’t given up, but we need more people who fight for successful companies to stay in Sweden.”

After earning his PhD at Uppsala University, his sights were first set on France, but once again, chance took a hand. At a dinner, Landegren shared the table with Leroy Hood, an American pioneer in large-scale molecular biology, and by the time dessert arrived, they shook hands on Ulf joining Hood’s la­ boratory at Caltech. He travelled over with his newly wed wife and ended up staying in California for five years.

“I can’t describe my first period in the US as particularly successful, but I made important contacts, laid the foundation for my own research team, and above all came up with an invention that resulted in good publications and >>

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CONT.

RESEARCHER PROFILE Ulf Landegren

Ulf Landegren is a dedicated cyclist.

Personally, I primarily see myself as a problem-solving engineer who wants to invent tools that contribute to better healthcare, research and knowledge …

enough royalties for me to be able, back in Sweden, to begin to build up what, over the years, has become a considerable collection of patents.”

The return to Uppsala also meant that Landegren came up on the radar of research philanthropist Anders Wall, and with his financial support, ground was broken on a research environment that at times has had more than 40 people on the payroll, schooled several successful scientists and entrepreneurs and not least generated several molecular technologies of use to research and diagnostics the world over.

“Almost ten years ago, I was interviewed in the newspaper Metro, which claimed that we ‘DNA carpenters’ are working in one of the big professions of the future. Besides an apt description of what we do and that the field is definitely making major advances that benefit a lot of people, I have a hard time seeing the profession growing on a par with the IT industry, for example.”

Landegren categorises his current role as the PowerPoint experimenter, a creator who thinks up and visualises what needs to be done and then waits for the person who can complete the sketch and turn it into a reality to appear.

Those who join the team face well-defined expectations.

“I’m looking for colleagues who can take initiatives, build with their own hands and improve the ideas. I may not be the most discerning recruiter, but I’ve had the privilege of surrounding myself with many extremely skilled, often entrepreneurially driven researchers. It’s probably they who have found me, and they have often played a driving role in establishing the successful com­ panies our team lies behind,” says Landegren.

IN 2013, LANDEGREN was awarded ‘Hjärnäpplet’, Uppsala University’s prestigious Innovation Prize. The citation emphasises his entrepreneurial contributions in molecular technologies and his leading role in developing the city’s already strong environment for biotechnology tools.

“Personally, I primarily see myself as a problem-solving engineer who wants to invent tools that contribute to better healthcare, research and knowledge about how nature works, but to be sure, commercial potential is necessary if the technology is to become widely available. However, Swedish research faces a unique challenge here as every application for government funding is public record, which prevents later patenting of the inventions described. A few colleagues and I have discussed the matter with the ministry, and now an inquiry has been appointed, which will hopefully enable applications that don’t make patenting impossible.”

At the same time, he is careful to underline Uppsala’s internationally strong position in the field. He especially emphasises the creative research environment and its successful collaboration with business, a fortunate combination that stands up well by European comparison.

“Look at the government’s strategic initiative SciLifeLab that was originally intended for Stockholm, but after Uppsala had lined up its forces in molecular technology, we were allocated joint responsibility together with Stockholm.

Now we have this incredibly significant resource that I really hope the university continues to take care of for maximised benefit.”

OVER THE SUMMER, Landegren turned 65, an age many long for. But as for countless other researchers, for Landegren it is just another birthday. He describes himself as a dedicated recreational cyclist and enthusiastic book reader, but otherwise doesn’t claim to have much talent for a life as a pensioner.

“I suspect that my wife doesn’t dream of having me at home all day long. Personally, I would rather surround myself with a small, dedicated research team where I might even have time to work at the lab bench myself. Preferably in an entirely new field. I’m a staunch supporter of the value of trying new paths, and proteins and I might soon be done with one another. Well, all I know is that I have far too much fun still ahead of me in research to sit down and feed the birds at the pond.” n

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NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

IN BRIEF

The right melody is in the genes

Just nine days after hatching, the collared flycatcher could distinguish the species’ song.

PHOTO: MURIELLE ÅHLUND

Alternating living for small children

PRESCHOOL CHILDREN with alternating living arrangements have fewer psychological symptoms than those who live mostly or only with one parent after a separation. These are the findings of a study at Uppsala University, Karolinska Institutet and the research institute CHESS. The researchers compared behavioural and psychological symptoms between 136 children in alternating living arrangements, 3,369 in nuclear families, 79 living mostly with one parent and 72 children living with only one parent. The results showed that both the preschool staff and parents said that the children who lived mostly or only with one parent had more difficulties than those who lived alternately with both parents or in nuclear families. n

YOUNG BIRDS recognise and learn their own species’ song even when they are exposed to songs from other species. A study at Uppsala University shows that it is the genetic differences between the species rather than early learning or other mech­ anisms that lie behind the birds’ ability.

The researchers first used various sound recordings of birdsong that were played back for juvenile flycatchers. Young birds that were just ten days old showed that they could distinguish their own species’ song by begging for food to a greater extent after having heard their own species’ particular song.

In the next step, the researchers showed that the juvenile flycatchers kept the ability to distinguish their own species’ song even when they had been raised by parents of a different species. This shows that social factors are not the only determinants – the ability to distinguish the species’ own song has a genetic basis. n

Footprints give a new view of ancestors NEWLY DISCOVERED human-like footprints in Crete may revolutionalise the established account of early human evolution. The footprints are around 5.7 million years old and were made at a time when earlier research puts our ancestors in Africa – with ape-like feet.

Ever since the discovery of fossils in southern and eastern Africa in the mid20th century, it has been believed that humans originated in Africa and remained

there in isolation for several million years before they spread to Europe and Asia.

The discovery of the roughly 5.7 million-year-old human-like footprints from Crete upsets this picture.

“What makes the new discovery controversial is the age and location of the footprints,” says Per Ahlberg, Professor at the Department of Organismal Biology at Uppsala University and one of the study’s authors. n

The new footprints from Trachilos in western Crete have an unmistakable human-like form.

PHOTO: ANDRZEJ BOCZAROWSKI

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OUTLOOK T E X T : A N N I C A H U LT H P H O T O : M I K A E L WA L L E R S T E D T

The use of caesarean sections has shot through the roof at Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania, increasing the risk of complications. Researchers have developed a method to improve maternity care in close cooperation between Uppsala and Dar es Salaam.

New doctor Andrew Mgaya (in the middle) has had two supervisors: Hussein Kidanto in Dar es Salaam and Birgitta Essén in Uppsala.

Cooperation can improve

MATERNITY CARE WORKING IN TEAMS and getting the staff involved – midwives, doctors and others – has proven to be a recipe for success in reversing the trend of growing numbers of C-sections. With the help of clinical evaluations and various measures, maternity care has improved, according to a study by Andrew Mgaya.

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He was in Uppsala in May 2017 to present his thesis. Joining him on the trip was his supervisor Hussein Kidanto, who works at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Dar es Salaam and who himself earned his PhD in Sweden in 2009.

The cooperation has continued ever since.

“It involves both research and education in NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

cooperation between a low-income country and a high-income country. It’s a mutual exchange of knowledge between our two universities,” says Kidanto.

He visits the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health in Uppsala at least twice a year.

“When I come here, I also lecture Master’s students, who then visit us in Tanzania. This is a chain that I hope will never be broken.”

THE RESEARCH STUDENTS attend a sand-

wich programme and are educated in both Uppsala and Dar es Salaam. Mgaya there­ fore also has a supervisor at Uppsala University, Professor Birgitta Essén.

“This is the second thesis on C-sections,” she explains. “Now, a third doctoral student will make a new intervention to improve maternity care from a different angle, reducing maternal mortality and foetal mortality.”

She explains that she and her research team are developing techniques and tools for care providers in Tanzania.

“Ultimately, it’s very much a matter of increasing knowledge on site. As researchers, we see certain problems, find new knowledge and then let the healthcare personnel themselves work on how the care can be improved.”

The approach demands continuity and the research team has successfully achieved it.

Kidanto has continued to research and teach, for example.

“It’s not enough to pursue doctoral studies, you have to continue after the PhD to develop a creative, sustainable group that can train teachers and staff and suggest new improvement ideas,” says Essén.

She emphasises that the exchange of know­ ledge is just as important for Uppsala University, not least through the newly established Forum for Africa Studies, which gathers researchers in various subject areas. Kidanto regularly comes here and teaches master’s students in global reproductive health.

“I teach about the healthcare system in Tanzania so that they can compare the healthcare system in Sweden with low-income countries, but they also see the obstacles that exist to fighting diseases from a global perspective,” he says.

WHEN IT COMES TO RESEARCH about ma-

ternity care, there are special challenges. One is the increasing use of caesarean sections, which is a serious risk factor for both the mother and the child. In Tanzania, 5 per cent of deliveries are done by C-section, but at the Muhimbili hospital, the figure is ten times higher – a full 50 per cent.

INTERNATIONAL MATERNAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH … is a research team at the International Maternal and Child Health unit (IMCH) of the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health at Uppsala University. The team collaborates with researchers in the rest of Europe,Asia, Latin America and Africa.

The objective is to develop practical solutions and scientific methods for healthcare staff and decision-makers that can improve global sexual and reproductive health in various countries.

“Up to an acceptable level, it’s OK, but when many incorrect C-sections are done, it leads to more complications that can be deadly. The use of C-sections must therefore be limited. Women who need it should be operated on and those who can deliver naturally should do so,” says Mgaya.

In working on the thesis, he tested involving the care staff in clinical reviews and improvement measures. In the course of the study, the diagnosis of impending hypoxia and unrealised progress, which are the two most common causes of C-sections, improved. Medical care prior to a C-section was also improved.

AN EARLIER THESIS by Helena Litorp, who spent six months at the hospital in Dar es Salaam, shows that it is rarely the women themselves who want a C-section.

“They are afraid of complications. In Sweden, it’s safer than in Tanzania because of better medical resources while a Tanzanian woman who requests a C-section knows that it’s a life-threatening procedure. Many of them talk about postoperative pain and complications. Most ask to give birth naturally,” says Mgaya.

The same is true of women in Rwanda, Uganda and Somalia, according to Essén.

“Our research team has been able to show why women from Tanzania or Somalia who come to Sweden sometimes refuse a C-section even when it’s acute to save the foetus. This is one example of why it’s good for Swedes to learn something about the African context.”

She explains that Uppsala University Hospital is participating in the new doctoral student study that has begun. There is a lot to learn for Swedish healthcare.

“The global research results can be applied not only in Tanzania, but also in Sweden, in a globalised world with migration and refugees from around the world.” n

… a Tanzanian woman who requests a C-section knows that it’s a life-threatening procedure.

AFRICA

Tanzania

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SCIENCE T E X T : A N N I C A H U LT H P H O T O : S A R A H T H O R É N

How do Swedish global companies receive highly qualified migrants? This autumn a large comparative study will start in 11 different countries.

“It’s essential to get beyond groupings,” says Lena Zander, Professor of Business Studies, who is heading the project in Sweden.

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NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

Shared interests facilitate integration LENA ZANDER has long specialised in cross-cultural research on leadership and teams.

Her new project focuses on highly educated migrants. How can one address integration issues and help these migrants find their feet in a new company and a new country?

“We often look at integration from an individual perspective, but research on migrants in small companies in Austria and Germany shows that integration is largely dependent on com­ panies’ behaviour. This involves both their attitudes to diversity and their corporate culture,” says Zander.

The upcoming study takes the research a step further and covers 11 different countries, including Sweden. It is a comparative study in which the same questionnaire will be sent to large companies in the different countries.

The findings will then be followed up by means of in-depth studies by Zander herself and a new doctoral student at the Department of Business Studies.

PREVIOUS RESEARCH has shown that people

have a tendency to divide into groups, which leads to conflicts. Zander is interested in cases where integration works well, despite differ­ ences, large and small, in areas ranging from language to values and attitudes towards leadership.

“I’m interested in how individuals from different groups find one another despite cultural differences. Often, they are linked by shared interests or values. Is this a result of individual personalities or are patterns discernible at group level?”

In a previous study, she received different answers from managers in different parts of the world. In northern Europe, many people thought individual interests like sport and culture were important for cohesion, while in other parts of the world, religious factors or a shared historical background were considered most important.

“What sort of shared interests can surmount the stereotypes so that we see the individuals

Lena Zander has long specialised in cross-cultural research.

and get beyond groupings? That’s what I’d like to go further into. The results could be helpful not just for companies but also at a societal level, for example in schools,” says Zander.

WHILE THERE IS a lot of research on interculturalism and integration, relatively little attention has been paid to highly educated migrants.

But this group is growing.

“More and more people are coming here from different countries around the world and applying for highly qualified jobs. They may come here, bringing their knowledge, in search of a future for their family or because they are interested in the specific company. The question is whether their reason for coming also plays a role in their integration.”

The project starting this autumn will yield a good deal of comparative material at a societal level as well, as the various countries differ in their approaches to cultural differences and migration.

“The study will apply individual, company and societal perspectives. It involves an intri­ guing mix of countries – Sweden has similar conditions to some of them but differs from others, such as the UK. We will have interesting results to present,” says Zander. n

I’m interested in how individuals from different groups find one another despite cultural differences.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECT The research programme “Migration and integration: Highly qualified migrants’ cultural integration in Swedish global companies” starts this autumn and will last for three years. In Sweden, two research projects are being funded as part of the programme, one by the Torsten Söderberg Foundation and the other by the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation and the Tore Browaldh Foundation (the Handelsbanken research foundations). The countries included in the project are Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

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INNOVATION T E X T : A N N I C A H U LT H P H O T O : B I L LY A D O L F S S O N

MEETING PLACE

for innovations

What is the key to successful knowledge transfer and innovations? One way to succeed is to bring together people with different expertise to solve problems together. UU Innovation has been one such meeting place for ten years and is an important part of the innovation environment in Uppsala.

“WE OFTEN SAY that as long as you find

the door, we can show you the way,” says Jenny Nordquist, acting head of UU Innovation.

She welcomes us in one of the nice old buildings in Uppsala Science Park, where large parts of Uppsala’s innovation system are gathered on the same floor. Besides UU Innovation, the business incubator UIC and the foundation STUNS are here, for ex­ ample. They all complement one another, according to Nordquist.

“If a company comes along that we see would benefit from talking to UIC, we guide them further. In the same way, UIC talks to us when they meet companies that would benefit from developing their product or service together with researchers.”

UU Innovation began in 2007, two years before the government decided to start innovation centres at some universities. Besides providing business advice to research-

ers and students, the innovation centre in Uppsala serves as a portal for companies, organisations and public authorities who want to collaborate with the university.

An especially popular meeting form is AIMday, which was developed here at UU Innovation. Prior to the meeting, the participants get to send in questions and problems, which are then matched to researchers with specialist knowledge. Workshops are then held in small groups on concrete problems.

It began in 2008 with an AIMday in materials science, but in recent years, many other subjects have been discussed, such as welfare, ageing and digital health. The meeting format has also been exported inter­nationally.

“What makes it so successful is that we start out from the companies’ or other external organisations’ own problems and that they address the issue together with

researchers. It’s a very powerful tool for identifying issues that are of interest to both sides,” says Nordquist.

“Such a meeting can lay the foundation for interesting collaborative projects where the different actors jointly formulate the issues and drive the project together.”

AT UU INNOVATION, there are people

with a broad knowledge of specific fields.

Different staff members are responsible for different sectors; for example, there is a special contact person for anyone interested in life science.

There is often a need to meet researchers in several different fields. For example, the university has a collaboration agreement with the construction company NCC. They do not just want to collaborate on technical issues, but are also interested in social issues, such as how people want to live, explains Nordquist. >>

UU INNOVATION IN FIGURES Since 2008 and up to the beginning of the 2017 autumn semester, Uppsala University has been main or co-organiser of 39 AIMdays in various thematic areas.At these meetings, 760 workshops have been held.

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A total of 23 AIMdays have been organised to date by other universities (in Sweden and abroad), including Edinburgh and Oxford.AIMday has also made its debut in Brazil and Canada.

In 2016, more than 120 ideas were addressed in widely different subject areas, such as energy, people and society, mater­ials, mechanics, physics, pharmaceuticals and medical technology.

Three quarters of the ideas are based on products, the others on services. More than 200 people, from students to professors, are involved.

In 2016, 19 new compan­ ies were formed and 2 projects were transferred to established companies.

In total, nearly 1,000 new ideas have been received and evaluated by UU Innovation and more than 120 innovation projects have moved on to business development programmes in Uppsala’s business incubator, UIC. Nearly 50 new compan­ ies from the university have received investments from UU Holding during the period.

In addition to this, more than 1,000 ideas from the university’s students have come in to Drivhuset (cooperative partner to support students) and around 800 student companies have been started with their help.

NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

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INNOVATION

PHOTO: MIKAEL WALLERSTEDT

MEETING PLACE for innovations

Jenny Nordquist is acting head of UU Innovation.

“We’ve had a team that has helped set up workshops with researchers, about sustain­ ability issues for example. We try to meet the companies’ needs for new knowledge.”

UU Innovation also works on commercialisation and putting ideas to use and is keen to make contact with people who want to get involved in early innovation projects originating at Uppsala University.

“Researchers and students often need to supplement the group with people with business expertise and networks.”

In Uppsala, there are long traditions of collaboration in the technical field, and in

healthcare there is collaboration between medical research and Uppsala University Hospital. In recent years, exciting new areas of collaboration have popped up.

For example, archaeologists have worked with companies to develop an app that shows what Gamla Uppsala looked like in the Viking Age and Uppsala Cath­ edral in the Middle Ages.

“This shows the potential when different fields and knowledge are combined,” says Nordquist.

“An innovation means implementing new solutions and often requires a number of different competencies.”

The ideas from researchers and students are refined with the help of business advisers. Some of them can then be taken further in one of UIC’s business development programmes and some are chosen for investment by Uppsala University Holding Company.

IN CONTRAST to UU Innovation, the holding company is not part of the university as a public authority and works more directly as an investor and partner in businesses that spin off from the university.

Statistics in recent years show that the innovation system in Uppsala is doing well.

The business incubator UIC is ranked tenth in the world among university-affiliated incubators and fifth in Europe. The holding company has also made a number of successful investments and exits over the years.

“One success factor is that we share offices and run into each other at the shared coffee maker,” says Nordquist.

This autumn, the entire innovation system is moving to newly built offices just a stone’s throw away in Uppsala Science Park, so they will continue to be found behind the same door. n

Pioneering allergy test from Uppsala PHOTO: MARTIN KELAM

CONT.

Fifty years ago a new class of immunoglobulins (IgE) was identified, a discovery that has been of groundbreaking importance to millions of patients across the world, both in diagnostics and in treatment.

IN 1967, Gunnar Johansson and Hans Bennich identified a new class of immunoglobu­ lins, IgE, and showed that these are associated with allergic reactions. The discovery was made at Uppsala University and Uppsala University Hospital.

The two researchers then worked with Leif Wide to measure the level of IgE in blood samples. Together they contacted Pharmacia in Uppsala and a new collab­­ or­a­tion was born. Today, Uppsala’s Thermo­ fisher Scientific (Phadia) is world-leading in in vitro allergy diagnostics. Thus, the discovery of IgE by the research group has led to the rise of a global company and laid the foundation for clinical and laboratory research, diagnostics and treatments in the allergy field. IgE diagnostics are used every day across the world for patients of all age groups, and this routine method is based on the discovery of IgE in 1967. n ANNICA HULTH

ALLERGIES IN SWEDEN There are no exact figures for how large a proportion of Sweden’s population has an allergy, but a common estimate is over 30 per cent, or close to three million people.

The most common allergies are to pollen, furry animals and foodstuffs. Source: Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association.

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NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

INNOVATION T E X T : A N N I C A H U LT H P H O T O : B J Ö R N L E I J O N

4 QUESTIONS TO HANS LENNERNÄS … Professor of Biopharmaceutics and winner of this year’s Uppsala University Innovation Prize, Hjärnäpplet, for successful knowledge transfer.

Innovation Prize for successful partnerships You have worked in pharmaceutical development for 30 years. What are the highlights of your career?

“I had a long international partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop new regulatory guidelines for bioequiva­ l­ ence (a biopharmaceutical classification system). That went on for over a decade. I’ve also initiated and participated in multidisciplinary collaborative projects in pharmaceutical development that have led to several different products, for example to combat endocrine diseases such as Addison’s disease, and cancers such as prostate and liver cancer.”

As a researcher, how did you start working with putting research findings to use?

“I have a theoretical and more mechanistic under­ standing of the transport and effects of pharmaceuticals in the body. Together with others, I can package that in pharmaceutical formulations that are tested in patients, which leads to more targeted disease treatment with improved outcomes and fewer side effects. That has been a strong driving force. My focus has been on pharmaceuticals that combat cancer, endocrine diseases and pain. I now also work with obesity and type 2 diabetes. It is an integrative, multidisciplinary partnership with pharmaceutical companies and different types of financiers.”

What are your best tips for success in collaborative and innovative projects?

“Success in business and research requires a good partnership. That may sound like a cliché, but just like in sports, it’s important to play for a good team and work with people who want to get ahead and improve. It’s not that you need ‘yes’ people, but rather, people who are prepared to work hard together. There are no magic solutions; it’s all about hard work, good collaboration, competence and sharing a goal.”

What do you have underway right now?

“I’m working on two development projects. One is about improved treatment of liver cancer and the other is about pharmaceuticals to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. Both projects are run in the Uppsala–Stockholm region, in collaborations with around ten people with varying expertise.” n

HJÄRNÄPPLET ”Hjärnäpplet”, the Uppsala University Innovation Prize, is presented annually for outstanding transfer of knowledge from academia to a company or another external organisation that has resulted in innovation. The decision is taken by the Vice-Chancellor after preparation by an award committee comprising internal and external representatives. The award is presented at the Inauguration of Professors in November.

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COLLABORATION T E X T : M A G N U S A L S N E P H OTO : D A N I E L O L S S O N

Addiction researchers who are seen and heard In July, U-Fold, a forum for research on prescription and illicit drug addiction, celebrated its five-year anniversary at Almedalen week by holding five new, well-attended seminars. But how does one make one’s voice heard in the buzz of the world’s largest democratic meeting place?

“ALMEDALEN WEEK is simply an environment that demands hard work and adaptation.

If you want the journalists to cover your particular seminar, you have to offer meaty subjects and profile-heavy panels. On the other hand, it’s a university’s task to participate where public debate is going on and when the world’s largest democratic meeting place is arranged a few hours away from Uppsala, it feels like a given to take the opportunity.”

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Fred Nyberg, Post-Retirement Professor in Biological Addiction Research, is among the veterans at Almedalen week. In charge of research in the government’s initiative Mobil­ isation Against Narcotics, he recognised early on the Gotland arena’s significance to being visible, spreading knowledge and building networks. In 2011, when he laid the foundation for U-Fold – Uppsala University’s forum for research on prescription and illicit drug addiction – the step

NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

U-FOLD’S FIVE SEMINARS: • Integration of newcomers to Sweden • Is zero tolerance necessary?

• Hepatitis C – how are we to achieve the WHO goal of eliminating the disease by 2030?

• Addiction care from a holistic perspective • Drugs, trafficking and terrorism

Fred Nyberg with Annika Jankell and Charlotte Skoglund at a seminar on integration.

PHOTO: NEWS ØRESUND, JOHAN WESSMAN

In total, Uppsala University arranged around 50 different seminars during Almedalen week.

to Visby was short. As early as 2013, the forum held its first three seminars at Almedalen week; this year, it was five.

“We work on subjects that we deem to be upcoming news and that are linked to areas where we conduct or see a need for research. After the seminar, we keep the discussion going by gathering the participants for a meal together and by following up the lines of interest at U-Fold’s own meeting places in Uppsala. We are also often contacted by groups who’ve noticed us in Almedalen and want to propose various forms of collaboration,” says Nyberg.

ONE OF THIS YEAR’S Almedalen efforts was to shed light on the steps required to achieve the WHO’s goal of eliminating hepatitis C by 2030.

In Sweden, Nyberg explains, the gap between addiction care and psychiatry has finally been bridged, but many still feel the absence of a clear link to the diseases of addiction. In autumn 2016, U-Fold was contacted by some of the country’s leading experts with the aim of moving developments forward.

“Sweden has the second highest percentage of narcotics-related deaths in the whole EU and the government is now acting to help people in the risk zone and reduce the death rate. At the same time, many people who take drugs intravenously are struck by the deadly virus hepatitis C, without getting access to the curative medications available. So efforts are required to catch and treat all of those infected in time before they become severely ill or spread the disease further,” explains Nyberg.

The interdisciplinary group gathered under U-Fold’s flag and formulated a consensus docu­ ment in which they introduce a strategy for improved treatment. The proposal launched in April attracted extensive attention and when the group presented its work in Almedalen, the lecture theatre was well filled.

“We formulated the document in the course of a few effective afternoons, and it’s just one example of the power of the open network efforts that U-Fold conducts. Thanks to broad contact points, we can catch issues and assume a leading role in them before they even come up on society’s radar. For example, we collaborated with the journalists Sanna Lundell and Ann Söderlund on co-dependence in connection with the public service TV documentary “Djävulsdansen” [Dance with the devil], and when last year’s stream of unaccompanied minors reached Sweden, we were already training the staff at the care and housing homes in how they can keep young migrants away from drugs,” says Nyberg.

Sweden has the second highest percentage of narcotics-related deaths in the whole EU

THIS SUMMER’S Almedalen visit also generated several new ideas. U-Fold’s autumn calendar includes a seminar on gambling addiction, an area expected to dominate many debate arenas if the proposed deregulation of Sweden’s gambling market is passed.

“We highlighted gambling addiction in Almedalen as early as 2015 and will probably have reason to revisit the topic in Visby. It’s certain in any case that U-Fold will return to Almedalen week in 2018.” n

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COLLABORATION T E X T : J O S E F I N S V E N S S O N P H O T O : M I K A E L WA L L E R S T E D T

The new cruise ship quay will be opened in April 2018.

ILLUSTRATION: REGION GOTLAND

Local perspective to provide

GLOBAL ANSWERS

Cruise ship traffic is a growing industry worldwide and the new quay on Gotland is expected to attract a large number of visitors to the island. But what does this mean for Gotland as a tourist destination?

IS IT POSSIBLE TO CREATE conditions for the robust, economically beneficial and prudent development of experience-driven short-term tourism? This is a question that Owe Ronström, Professor of Ethnology, and his colleagues are exploring in the research project “Sustainable visits”.

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The new cruise ship quay in Visby will be ready for opening in April 2018, but is already the starting point for an interdisciplinary research project at Campus Gotland. The goal is to explore what sustainable visits can be in a broad, global perspective.

“But we’re not studying the cruise industry NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

Owe Ronström, Professor of Ethnology, is exploring what happens when Visby residents and cruise ship tourists meet.

as such, it’s rather that this will be the platform from which we view the world,” explains Ronström.

There is a great deal of research on both migration and tourism, but considerably less attention has been paid to those who receive visitors, he says.

“Our project is not a study of the visited, nor of the visitors. Rather, the study is at the interface – what happens here when many people are moving around and what then comes into being at a certain point?”

ONE QUESTION is what happens when a growing number of visitors come to a place, and how different groups relate to and affect one another.

“We know for example that a growing number of the people visited are uncomfortable with it, in Venice and Barcelona, for instance, but also here on Gotland. We also know that different groups of visitors are not compatible with each other.”

As an example, he brings up his latest visit to the Greek island Lesbos.

“I was there to investigate how one type of visitor – migrants – have wiped out another type of visitor, namely the tourists. This has resulted in the permanent residents losing their jobs and their livelihoods.”

So the programme is seeking answers to how conditions can be created for more sustain­ able visits. It also seeks to actively contribute to both developing and establishing sustainable

SUSTAINABLE VISITS “Sustainable visits” is a large-scale and long-term research, education and collaboration programme that intends to link multidisciplinary research, education and collaboration with business and society. In a broad, global perspective, but with Gotland and the planned cruise ship quay in Visby as a concrete ‘case’, the goal is to: • explore what sustainable visits may be and how they can be achieved from a regional, national and global perspective; • actively contribute to developing and establishing sustainable perspectives in the tourism industry; • explore and develop formats for interdisciplinarity at Campus Gotland; • develop new courses at Campus Gotland in connection with the programme at Bachelor’s and Master’s level.

perspectives in the tourism industry. Several of the sub-projects interact with local and regional actors, such as the world heritage coordinator in Visby, the Swedish National Heritage Board and Region Gotland.

“We are also cooperating with civil society and individual actors,” says Ronström.

The research extends over a broad interdisciplinary field and concerns such areas as just­ ice and power, representation, positions and identification, sustainability, ecology and natural resource use, as well as cultural heritage and cultural conservation.

“This is the largest research effort in the field in Sweden. The ambition is for it to become a long-term project that will comprise up to 40 people. Issues like this can’t be addressed short term and, consequently, we have to continue to build up this environment,” says Ronström. n

… what happens here when many people are moving around and what then comes into being at a certain point?

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ALUMNI T E X T : L I S A T H O R S É N P H O T O : M I K A E L WA L L E R S T E D T

Breaking new ground The art of communicating simply and precisely to get a message across is one of the things Therese Lundstedt learned from her studies in Uppsala. Today, she is the CEO of the online broker Aktieinvest and is passionate about more people discovering saving in shares.

THERESE LUNDSTEDT wants us to care more about our savings.

“Sometimes, money can make life much easier. Traditionally, the stock market has been the preserve of the rich. Many still believe this to be true. But in actuality, there is no better form of savings than shares when it comes to being able to afford one’s dreams,” she says.

Since she finished her studies in Uppsala in 2005, she has worked her way up in the financial sector. Much of what Therese Lundstedt does is about communication, such as showing what she and her colleagues have to offer and why it is so good.

In Uppsala, she wrote her Master’s thesis on customer loyalty.

“My supervisor could not emphasise enough the importance of communicating simply, clearly and directly. ‘Not a single unnecessary word!’ was his advice. If he saw how we communicate today at Aktieinvest, I think he would be pleased.”

Otherwise, Therese Lundstedt’s best Uppsala memories are from her volunteering in the Uppsala Business and Economics Student Association. She was in charge of the Contact Days and served as Vice President for a period of time.

“It was a fun and enriching time. I still spend time with many of the people I met then.”

When Aktieinvest recruited her as their CEO in 2015, it was with a clear mandate to modernise and digitalise the business.

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Today, the marketing department is entirely digitalised and several new savings products have seen the light of day, such as a savings box for everyone who wants to make monthly savings in gender-equal com­panies. The portfolio has been developed with the help of Sandra Lindqvist, Framtidsfeministen, who can present data showing that gender-equal companies perform better in the stock market.

Therese Lundstedt feels that Aktieinvest showed courage when they recruited her as the CEO in 2015, a young woman among old men.

“Everyone who makes decisions outside the norm can expect to be called into question. I myself feel that I make extra efforts to succeed in my position. I am so aware that a failure would not just affect me, but also other women in the industry.”

It has gone very well so far. Since she took office as the CEO, the business has turned from loss to profit and earlier this year, the Ledarna management organisation named her the Female Leader of the Future.

IN THE CITATION for the prize, Ledarna

emphasised Therese Lundstedt’s inclusive leadership as a success factor in the process of change.

“It’s a challenge to convince people to change at so many different levels. The management, board and employees all need to be singing from the same hymn

sheet. But I prefer to put myself in challenging contexts where I can succeed.

“A large part of the fun of my job is that I can cheer people on and be there when they grow at the same time that I myself learn a great deal every day. We are like a big team,” explains Therese Lundstedt.

Besides leading the strategic process of change, she participates in all of the different parts of the business as often as possible.

“The finance industry is changing rapidly so there is a lot to keep track of. For me, it’s great that there are always new things to learn since I am fast and restless as a person.

I like it when things are in motion.”

DESPITE AN OFTEN hectic professional

everyday life, Therese Lundstedt describes Aktieinvest as a very friendly company where professionalism goes hand in hand with warmth.

“Here, people change toilet paper rolls for each other. That usually says something about the atmosphere. And we can laugh.

I think that can be a good way to let off tension.”

If she were to give advice to other young women, and men, who are aiming high in the finance world, it would be to do what she has done, work with things that can be measured.

“Be measurable! And if you aim high, you have to be courageous when a chance presents itself. Take on a difficult job that feels scary, then you’ll learn loads.” n NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

THERESE LUNDSTEDT

Age: 35 years old.

Title: CEO of Aktieinvest.

Education: Master of Science in Business and Management, Uppsala University.

Family: Mother, father, two sisters, four nieces and nephews and around 40 colleagues.

Leisure-time interests: Exercising, drinking wine, laughing with friends. And I have just earned my hunting licence.

Favourite place in Uppsala: Kakelbaren at the Stockholms nation student association.

Favourite place on Earth: The family retreat in Väster-Övsjö in Jämtland. I go there to hide and recharge my batteries.

This makes me happy: Other people. I get energy from being together with others.

This makes me angry: Online hate and xenophobia make me incredibly frustrated.

Motto: No guts, no glory.

“Take on a difficult job that feels scary, then you’ll learn loads,” is the advice of Therese Lundstedt, CEO of Aktieinvest.

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ALUMNI T E X T & P H O T O : A N N I C A H U LT H

One of the first sociologists 4 QUESTIONS TO KARIN BUSCH ZETTERBERG … one of the first sociologists in Sweden, she built up Sifo together with her husband Hans L. Zetterberg.

KARIN BUSCH ZETTERBERG

In your leisure time: Involved in the Red Cross’s tutoring help in Rinkeby and the organisation Just Arrived that helps recently arrived refugees. Renovating the family’s country home in Jämtland.

Last book read: Johan Asplund’s Ord för ord. En polygraf [Word for word. A polygraph], which recently came out. He’s an interesting sociologist, who was actually external reviewer at my licentiate defence.

What makes you angry? Intolerance and hatred.

What makes you happy? The light summer nights in Jämtland. When it’s late in the evening and completely light out. It’s really special.

Hidden talent: I enjoy cooking – but everyone knows that.

You came to Uppsala in 1959 to study sociology. What made you decide on sociology?

“I’ve always been interested in society and it felt new and exciting. Then I received a scholarship to Stanford University in California and studied there for a year. When I came back, I got a job at the Department of Sociology as a teaching and research assistant. We did all kinds of studies and I joined the sociology of markets group.

“This was a time when the number of students was growing quickly. I started teaching even before I was done with my licentiate degree because students just poured in. Sometimes I had to give the same lecture twice because the groups were so large.”

You worked for a long time as research director at Sifo, the Swedish Institute of Public Opinion Research. Are there any assignments you remember in particular?

“Yes, of course both the referendum on nuclear power and the wage earner investment funds are the kinds of things I can never forget. One issue that’s interested me a great deal over the years

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is migration and another memorable survey was about working life in different countries and resulted in the book, The World at Work.”

What was it like to work so closely with your husband?

“It was a lot of fun. We did some projects together, but also had our own projects. We talked a lot about work and had different perspectives and ideas. Hans was incredibly creative and kept developing and coming up with new things. It never became routine.”

What do you remember in particular from your years as a student in Uppsala?

“I was active at the Norrlands nation student association, both as theatre director and scholarship hostess, and there was always a lot happening there.

“My time in Uppsala was a period when we learned a great deal, but could also debate freely about everything under the sun and encounter many different opinions. Sometimes we debated just for the sake of debate, but still... It was very useful and educational.” n NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017

IN BRIEF

New building gathering many AT THE BEGINNING of the autumn se-

mester, the Segerstedt Building was inaug­ urated for employees and guests. The building, which will be the workplace of the university management and around 600 employees, gathers the university’s administration and will be a meeting place for the entire university.

Author with own archive PROFESSOR of Literature Johan Svedjedal recently published a noted biography of the author Karin Boye, Den nya dagen gryr [The new day is dawning]. Karin Boye studied at Uppsala and there is an archive here devoted to her life.

“This biography could hardly have been written without the archive materials at Uppsala University Library,” says Svedjedal.

“There is Karin Boye’s own archive (with manuscripts, letters, photos and clippings) and the Margit Abenius archive (with letters and interview notes on Boye). There is also material in the university archive that sheds light on Boye’s studies and social life during her intensive time as a student in Uppsala. While I was writing the book, most of Boye’s archive became available in digital format through Alvin.”

The actual environment of the university library Carolina Rediviva meant a lot to Karin Boye herself – it was there she studied and experienced an unhappy love affair. She actually also devoted a poem to the library in which the building itself gets to represent an intellectual attitude. n

In the Segerstedt Building, built by Akademiska Hus, there is a service desk for students and others, a restaurant and a meeting centre where everyone in the university can book meeting rooms.

The building is named after Torgny Segerstedt (1908–1999), Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University for more than 20

years (1955–1978). The central location behind the castle, midway between Ekonomikum and the Ångström Laboratory, makes the building convenient for visitors and employees. The entrance has been adorned with the installation Color wheel by the American artist Spencer Finch. n

Environmental Disa Prize to thinking important Carina Burman to Alumna of the Year ANITA FALKENEK is the CEO of KRAV

and has long worked with environmental and sustainability issues. The foundation was laid by a degree in ecotoxicology and biology from Uppsala University. Now, she has been named Alumna of the Year 2017.

“I’m very taken aback and of course very pleased,” says Anita Falkenek.

She has worked with environmental and sustainability issues her entire professional life, including as an environmental manager at ICA, at the World Wide Fund for Nature and as sustainability manager at Åhléns.

Since 2015, she has been a member of the board of Miljömärkning Sverige AB – better known as the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.

She looks back on her time as a student in Uppsala with joy.

“I have many happy memories. I was involved at the Östgöta nation, both in the restaurant and as the head welcomer of new students, and the studies were also good fun. In Uppsala there is a great mixture of tradition and innovation.” n

CARINA BURMAN, author, writer on cultural matters and researcher in literary studies at Uppsala University, received the 2017 Disa Prize for her popular writings, which are often influenced by her own research.

“Of course I’m very happy! It feels like recognition of the fact that I try to write texts that are accessible to everyone,” says Burman. “Although I include notes and references in my books, I’m careful they are comprehensible.”

Her latest book Vi romantiska resenärer.

Med Ellen Rydelius i Rom [We romantic travellers. With Ellen Rydelius in Rome] has been described as a mix of biography, book history – and travel guide. n

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PHOTO: MIKAEL WALLERSTEDT

The last word

LI BENNICH BJÖRKMAN Professor of Eloquence and Political Science

“Liberty, equality, fraternity!”

THE FRENCH revolutionaries threw a

In most of the world, being a woman means being fundamentally disadvantaged and thereby not free

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hier­archical and unjust society on the dust heap with forward-thinking ideas: not just the few, but the many should be able to live good lives over which they themselves have control. Rarely has anything proven to be more difficult to realise politically, however.

Together, these ambitions create a humane and decent society. Applied individually, they can, and often do, lead to the opposite.

Amartya Sen, who has been awarded the 2017 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, asserts that it is only greater political equality – democracy – that will lead to the many gaining the freedom to govern their own lives. Making political power dependent on the entire people and not just the elite will put disadvantage on the political agenda systematically, not just because of the benevolence of individual leaders. The political leaders cannot afford to leave be.

The lack of freedom gradually decreases through reforms that create conditions for reduced vulnerability. Education, public healthcare, sanitation and housing increase the individual’s ability to make choices for or against.

What we all want to be able to do in our short time here on Earth, to live a good life as we see fit, is within reach for more people. This, nothing else, is development. Sen’s way of looking at things has had a considerable impact, and has influenced both the United Nations’ development programmes and the thinking of the World Bank.

But what about fraternity? Sen noted early on that a free, humane and decent society can never be a reality unless women’s freedom increases. In most of the world, being a woman means being fundamentally disadvantaged and thereby not free.

According to Sen’s wishes, the money from the Johan Skytte Prize, SEK 500,000, will go to the foundation for girls’ education and healthcare in India and Bangladesh that he himself created, the Pratichi Trust, as did the prize money he received when he was awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1998. By brain and heart alike, Amartya Sen is creating a better world. n

NEW HORIZONS: ISSUE 2,2017