GU-Journal no 6 2011

i s s u e 6 | n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 1

When the West meets Kathmandu Alexandra Krettek works with health in Nepal

page 8

reorganisation

global week

maths for everyone

Sahlgrenska says no

Welcome to an international event

Meet teachers that make mathematics fun

page 4

page 6

page 12

UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG

2

Words from the Vice-chancellor

A journal for the Universit y of Gothenburg’s employees

November

We have to defend free research

E d i to r - i n - C h i e f a n d P u b l i s h e r

Allan Eriksson 031 - 786 10 21 allan.eriksson@gu.se e d i to r & d ep u t y p u b l i s h e r

Eva Lundgren 031 - 786 10 81 eva.lundgren@gu.se p h oto g r a p h y & r ep r o d u c t i o n

Johan Wingborg 031 - 786 29 29 johan.wingborg@gu.se a n B j ö r k lu n d , minister of research and education, was a guest at this year’s graduation celebration which was held recently. It was very nice but also an extremely good oppor­ tunity to bring up some issues that are very important for the university.

I reflected on what role the university should play in a world in which the so called market takes an increasingly important posi­ tion in all sectors of society, including the university and college sector. This is a very timely question in a situation in which the Swedish university landscape is being put under pressure. Jan Björklund has clearly said that there are too many schools for higher education in Sweden and he wants to see the sector become more effective.

T h e G ov e r n m e n t ’ s a m b iti o n is to make Sweden one of the world’s foremost know­ ledge nations. This means that the signifi­ cance of new knowledge will be in focus for society as well. In terms of stimulating the advent of new knowledge, the university has a key role and a great social responsibility.

It is important to think about what the conditions are for it to be possible to develop and strengthen education and research to make them world class. The time point is well chosen. In a year the Government will issue a new proposition for research and innovation policy.

Running research and education free of economic, political and ideological interests is a very important point of departure for us as a university. At the same time, a modern university has to be open to society, to follow and influence social developments by being a visible and clear actor.

For me, it is obvious that the problems and challenges that our society faces – regardless of whether it has to do with how we spread democracy in the world, how we distribute the world’s resources in a fair way or how we create a society that is sustainable in the long term – require that we much more than today have to think over scientific boundaries and work in a cross disciplinary way.

For universities and colleges to be able to contribute the knowledge that is needed to solve large social questions we need not only to be free of political control, it also has to do with being able to independently control the resources we have for education and research.

g r a p h i c d e s i g n & l ayo u t

Anders Eurén 031 - 786 43 81 anders.euren@gu.se contributing author

Lars Nicklason contributing graphic designer

Björn S Eriksson T r a n s l at i o n

Janet Vesterlund address

GU Journal University of Gothenburg Box 100, 405 30 Göteborg e-post

gu-journalen@gu.se internet

www.gu-journalen.gu.se photo: Hille vi nagel

ISSN

1402-9626 issues

The greatest knowledge transfer from the university to society takes place via the students. All education must therefore rest on scientific grounds. To ensure that this takes place, research efforts must be connected to education. be defended. In a time when more and more research funds are being controlled and predetermined, the portion of free research decreases, that is the research that is driven by curiosity and is not predetermined. The latest signals from the EU Commission, that they want to see closer connections between universities and enterprise in the large research efforts within the EU, are thus worrisome. This is serious because it is through free research that the large and socially useful achievements are often realised.

Finally, I would like to give a reminder about the workshops about the future that are being held here at the University every Wednesday during the entire fall (University building room 10, 2:30 to 4:00 pm). Come and contribute to the discussion about how we can develop the University of Gothenburg to be one of the best.

Fr ee r e s e a rc h m u st

7 issues/year. Next issue December 15, 2011. deadline for submission

November, 25, 2011 m at e r i a l

The editorial office declines responsibility for unsolicited material.

You are welcome to quote, but indicate the source. change of address

In writing to the editorial office. c ov e r

Alexandra Krettek, Department of Internal Medicine.

Photography: Johan Wingborg.

Reg.nr: 3750M

Reg.nr: S-000256

Contents

GUJOURNAL 6 | 2011

vice chancellor

2 We have to defend free research NEWS 4 More power to the departements but Sahlgrenska academy stands apart 5 GU to be more uniform 6 Theme: Water at this year’s Global Week 6 All printers to be replaced 7 The University is taking its temperature again 7 Announcements PROFILE

8 Profile: Alexandra Krettek Health researcher with a cookbook in her suitcase misc.

11 The year’s biggest celebration 142 new doctors received their degrees and 10 honorary doctors received their insignia

12 Mathematics’ saviour

2 Suggestion that departments gain more power

Teachers get help to make math more fun and easier to understand.

But the Sahlgrenska Academy opposes the entire reorganisation.

11 Environmental experts celebrate their 10th anniversary!

REPORT

12 Brainteasers – NCM at the University A goldmine for all mathematics lovers

8 Alexandra Krettek, cardiovascular researcher

7 Time again for the Work Environment Barometer

With a taste for the world’s cultures.

Take the opportunity to affect your work environment.

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5 Global Week for the second year in a row Meet Vytautas Landsbergis and Thorvald Stoltenberg.

Pictures of the year’s biggest celebration

Editorial: Who is the magazine meant for?

Over ten years ago Bo Rothstein gave GU Journal a new name – the back bend journal.

Maybe it was a bit of a joke but there was probably some truth to it. At that time the director of information was the published and the expressed purpose of the magazine was to reflect the University’s work in a positive way.

Much has happened since then and editorial freedom is now written in GU Journal’s

policy. It can be thought to be obvious but it actually isn’t, at least not in Sweden. We were recently at a conference at the University of Oslo that had to do with Scandinavian university newspapers and the free word.

One thing that surprised us was that several Norwegian and Danish university newspapers have a considerably more independent role than Swedish ones. Why is this so? One explanation can be that the unions

there have more actively been on the newspapers’ side.

The final debate discussed the newspapers’ position.

Should a university newspaper be an independent journalistic product or a part of the overall work to create a profile? It was established that academic freedom and freedom of the press are connected and that the level of debate must be high in an organisation that

is characterized by open and critical thinking. But Kristian Gundersen, biology professor, felt that academic freedom is threatened. “My conclusion is that academic freedom should be red-listed as an endangered species,” he said. At the same time others felt that an internal newspaper can not have a critical role since then you “bite the hand that feeds you” and that it’s the free media that should take the responsibility

of examining. But we feel that that’s a misunderstanding.

It’s important that an internal newspaper is credible and doesn’t simply give a rosy picture. A newspaper must relate things critically without its being yellow journalism. So continue to give us tips and ideas and don’t forget to write letters to the editor!

ALLAN ERIKSSON & EVA LUNDGREn

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News

More power to the departements but Sahlgrenska academy stands apart

At t h e e n d of September four of six work groups in the organisa­ tion project presented their proposals for a new organisation.

The perhaps most transforma­ tional one – the one that has to do with the decision order and how the departments’ position will be strengthened purely concretely – was group A’s area.

So, what is being proposed? The departments’ position will be made stronger by the depart­ ment head making all executive decisions that are not incumbent on any other level, in other words most decisions that have to do with the department. To increase influence upwards in the organisation there is also a wish to establish a management council for the deans. Heads of departments and student rep­ resentatives will here have the possibility to consult the dean in every question that the faculty board takes up for decision.

According to Stefan Hulth, deputy head of the Department of Chemistry and chairman of the work group, the greater change is rather the creation of a number of normative decisions where the department head will be the decision maker. This is true for example in questions about the work environment and about commissioned research, commis­ sioned educational programs, cooperation and purchasing.

Furthermore, and primarily, the department head will be respon­ sible for “establishing, preparing and taking decisions about all of the department’s jobs other than professor”.

“The recruitment question and having decision-making power over the department’s jobs, particularly recruiting teachers, might be the single most impor­ tant strategic tool for a depart­ ment,” says Stefan Hulth.

T h i s w i ll d e m a n d more of the role of head of department than is now the case. Many are worried about how maintaining legality can be preserved and feel that there is a risk for greater nepotism and internal recruit­ ment. And Stefan Hulth believes that it’s clear that the department head will need management training.

“But we have to believe that our leaders and managers are professional.”

Stina Sundling Wingfors, head of the Department of Global Studies and member of work group A, agrees.

“The way it looks today, with decision making in the collegial structure, it’s difficult to exact responsibility. There can’t be any questions about who is responsible for the decisions that are taken. It will of course put demands on the leadership, but I think it’s the right way to go.”

She herself is primarily looking forward to being able to influence and speed up the employment process.

“I’m really looking forward to being able to make decisions about who is employed as a teacher at the department, with the support of expert ranking and the appointment board’s competence.”

of work group A, the head of the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, Agneta Holmäng, doesn’t under­ stand what the problem is.

“We have an effective appoint­ ment committee at Sahlgrenska Academy. What can take time is when we have to take up the issue with the chancellor.”

She also wants to safeguard collegial governance and feels that it’s important to preserve department boards and that this isn’t, as according to the pro­ A n ot h e r m e m b e r

illustr ation: Kristina edgren Nyborg.

The departments are being made stronger and the department heads are gaining power. This is a part of the proposal for a new organisation that all the faculties support.

All the faculties?

No, one faculty is resisting it.

Sahlgrenska Academy.

Olle Larkö

Agneta Holmäng

Stina Sundling Wingfors

posal, replaced by a department council that is simply advisory to the department head.

“If teacher representatives aren’t included in decision mak­ ing it won’t be easy to get them involved.”

Ag n e ta H o lm ä n g is the only one of the eleven members that has reservations about the group’s final report. And she probably would have regardless of what it looked like, since Sahlgrenska Academy made it clear earlier that it’s against the entire reor­

ganisation as such. (In the two reference groups that have given a statement about the group’s proposal, members associated with Sahlgrenska Academy, Professor Elias Eriksson and Professor Göran Bondjers, also have reservations.) As a member of the group, Agenta Holmäng considers herself to represent all of Sahlgrenska Academy.

“Of course she represents us.

All of Sahlgrenska Academy is behind what she’s saying,” says Dean Olle Larkö.

He has full understanding for other faculties wanting to give the departments greater power. But they work under com­ pletely different conditions than Sahlgrenska Academy.

“We cooperate a great deal with the Västra Götaland region, and in those contexts we’re extremely small. In terms of size, we’re a fifth of our primary cooperative partner, Sahlgrenska University Hospital. So for us it’s important to have a strong fac­ ulty. It isn’t good for six smaller departments to negotiate agree­ ments with the Hospital.”

T h e c h a i r m a n of the work group, Stefan Hulth, feels how­ ever that there isn’t anything in the proposal that says that the departments at Sahlgrenska Academy can’t merge if they want and build an organisation similar to the one they have now.

“But why?” Olle Larkö won­ ders. “We already have that. It’s only a few years ago that we made a reorganisation and it has taken a lot of time and energy and created uncertainty. At this time we want to focus on the core activities, research and educa­ tion. And when a medical faculty is in agreement for once I think people should listen to us.”

Sahlgrenska Academy thinks that the proposed reorganisation,

News

which is characterized by stronger top-down line management in fact means a centralisation where the power is connected closer to the chancellor.

“We stand for 45 per cent of GU’s turnover, we have a hundred times more transactions with the university hospital than the rest of GU. This means that it puts great demands on our having collegial governance. As a researcher you have to be able to have an influ­ ence over the projects you work in,” says Agenta Holmäng.

Sa h lg r e n s k a Ac a d e m y is thus demanding special status with greater autonomy in GU’s organi­ sation. Not a good idea, according to Stefan Hulth.

“Having different orders of

as an exception. In most parts of the world the development is toward more University Medical Centers – medical universities and hospitals are tied together into strong units. An investigation by Olle Stendahl, earlier Dean of the University of Linköping, suggests that this should be done to a greater extent in Sweden as well.

“I don’t want to go that far, but a little step in that direction,” says Olle Larkö.

But there are others at Sahgrenska Academy who want to take more than a little step.

“I think we should be aware of that. And it isn’t just one fool at Sahlgrenska that has that idea – there are fairly far-reaching pro­ posals for how it should be done,” says Olle Larkö.

“Having different orders of decisions at different faculties is unthinkable if we are to develop GU into a cohesive seat of learning.”

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photo: Johan Wingborg.

GUJOURNAL 6 | 2011

A united authority The largest reorganisation in the history of the University of Gothenburg. But teachers and researchers may not notice very much.

“It has to do with a different way of looking at things and new ways of working that will strengthen educational programs and research,” says project leader Christina Rogestam.

Stefan Hulth, chairman of workgroap A

decisions at different faculties is unthinkable if we are to develop GU into a cohesive seat of learn­ ing.”

Christina Rogestam, who is leading the work with the new organisation, thinks so too.

“A federal authority can’t think differently in personnel policy and other things, you have to behave in the same way toward all employees and students.”

She says that Sahlgrenska Academy’s criticism won’t affect the reorganisation’s to be or not to be. The work is based on a deci­ sion in the University board. It’s no more difficult than that. And she says about Agneta Holmäng’s role in work group A: “Agneta sat there as an inde­ pendent person. She represents a competent department head, not Sahlgrenska Academy.”

“If Sahlgrenska Academy wants to change something it’s a ques­ tion for the University board,” says Christina Rogestam.

But Olle Larkö feels that the University board’s decision about the reorganisation is vague.

“It has to do with how you interpret it. As I see it, there’s no problem with Sahlgrenska Academy getting a free status. It would be crazy to let the same conditions apply for people who work with art as for people who work with liver transplantations.”

He sees Sahlgrenska Academy

Forces of this kind have existed for a long time, according to Agneta Holmäng.

“And it’s clear that the greater power of the chancellor and the removal of collegial governance gives fuel to the fire,” she says.

I n wo r k g ro u p A , there has been strong pressure from different parts of Sahlgrenska Academy.

Stina Sundling Wingfors: “It’s been bridging on threaten­ ing. Among other things, we’ve heard that it was our fault that Sahlgrenska Academy will leave the University of Gothenburg.”

Christina Rogestam is aware that “a lot of e-mails have been sent”, but views the whole situa­ tion with calm.

“The Government wants large and strong universities. They’ll never let Sahlgrenska break out.”

So the organisation project con­ tinues. An indicative discussion in the University board will be held December 14 about the orienta­ tion for the decision on a new work order and delegation order that will be taken in February.

At the same time, the support processes that will facilitate the implementation of the University of Gothenburg’s new organisation have started already. It will be completed in July 2012.

LARS NICKLASON

The next phase of the work on a new organisation is now starting where two new groups are being formed. On the basis of the work groups, the “work order” group will gather all the work in a work and delegation order, which will be the most important document of all of the University. The other group, called “support processes”, will penetrate all administrative processes. The work will lead to a strengthening of the administrative support to the departments.

Everything will be complete early in the spring so that the board will be able to take a decision in April.

“Some of the indicative principles are: to contribute to a more cohesive university, to decrease double work, to ensure equal treatment of students and employees and to make activities more effective so that more money goes to research and education,” says Christina Rogestam.

“If you’re going to carry out changes it isn’t good that they drag on and on. Then there will just be worry and speculation.

The more quickly the external frameworks are in place the better. Then you can deal with the details for a longer period.”

There’s criticism that the University is becoming more and more controlled from the top with a clearer line organi­ sation. What do you think about that?

“There will be a certain difference but not as great as the critics think. When the proposal comes back to the board in December there will be clearer rewrites about the department areas. It has to be very clear what decisions the department head has to root at the department before he or she makes a decision. For GU as a federal authority it has to do with legality and equal treatment for everyone and the chancellor is ultimately responsible as chief of the authority.”

What’s happening now can be described as a redistribution of power, where a large portion of the decisions is lifted away from the faculties and placed with the departments.

“There’s nothing wrong in having delegated operations, but there will be problems when normative decisions are missing and when faculties go in too many different directions, “says Christina Rogestam. “In certain questions it’s important that the chancellor’s decision is normative and is followed. GU is a federal authority and it’s extremely important that students and employees are treated equally regardless of where they are.”

One goal is to decrease administrative costs, but how much can the adminis­ tration be cut down?

“GU has a higher proportion of administration than other universities but I can’t state how much it should decrease – it has to do with having the right competence on the right level. We have to be able to work smarter and in a more uniform way. The goal is for as much funds as possible to go to education and research at the same time that teachers and researchers are given effective and competent support.”

What’s the hurry?

ALLAN ERIKSSON

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News

THE ME : WATER At this year’s Global Week Vernissage, climate seminar, inter­national guests and language course in English – the University of Gothenburg will show its best international side during Global Week.

Among the guests are Thorvald Stoltenberg and a number of politicians that were active when the Soviet Union fell.

“Anne Orford, appointed to the Segerstedt professorship, and Paul Collier, professor in Oxford, will come to discuss international interventions,” explains Douglas Washburn, international officer.

And Bob Wilkinson from the University of Maastricht will talk about how a classroom with several different languages can function. also includes a panel discussion on the climate.

“And there will be lectures and debates at Students’ House,” says project assistant Karolina Riedel.

Among other things, a number of alumnae, under the leader­ ship of Marie Mattsson, will talk about their experiences of being abroad. A global art exhibition will also be shown and there will be a pub and entertainment a couple of evenings.

Global Forum at Svenska Mässan, the exhibition hall, is also included and a course in English for administrators that otherwise is usually given in Brighton where the participants will learn the difference between formal and non-formal English.

The global university, which includes four cooperative projects in Nepal, India, South Africa and Uganda/Rwanda, will be present­ ed. Global evening will be held on Thursday at the Ågren house.

T h e pro g r a m

spectacular features is a TEDx conference.

“It has to do with short lec­ tures of no more than 18 minutes that will run on the University’s homepage so that everyone, not only the public in the auditorium, can follow them in real time,” explains Pernilla Danielsson, international coordinator. TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, started in California but has spread over the world and is now being held for the first time in Gothenburg.

The theme is water and among the speakers are Jan Eliasson, Kerstin Johannesson and Joakim Larsson. Jens Thomas Ivarsson will construct a piece of water art.

Another high point is Thorvald Stoltenberg, previous minister of foreign affairs in Norway, who will describe how Norwegians reacted to the ter­ rible events of last summer.

One of the more

HIGH POINTS OF GLOBAL WEEK

Global Week November 21–25 Monday: Jan Eliasson

Torvald Stoltenberg

Be yo n d t h e s e events are the faculties’ own programs.

And a number of politicians that were active when the Soviet Union fell will participate in a discussion at Jonsered Manor and at the concert house.

“The panel debate is called Armageddon Averted,” explains Pernilla Danielsson. Among the participants will be former Foreign Secretary of Poland, Andrzej Olechowski, Ambassador ad personam Henryk Szlajfer, Lithuania’s first head of state Vytautas Landsbergis, Jeltsin’s closest co-worker Gennadij Burbulis, Ukraina’s first president Leonid Kravtjuk and Belarus’ first head of state Stantislau Sjusjkevitj. One of the things that the panel will discuss is how this development, which changed the whole world, could have pro­ ceeded so calmly, almost without any violence.

Vytautas Landsbergis

Global Forum at Svenska Mässan, climate conference, 1:00–2:30 pm in the auditorium at Vasaparken Tuesday: Paul Collier: External intervention: What is legitimate? 9:15 am in the Linné auditorn, Campus Linné.

Ann Orford: International Inter­ ventions and Governance, 2:00 pm at the School of Economics.

Armageddon Averted – about the fall of the Soviet Union, 1:00–6:00 pm in Stenhammer Hall, Concert House.

Wednesday: Armageddon averted, 09:30–15:00 at Jonsered Manor The Gothenburg Annual Lecture on Global Collaboration, Thorvald Stolten­berg. 3:00–4:30 pm in the auditorium, Vasaparken.

Thursday: Inspirational career seminar, 1:00–2:30 pm at Students’ House.

Friday: TEDxUniversityofGothenburg, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm in the auditorium, Vasaparken.

Eva Lundgren

All printers to be replaced Cheaper, simpler and more environ­mentally friendly.

This is the launch of the new project Utskriftstjänst (print-out service) which is the new university-wide system for print-out, copying and scanning. work­ place project, there is a decision to introduce the print-out project. Last year GU signed a contract with Canon for copying and printing out, and the thought is to replace all printers in the coming two years. The technology is based on what is U n li k e t h e co m p u t e r

called follow-me-print, which in concrete terms means that you no longer send your document to a pre-chosen printer. Instead you print from a print-out queue and collect the document when and where you want using your GU card. It’s the same system that’s already been introduced at the University of Linköping although they chose a different supplier.

“It will be cheaper to have a modern set of printers and there will also be environmental benefits since you don’t print more than you need and printouts that aren’t collected after 72

hours are taken away. The price model is also based on only pay­ ing for the number of copies you print out,” says Urban Ekström Nätt, the project leader for Utskriftstjänst.

A n ot h e r a dva n tag e is the lower risk that print-outs will come into the wrong hands.

The first pilot project at the University library and four other libraries will start in November.

A preselected test group will test the new technology.

For students, who will stand in the pipeline, it will be clearly

cheaper and simpler. Instead of like today having different copy­ ing cards it will only be necessary to use the GU card that can be loaded in a simple way via an external network service.

“It isn’t completely clear what the price will be, but it will be a cheaper solution than the University library’s. It will also be cheaper for the departments since it doesn’t require as many printers.”

The project will be offered to the departments as of spring 2012.

ALLAN ERIKSSON

Announcements

GUJOURNAL 6 | 2011

7

Quote

The University is taking its

temperature again How are things with the work environment? Is the climate good and positive or is it boiling over with competition and jealousy? Now you have the change to make a difference. It’s time for the fourth work environment barometer that has been sent home to all employees in the past few days. since 2002 the University of Gothenburg has taken its temperature in terms of the work environment. Beyond these investigations, two large student questionnaire studies have been done during the years and one manager questionnaire study was done that was pre­ sented recently.

“It’s important to get a good map of how things are with the work environment that can be broken down to the faculty and department levels, which gives a very good picture of what it looks like. You can also compare backwards in time: what’s gotten better or worse, or is it about the same? You can also see whether efforts have led to good results,” says Marianne Leffler who together with deputy vice-chancellor Lennart Weibull and Professor Joseph Schaller, is leading the work.

BENGT BRÜLDE,

“Everyone is welcome to fill in the questionnaire on work time.”

new Professor of Pr actical Philosophy, in GP October 4

Four world-leading researchers to Gothenburg

E v e ry t h i r d y e a r

A l a rg e pa r t of the battery of questions, about two thirds, is the same as earlier. But one new thing in this years questionnaire is that employees can take a posi­ tion to whether they experience that earlier barometers have had any effect. Questions are also asked about the reorganisation, Vision 2020 and RED 10.

“We want to know what people think and how far out in the organisation the changes are noticed and how this affects each and every person’s work environment. Even though many questions are identical they’re being answered in another time, so in that sense they’re new,” says Lennart Weibull, who is also chairman of the central work environment committee.

“Making your own happiness a central goal of life is human, but also morally offen­sive in a world like ours. It is there­fore important that the life you live isn’t only happy but that you also try to make the world better.”

‘‘Don’t wait”. Lennart Weibull and Larianne Leffer encourage everyone to respond as quickly as possible, preferably within a week. That way GU won’t have to send out reminders.

But if earlier work environment questionnaires confirm the picture that GU has a good work environment, is it meaningful to do another one?

“Even a good work environ­ ment can be better. And it’s important to always follow up and identify if new problems sur­ face that you can counter,” says Lennart Weibull.

The response frequency has on average been a little more than 70 per cent. To get more people to answer this time and informa­ tion folder has also been sent with more information about the investigation and what different efforts have led to. to worry that the responses would be able to be traced to a single individual, according to Marianne Leffler.

“Anonymity is guaranteed.

We who are working with the investigation are obligated to secrecy and we don’t know who has responded. It’s only the mean values that are developed for dif­ ferent personnel groups and on different levels.”

Despite its being a large questionnaire that takes quite a long time to go through, Lennart Weibull points out that everyone N o o n e n ee d s

has a responsibility for the work environment. With the question­ naire everyone has a chance to make his voice heard.

“It can take up to an hour to fill it in. Everyone is welcome to do it during work time if they want. If some question is diffi­ cult, skip it and go to the next.”

Why are you sending out the ques­ tionnaire on paper if you could just as well fill it in on the web?

“We’ve discussed that ques­ tion but we decided that there would be surer results if we use the same method as earlier. Web questionnaires are different.

I also think that many people experience a questionnaire of that kind as being too timedemanding to fill in on internet.

When you have it on paper you can fill in some questions when you get the time and return to it later. You can’t do that with a web questionnaire,” says Lennart Weibull.

The hope is that the results of the barometer will be presented at the end of spring 2012. The report is estimated to be ready by the beginning of the fall.

ALLAN ERIKSSON

Several world-leading researchers in the area of sustainability will come to Gothenburg on November 22 to participate in the commemorative conference Creating Successful and Sustainable Societies.

Among the things that will be discussed is what has happened since the Rio conference in 1992.

The challenges that the world is facing such as climate changes, the long term supply of energy and health conditions in the world can only be solved by cooperation over different disciplines, according to Ylva Norén Bretze, scientific coordinator of the conference.

“It is an important symbolic event for the research society in Gothenburg that the conference is being arranged by GU and Chalmers together with the Adlerbert Research Foundation.”

The conference will gather representatives of such different areas as economics, medicine, social sciences, energy and architecture. Among these can be named Professor Michèle Lamont from Harvard University and Partha Dasgupta from Cambridge University.

The conference is being co-arranged by the Adlerbert Research Foundation, which will be 50 years old, Chalmers and the University of Gothenburg.

More information is given at www.adlerbertska. se or contact ida.lindbergh@chalmers.se.

73 million plus After eight months, the University of Gothen­ burg reports a surplus of 73 million crowns and for 2011 as a whole it is estimated to be 40 million crowns, according to the internal follow-up that the University board established in October.

“There are no surprises. The situation is largely as planned after eight months,” says financial director Lars Nilsson.

But compared with 2010 this is a strong deterioration of results, with over 190 million crowns. The primary reasons are the new wage agreement and that the number of employees has increased by 138 year-employees compared with August 2010. The good news is that grant income continues to rise, 85 million more compared with the same point in time last year.

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Profile text eva lundgren | photography Johan Wingborg

health researcher

with a cookbook in her When Alexandra Krettek travels abroad she often takes the opportunity to buy a cookbook. She says that a person can learn different cultures by their food. She can also offer everything from American mussel soup and Russian blinis to Icelandic fish.

Or why not a stew from Nepal? That’s where she’s leading a newly started health monitoring project.

Profile

GUJOURNAL 6 | 2011

9

suitcase h e n i g h t g e t s pitch black when the electricity is shut off. The only light comes from a vespa that passes by. The air is quickly filled with dust, the sidewalk is partly trampeled dirt and a cow can suddenly appear in the middle of the road that must not be disturbed.

But Kathmandu isn’t only exotic.

Cultural changes are also happening here with more and more people who eat ham­ burgers, rush to work in their car or scooter and smoke or drink.

“It means that so called lifestyle illnesses are also strongly on the rise here. But at the same time that more and more people get diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and new kinds of cancer, the old problems remain, with infections and infectious diseases.

It’s called a double disease burden and is hitting an increasing number of middle and low income countries,” Alexandra Krettek explains.

S h e ’ s v i ce pr e s i d e n t of the Nordic School of Public Health and a researcher in cardio­ vascular diseases at Sahlgrenska Academy.

The project she coordinates is both new and old. It started in December last year but is partly based on a Linnaeus-Palme exchange with Tribhuvan University, which has gone on for many years at Sahlgrenska Academy. The new project now includes a number of faculties at the University of Gothenburg and Kathmandu University and the Patan Academy of Health Sciences in Nepal. In addition to the cooperation in research and education the project also means cooperation on the administrative level, such as with the university library in Nepal. There are also plans to give a crossdisciplinary research course together with the Patan Academy. All-inclusive univer­ sity agreements between the University of Gothenburg and the three Nepalese schools are also on the way.

“A problem in Nepal is that so called health literacy, in other words the ability to understand and use health information, is so poorly developed,” explains Alexandra Krettek. “For example, you can see two or three-year-olds that smoke without anyone stopping them. We’ve done a pilot study that shows that primarily people in smaller vil­ lages have limited knowledge about how they

can influence how they physically feel. The ability to read and write is also often low.”

M a n y, pa r ti c u l a r ly women, live a very sedentary life and alcohol consumption among up to 60 per cent of men reaches up to levels that are hazardous to health. And people still often turn to traditional medi­ cine when they become ill rather than going to a doctor.

“You have to proceed carefully. You don’t have to reject candles and healing chants – the ones who practice traditions can learn for example that they can also give water to people suffering from diarrhoea.”

Another problem is that the electricity can suddenly be shut off for 12 to 14 hours at a stretch.

“The people of Nepal are used to managing in the dark. They also take the opportunity to charge the batteries for their generators when the electricity comes back.

But it was harder for me and my colleagues to manage, especially when we couldn’t find our way when the street suddenly went completely dark.”

T h e proj ec t s h e leads includes a health investigation, a so called Health Demographic Surveillance Site, that covers 2 712 households and 13 669 persons in the villages of Duwakot and Jhaukhel in the Kathmandu valley. They have the help of 18 young women from the area that are spe­ cially trained in the art of asking questions about health and living conditions.

“Almost a hundred languages are spoken in Nepal. Even if most people can also speak Nepalese, it’s important to engage people who come from the areas that we’re study­ ing and who have the trust of the popula­ tion. We train young women because it’s easier for them than men to get answers to sensitive or personal questions.”

In the project, it isn’t only researchers from the University of Gothenburg that travel to Nepal – people from Nepal come here too. For example, two doctoral stu­ dents, Abhinav Vaidya and Suraj Shakya, lived for a month with Alexandra Krettek.

“The only thing that surprised them was that I poke a hole in eggs before I boil them; they thought that the egg would run out!

But otherwise it’s interesting to see how little difference there is between people,

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Profile

“I learned a lot about how you should think as a researchers, for example when you write applications for funds.” regardless of the cultural background.

Certain codes for compassion are universal and traits such as kindness and thought­ fulness are interpreted in the same way.”

It was nothing that could be taken for granted that Alexandra Krettek would give her time to health investigations when she started her studies at the University of Lund at the end of the 1980s. As a biologist with an orientation to chemistry she was instead a member of the molecular world.

But she came to the Wallenberg laboratory in Gothenburg after her basic education and started to go more deeply into cardiovas­ cular diseases. She defended her thesis on September 9, 1999.

“The date was actually set to be September 10. But a colleague from China, where numerology is important, said that I should change it to 1999-9-9. I succeeded in getting the time to be 9 o’clock in the morning too, which maybe means an extra amount of luck.”

For three years she was then a post doc at Harvard Medical School in Boston, where she had the opportunity to teach.

“I learned a lot about how you should think as a researcher, for example writing articles in a winning way. But it was even more important to see how the researchers there help each other without expecting to be thanked by being named co-authors of an article. That’s an abuse that I really dislike. There should be ethical regula­ tions that say that people who haven’t participated in the project may not be listed as authors. In the US, they like to compete with other schools but within the individual university researchers, they stay together. And not least the younger ones are given a lot of support and are absolutely not seen as competitors, like they are here sometimes.”

I n B o sto n , Alexandra Krettek also got the opportunity to go more deeply into her interest in watercolour painting – as well as clam chowder, an extra creamy mussel soup.

“I’ve taught in many countries since then, such as Finland, Russia, Nepal and Iceland.

I always try to eat the local food and learn about special ingrediences and ways to make food. Last year I was about to travel home from Russia when the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted. I could fly from Moscow to Vilnius but then I had to wait four days before I could take a bus to Copenhagen.

But in any case I got the opportunity to taste Lithuanian food. And I bought a cookbook of course.”

As a researcher in cardiovascular disease, Alexandra Krettek also has opinions about what we should eat.

“I don’t like diets. If you’re healthy you

should eat everything. I don’t believe in low-fat products either – they contain a lot of sugar instead. You can view the body as a health bank, where what you put in you also have to take out – otherwise there’s literally speaking interest! It’s okay to eat good food but you have to get out and exercise too.”

T h e s it uati o n fo r doctoral students and lecturers is another thing where Alexandra Krettik involves herself, for example as member of the board of the Swedish Association of University Teachers and the association for Swedish lecturers and researchers.

“The University of Gothenburg recently took a decision that doctoral students have the right to employment from the first day of their doctoral studies, and that’s very good of course. But there’s a risk that some departments solve this by not registering the doctoral students during the first period of time. Then we get back to the problem of “shadow doctoral students” who don’t belong anywhere. The reform will prob­ ably lead to fewer doctoral students being accepted and it may be better than educat­ ing people for joblessness.”

It was also Alexandra Krettek who started Sahlgrenska Academy’s network called Future Faculty some years ago, which works for better career paths for young researchers because it’s difficult to be young and unestablished today.

“We haven’t yet found a good way at Sahlgrenska Academy to manage the fact that the Swedish Research Council has stopped placing research assistant jobs at universities. National competition is eliminated when schools themselves get to decide who will be employed and there’s a risk that already established groups are favoured. This is a shame since the competi­ tion is so hard and good people disappear in each step from doctoral student and post doc to lecturer.”

S i n ce A le x a n d r a K r e t t e k travels so much in her work, she prefers being home on vacations. She sings in the choir called Stämbanden and has a grand piano that she doesn’t have the time to play very often but that anyway makes her happy.

But when she wants to be really free from work she goes to Österlen. This is the site of Lyckliga Huset (Happy House).

“It’s 102 years old and got its name from the previous owner. There’s a small garden with roses and boxwood. I cultivate English Austin roses that bloom twice a season, that is bloom several times a year but smell like and look like old-fashioned roses. With luck I have flowers far into the fall, maybe all the way into November.”

ALEX ANDRA KRETTEK

RIGHT NOW Participating in Global Week by talking about a project in the Global University: Collaboration between GU and Nepali Institutions. Strengthening Health Education, Supporting Research, Monitoring Health.

Occupation University lecturer and researcher Age 43 Background Medical doctor and associate professor in cardiovascular prevention at Sahlgrenska Academy, the University of Gothenburg Home An apartment in Öregryte and a house at Öster­len Interests Renovating old houses, roses, singing in choirs, playing piano, watercolour painting, people What you didn’t know Alexandra makes food from Nepal and often has sourdough bread on the yeast, has parti­ cipated in amateur exhibitions with water­ colours and hand-painted silk scarves Makes her happy Success based on good efforts Makes her mad Unethical behaviour on the part of researchers!

Most recently read book Dune Road by Jane Green Most recently seen film Eat Praty Love Favourite music Listens to most music, most preferably piano and cello for relaxation Favourite food Lobster ravioli, New England clam chowder

misc.

11

photogr aphy: Johan Wingborg

GUJOURNAL 6 | 2011

The year’s biggest celebration It was time again for conferring doctoral degrees on October 21.

142 new doctors received their degrees after completing their examinations and 10 honorary doc­ tors received their insignia. Among the honorary doctors were author Carin Mannheimer, journalists

Vanna Beckman and Anders Björns­ son and EU commissioner Cecilia Malmström. Several prizes were also distri­buted, for example to peda­gogic prizes to Anna Wester­ ståhl and medical group Maria Andersson, John Deminger, Fredrik Mårtensson and Anders Ågard.

Environmental experts celebrate their 10th anniversary!

Katarina Ahlqvist, Anneli Hulthén, Pam Fredman, Lars Bäckström, Lise Nordin and Håkan Eggert.

SMIL, the social science environmental expert program, started ten years ago where social science and natural science are stu­ died in a unique combination. The educatio­ nal program was celebrated on September 28 with a panel discussion that included Mayor Anneli Hulthén, Governor Lars Bäck­ ström and president of the Chamber of Com­ merce of western Sweden, Johan Trouvé.

The subject was a sustain­able Gothenburg.

“Enjoyment research at the University of Gothenburg shows that among the things

people think are worst is being stuck in long lines of traffic. Why do we then build our cities so that we have to constantly trans­ port ourselves?” asked Lars Bäckström.

“To the contrary, traffic makes me happy because I bicycle right past it,” was Anneli Hulthén’s comment.

The day also included several lectures and the planting of a butterfly bush. A simi­ lar bush was planted when the program started but was taken away in the rebuil­ ding of the School of Economics.

Maths for everyone photo: johan wingborg.

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Brainteasers h e n ati o n a l ce n t e r for mathematics education (NCM) is best known for its homepage, which shows about seven million pages each year for teachers of all grades who want to read Nämnaren (denominator), for example, a math­ ematics journal that’s been published since 1974, or get tips from Kängurun (kan­ garoo), which offers mathematics brain teasers for people of all ages.

“NCM has its own web and teaching platform,” explains IT manager Günther Dippe. “That’s important because our target groups are teachers and officials in Sweden’s municipalities who can come into contact with us in a simple way to get help or give us their experiences.”

The homepage also has information about conferences, tests, governing documents, new books and articles and tenacious discussions about the role of mathematics in society.

“The homepage is so big that you almost need a course about how to find things on it,” says director Bengt Johansson. “All our employees are responsible for their own areas, but we also help each other of course.”

Recently the public debate has discussed the latest PISA investigation, where stu­ dents in 65 countries all over the world took tests in different subjects. Swedish students are showing poorer and poorer results, particularly in mathematics. The proportion of students that perform poorly here is about 21 per cent, in comparison to Finland’s 7 per cent. This has motivated the Swedish Government to making its strongest investment in mathematics ever: 2.6 billion crowns will go to Mattelyftet (the mathematics lift).

B u t i s it r e a lly so serious that Swedish students are bad at math?

“Yes, it is, not least for the students themselves,” says assistant director Ola Helenius. It’s of course not good that students put masses of time into something that leads mostly to frustration. But we also live in a culture where mathematics is important. Think of all the debates on TV and in the newspapers: people who use mathematics to prove something are in principle never contradicted, even if the arguments are weak! We as human beings are also good at thinking mathematically.

photo: johan wingborg.

The Swedish Government is making strong investments in mathematics. The European Commission is doing the same, as are schools in India. All of them look to the University of Gothenburg for help. Why? Because NCM is at the University, a goldmine for all mathematics lovers.

Teachers from Alingsås visit NCM.

One can think about why that’s so.”

There is however a paradox in math­ ematics knowledge in Sweden.

“Despite that schoolchildren perform more and more poorly, adult Swedes are among the world’s best in mathematics knowledge,” explains Lars Gustafsson, who does research on learning in adults. “Why? Do Swedes learn outside of school, perhaps, by reading the newspaper or in other kinds of activities? These are questions that we’re formulating in an EU project.”

What you know doesn’t always have to be formulated in words.

Report

“The individual that has difficulty in math risks losing self-confidence.”

“Another ongoing project has to do with the silent knowledge in mathematics,” explains Lars Mouwitz, who does research on mathematics education. This knowledge can be hidden in knowledge in a profession, for example in craftsmen. It leads to more philosophical thoughts about what math­ ematics actually is and what role the subject plays in society.”

He maintains that mathematics isn’t, as many think, only a help science for natural scientists or economists.

“Mathematics instead is a part of our cultural heritage and is something people during all time have used. Mathematics constitutes a part of our way of thinking – and it’s hardly possible to imagine what would happen if people suddenly stopped believing in mathematics!” mathematics’ individu­ ality you can compare it with physics,” explains Ola Helenius.

“News came recently that researchers had found a particle that seems to move more rapidly than light. Does that mean that Einstein was wrong, you wonder. That type of discovery would never be able to be done in mathematics since it’s a subject that doesn’t relate to reality in the same way.

Mathematics has to do with understanding logical relationships, which both makes the subject so fascinating and so difficult.

Mathematics is perhaps the queen of scien­ ces but it’s also something abstract that in itself can’t be touched.”

However, a way of making mathematics more concrete is through play.

New teacher groups come all the time to the mathematics workshop at NCM to work with dice, build triangles of tangram puzzles and move small frogs so that they’re placed in a row.

“We don’t offer ready made boxes with training materials,” explains manager Lena Trygg. “Instead we give examples of how the teachers themselves can create their own math workshops in the simplest way possible. Using a couple of dice, children can train multiplication and coloured sticks can get students to understand the relation­ ship between area and circumference. But it’s important to gradually connect the concrete work with theoretical reasoning so that the lesson isn’t only play.”

“ To u n d e r sta n d

that there’s no contradic­ tion between mathematics laboratory work She points out

and solving problems in the math book.

“Sometimes it can even be nice to go back to the safe book after all the intense training. But it’s starting to be obvious to more and more math teachers that math needs to be made more concrete. In India, for example, there’s now a law that math lessons also have to include mathematics laboratory work.”

“Being good at mathematics has a high status. That means that the individual who has difficulty in math risks losing selfconfidence,” says assistant director Jesper Boesen.

“Mathematics has to do with rules and children generally have an easy time learn­ ing them. Still, many people feel almost a fear of math. It may be because they’ve met teachers that maybe themselves have been unsure of mathematics.”

“Or the reason may be that mathematics ability is connected with high talent, which some people further consider to be heredi­ tary. That can get the person who fails to understand math feel incurably dumb,” says Ola Helenius. “But there’s a paradox here as well: many people who think that math is a worthless subject think at the same time that they’re worthless if they don’t succeed at it.

However, if you can get students to think that learning in mathematics is fun and stimulat­ ing maybe they’ll succeed better and gain better self-confidence and thereby a greater opportunity to be even better at math.”

O l a He le n i u s says that it isn’t unusual for the practical programs in high school to deal more with teaching the students to learn procedures.

“The students get to know how to do something but not reason about relations and concepts. On the other hand, the theo­ retical programs deal to a higher degree with reasoning and understanding. I think it’s a shame that the expectations are differ­ ent. Many students have considerably better conditions for mathematics than schools believe about them.”

“Still there’s a gap in knowledge between high school and university,” says Anette Jahnke. She’s in charge of Mattebron (the math bridge) whose purpose is to decrease the difference and to develop the compe­ tence of headmasters in mathematics.

“Many high school education programs require math. But regardless of whether you think it’s good or not, mathematics is also used to differentiate which students will be eligible for different attractive edu­ cation programs. The Swedish scholastic aptitude test has a great deal of math, for example, and that part of the test will become larger in the future.”

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photo: johan wingborg.

GUJOURNAL 6 | 2011

Lena Trygg shows the mathematics workshop.

I n c r e a s i n g peo p le ’ s knowledge in math­ ematics is thus considered to be important, both here in Sweden and elsewhere. A cooperative effort has been started between NCM and India, for instance, who wants to build up about ten similar centers. And last summer the European Commission asked for support in work toward the goals in mathematics that have been set for EU 2020.

The Government recently decided to make a very large investment in mathemat­ ics, which among other things means train­ ing about 40 000 mathematics teachers.

“We don’t know yet how the training will be done or what task NCM will be given,” explains Bengt Johansson. “We have long experience of educating teachers but this has to do with improving knowledge in the body of teachers in an entire country. We’re probably a little worried about the size of this task – but we also feel inspired.”

EVA LUNDGREN

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MATHEMATIC S EDUCATION NCM, which was established in 1999 and is loca­ ted at the University of Gothenburg, has as its task to support the development of mathematics edu­ cation in preschool, basic school and high school.

The Center has about thirty employees and works together with Chalmers. It has also been involved in building up similar activities in other countries in and outside of Europe. One of the most popular activities is the mathematics workshop, which has now been established in a number of countries.

The homepage, ncm.gu.se, publishes the jour­ nal Nämnaren (denominator) and different math problems but there is also a living discussion and debate that is open to everyone interested. www.ncm.gu.se