GUJOURNAL
NEWS How US cutbacks affect us
NEWS
GU supports Palestinian students
REPORT AI part of teaching
From Hamburg to Gothenburg
Ann-Kristin Kölln became SVT's expert on German parties
GU JOURNAL
The GU Journal has a free and independent position, is made according to journalistic principles.
Editor-in-chief:
Eva Lundgren
Phone: 070-969 10 14, e-mail: eva.lundgren@gu.se
Editor: Allan Eriksson, e-mail: allan.eriksson@gu.se
Photographer: Johan Wingborg, Phone: 070–595 38 01, e-mail: johan.wingborg@gu.se
Layout: Anders Eurén, Phone: 073-257 62 40, e-mail: anders.euren@gu.se
Address: GU Journal, University of Gothenburg, Box 100, 405 30 Gothenburg , Sweden.
E-mail: gu-journalen@gu.se
ISSN: 1402-9626
Translation: Språkservice
Popular election analyst.
Anxieties in a Time of Instability
xactly one year ago, Finland’s then newly appointed president Alexander Stubb stood in the auditorium at the University of Gothenburg during his first official state visit. He spoke about the EU, the geopolitical instability, and the new world order he anticipated would emerge and bring balance to the world within roughly ten years. A student asked him what impact he thought the outcome of the U.S. election would have on this new world order. Stubb replied that it would play a significant role. If he was right, then the thought of ten more years of the kind of instability we are currently witnessing before a new world order is established feels both long and frightening.
For generations, the United States has been a leading research nation—a place many of us have worked in and collaborated with. I am deeply concerned by how quickly academia and academic freedom in the U.S. have come under immense and transformative pressure—changes few of us could have imagined even three months ago. Many, like me, are not only worried for our colleagues in the U.S. but also for the fact that what happens there often tends to spread here.
The most important thing we can do as a university in this situation is to stand firm in our values. In a time when security concerns dominate, we must safeguard the freedom of inquiry, open scientific exchange, and democratic values. These are fundamental not only to academia but also to a democratic society.
We take the situation seriously and are closely monitoring developments to analyse how they may impact us here at the University of Gothenburg. I encourage everyone to engage in dialogue—both among ourselves and with our students—about what we are experiencing.
My colleague Peter Aronsson at Linnaeus University put it well when reflecting on the current situation: "It is now we decide whether the future will be shaped by open democratic societies—or by a world where knowledge is controlled, restricted, and governed."
Vice-Chancellor MALIN BROBERG
Academy under assault
he US is the global superpower when it comes to research and education, stated Lars Strannegård, president of the Stockholm School of Economics, when he spoke with GU’s vice-chancellor, Malin Broberg, at the Science Festival some weeks ago. The ongoing attack on American universities is therefore not only a threat to academia in the USA but also to the scientific community throughout the world.
– Funding is withdrawn and research grants are paused. Prestigious universities are freezing their new hires, more and more graduates are unemployed and it is difficult to attract new students when a university degree does not lead to a job. This development will mean a huge loss of skills in the USA, predicted Lars Strannegård.
How our university is affected by US research policy is discussed in two articles in this issue. A side article deals with the trade war and the very concrete consequences it could have, for example if we can no longer ca use Microsoft Office
We also highlight the opportunity for teachers at our university to provide distance learning to students in Gaza.
Generative AI in teaching seems to be an almost inexhaustible topic that creates both enthusiasm and concern. Many employees are committed and have both tips and experiences to share. Read more in this issue.
Research under attack
President Donald Trump wants to make considerable cutbacks to and limit state-funded research in the United States. Something that already has had consequences across the globe, including at the University of Gothenburg.
– It would be very severe if it were fully implemented, says Carina Mallard, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research.
DESPITE VOCIFEROUS PROTESTS against the Trump administration’s many proposals about cutbacks and constraints to state-funded research, new announcements keep coming at an alarming rate. Concern is growing around the world.
– The world is more uncertain in general, and many people are wondering how this will affect research partnerships, but also student mobility. We have several collaborations with the U.S. that we want to maintain. But this trend of the U.S. cutting back on their research grants is disconcerting, says Carina Mallard.
A large number of USAID projects have already been shuttered, and there is uncertainty surrounding around 15
projects mainly financed by the NIH, where GU researchers are currently receiving funding from American federal financiers.
– As of today, those projects are progressing as normal, we have not been otherwise informed, but things are changing quickly. Fewer grants to American researchers lead to less research generally. One clear consequence of the United States downsizing large organisations and contributors, such as the NIH, NSF and USAID, is the impact on opportunities for partnerships between the U.S. and Sweden, Carina Mallard fears.
– THE UNCERTAINTY may also lead to more people hesitating about pursuing a career in research, something that in the long term will lead us to lose out in terms of both quality and quantity of research.
But science is global and despite the dominant position of the U.S. within the science community, Carina Mallard stresses that the EU has its own very competitive research.
– And there are opportunities to expand partnerships with several other countries, and from this year the UK, South Korea, Canada and Switzerland are
»Successful research requires longterm and stable conditions as well as financing.«
Jenny Nyström
eligible to participate in the EU research programme, Horizon Europe.
Jenny Nyström, Dean at Sahlgrenska Academy, points out that so far, we do not know enough about what the consequences might be.
– SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH requires long-term and stable conditions as well as financing. That is why the indications from the U.S. concerning research and research funding are disquieting. We do not yet know what will be decided or the effects of those decisions. It is difficult to assess how the changes to American research policies will impact research in the rest of the world, in Sweden and at Sahlgrenska Academy. We will therefore closely monitor any developments.
There are also indications that research financiers such as the NSF have started red-flagging applications containing terms like gender, climate and ethnicity. Trump has attacked Columbia University over the demonstrations held there in support of Palestine and has cancelled 4 billion in federal grants.
The policy of the Trump administration has an extensive impact on the education sector
Photo: SHUTTERSTOCK
in the U.S., including international accreditation bodies. One of the three prestigious accreditations granted to the School of Business, Economics and Law, AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), have removed the words “diversity” and “inclusion” from their guidelines after being pressured.
Dean Måns Söderbom bemoans the trend but says that it is too early to decide to withdraw from the organisation.
– I do not believe that the changes should be interpreted as a political statement by the AACSB. The organisation justifies their decision by stating that they are trying to “navigate in an ever more dynamic and complex world”. My interpretation is that the AACSB saw this as necessary in order to continue operating in the U.S.
MÅNS SÖDERBOM is in regular contact with other deans at other AACSB-accredited academies, and they share his view.
– We agree that these developments are very unfortunate and plan to issue a joint statement. Could it be a problem for the School of Business, Economics and Law to have an accreditation that dissociates itself from values like diversity and inclusion?
– I can definitely understand if that is how it is being perceived. But the School of Business, Economics and Law has a responsibility to contribute to societal development, and we will instead intensify our efforts to promote diversity and inclusion – regardless of the AACSB guidelines.
The concern about how it will impact research is widespread. Sebastiaan Swart, Professor of Oceanography, is deeply concerned over the dismantling of the American climate authority, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which reports directly to the U.S. Department of Trade.
– Our research into oceanography and climate is truly global. There are no hard borders in the sea. We rely heavily on
research collaborations outside of our department and country – there are numerous colleagues in the U.S. with whom we not only share ideas and knowledge, but also infrastructure such as expensive ships and complex instruments. Two years ago, my team and I were on an American research vessel, RV Revelle, for one month in order to gather important data for the understanding of our seas. Such opportunities are being stopped today, or will soon be stopped if Trump’s plans are implemented.
FOR EXAMPLE, according to Columbia University, the administration has already reversed more than 80 decisions that concern the climate and environment. Sebastian Swaart fears that the new U.S. research policy will have disastrous consequences.
– Drastic political changes risk throwing us back decades in our understanding of how we best can address global changes such as climate change, migration, energy supply, food security and defence.
It is easy to feel powerless in a situation like this, but one way forward is to strengthen solidarity within the scientific community in order to build resilience, argues Sebastiaan Swart.
– Academia does have a long history of collaboration, and we must use that strength to find new ways of working together and manage the policy changes we will be facing over the next few years.
THE SAME UNCERTAIN situation applies to collaborations in the education sector. So far, the International Centre has noticed a decrease in the number of student exchange applications to the U.S.
– I am guessing that the interest may decrease further if this trend continues, says Karolina Catoni, Deputy unit Manager at the International Centre. One probable scenario for the financing of research within DEI (Diversity, Equality and Inclu-
sion) and climate issues is that it may also limit the number of courses offered within these fields for exchange students travelling to the U.S. Another possible consequence is that exchange students with dual citizenship travelling from the University of Gothenburg could face more difficulties obtaining a student visa.
Allan Eriksson
→ About cutbacks to research financiers
National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s largest funder of medical research, is faced with extensive staff cutbacks and the Trump administration wants to set a cap of 15 percent on the share of grants that may be used for indirect research costs –such as rents, labs and administrative costs. The proposal has been temporarily stopped by the courts.
National Science Foundation (NSF), corresponding to the Swedish Research Council, provides grants for basic research within most fields except medicine. More than ten percent of employees have allegedly been fired after the new administration took power.
The aid agency USAID, which is the world’s largest donor, finances pharmaceutical trials, epidemiological studies, democracy research, research into the conditions for women, such as how to improve healthcare. It operates in more than 100 countries and has around 10,000 employees. Many studies outside the U.S: have seen their budgets decrease significantly, which has led to ongoing research being stopped or paused.
Ongoing cutbacks and restrictions at agencies such as the weather institute NOAA, the space agency Nasa and the Department of Energy (DOE) are also expected to have considerable consequences for climate research.
Måns Söderbom
Carina Mallard
Sebastiaan Swart
US cancelling foreign aid blocks GU project
A cross-disciplinary research project on traffic safety in Angola, led by the University of Gothenburg, was halted overnight despite it having already been approved by congress. Now, project manager Gunilla Priebe is trying to understand what really happened.
– The cutbacks impact the world’s poorest, and the consequences of that are incalculable, she says.
THE PROJECT, WHICH was developed in collaboration with Karolinska Institute and Angola’s Catholic University under the name, “Network for Inclusive Road Safety”, was worth over 50 million krona and financed by the American aid agency USAID – which was also the first ever given to the University of Gothenburg. Gunilla Priebe, Senior Lecturer in Public Health Science, had spent two years preparing the application and find it difficult to hide her disappointment.
– I though everything was done, the agreement was signed, congress had given it a green light and we had already started work in the capital Luanda, Gunilla Priebe continues.
ON 24 JANUARY, the American Secretary of State decided to freeze all foreign-aid projects, even projects that were already approved. A few days later an email was sent: the Angola project had been stopped, together with thousands of others.
– We have already used some of the money and we can request reimbursement
Angola is one of Africa’s largest and poorest countries, but it is very rich in minerals and oil. The capital Luanda has enormous traffic problems.
for that, says Priebe, but a lot is still unclear – we are getting different statements from one day to the next.
She is surprised that decisions can be made in such a manner, considering that the project was approved and the budget adopted by congress as early as in the autumn of 2023.
– FEDERAL JUDGES are now assessing whether these shutdowns were constitutional. It is difficult to know from the outside who has the mandate to make what decisions. It is evident that issues related to climate, equality and global health are not prioritised by the new administration.
The reason for the research project is an acute problem. Road traffic injuries are one of the most common causes of death in Angola (6,000 die every year) and the main victims are pedestrians and motorcyclists since they cannot afford cars of their own.
The MAYority of victims are young men of working age, which aggravates the poverty in a country where 60 percent live in extreme poverty.
– It is not only about roads and cars, and about safety on school roads, but also about all the people running into traffic between cars in order to sell something to ensure they get food for the day. It is about providing trauma care, offering rehabilitation and having urban planning that prevents exposure to traffic, Gunilla Priebe explains.
ALONGSIDE THE PROJECT , the U.S. and the EU are making MAYor investments in Angola linked to the Lobito corridor, where raw materials from the mining regions in Kongo and Zambia will be transported to the Atlantic coast via Angola by train. The corridor is seen as a strategic way of reducing dependency on China. The EU is investing an additional 76 million euro in the Lobito corridor.
Gunilla Priebe is head of the project in Angola.
»Federal judges are now assessing whether these shutdowns were constitutional.«
Gunilla Priebe
When the rail network fails, it is frequently replaced by heavy road vehicles on narrow unsafe roads – which leads to many accidents, often with fatal outcomes.
Freezing USAID donations will have more far-reaching consequences than a single research project. USAID finances around half of the world’s aid projects, and is also a key stakeholder within global health data, such as through the Demographic and Health Studies (DHS) being conducted in low- and middle-income countries.
– MANY PEOPLE think of USAID as providing medicines. But that is only a small part of their operations. USAID is also involved in the logistics and procurement of HIV and malaria medication that other stakeholders then distribute to the healthcare systems. When they pull out, the entire distribution chain collapses. I have heard through the grapevine that all HIV projects in South Africa and Moçambique have been paused. Millions of people risk being left without treatment.
– What happens when they run out of medicine?
To Gunilla Priebe this is not only about aid. What is happening in the U.S. according to her, is a larger battle over knowledge, truth and the role of science in society.
– Anyone who is permitted to define what is true possesses enormous power.
Decreasing resources to universities and research, and the appointment of a Health Secretary who is critical of science can be seen in that light.
SHE DESCRIBES IT as a power move – not through legislation or force, but by dominating the narrative. Dominating the Overton window, she argues, is critical for exercising power.
Less resources to American research also risk damaging international collaboration. Less American co-published articles, less exchange and increased uncertainty for projects relying on long-term planning.
– It is akin to the situation in the second world war, when Europe’s most brilliant researchers left Germany. Paradoxically, it will now flow in the opposite direction.
Gunilla Priebe still hopes that the decision to close down projects will be reassessed. Not only for her – but for all those who would have been working on the project, in Sweden and in Angola.
– The saddest thing is not my own situation. It is the fact that 30 people in Angola will not get the job they were promised, and that we lose an opportunity to contribute to saving lives.
Text: Allan Eriksson
Photo: Shutterstock
→ Facts:
• Traffic accidents cause more than 1.2 million deaths and up to 50 million serious injuries around the world each year.
• In African countries it is one of the foremost causes of death – primarily among pedestrians and motorcyclists.
• Road traffic injuries cost Angola almost 10 percent of the country’s GDP.
• According to the WHO it is a “quiet pandemic” that rarely attracts the same attention as other global threats to health.
The Lobito Corridor is a transport route in southern Africa.
Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG
Trade war threatens IT services
What type of IT services should GU have? That question will be prepared by the management of the digitalization portfolio and later by the university's management.
– We need to review our needs for several reasons, one of them being the uncertainty regarding the US trade war, explains Tony Ottosson Gadd, head of the IT unit.
CURRENTLY A LOT of discussions are taking place within the EU about whether it is safe to transfer personal data to the US. That debate has actually been going on for quite some time, reminds Tony Ottosson Gadd.
– Back in 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union rejected an agreement between the EU and the US regarding data transfer, the so-called Schrems case. Now the Trump administration has dismissed most of the members of the PCLOB, the
supervisory body that is supposed to review the safe handling of personal data, something that has led to distrust in the EU. This is part of the trade war that is going on between the US and the EU and the relationship is not the best right now.
According to the EU, it is illegal to transfer personal data to third countries if there are no guarantees that the data is protected. If the agreement between the EU and the US is terminated, for example, all Microsoft pro -
ducts will become illegal, says Tony Ottosson Gadd.
– This includes, among other things, Microsoft 365 with its Office package, Microsoft Teams and Sharepoint. We have several reasons in and of themselves to consider the use of Microsoft. Among other things, the services have become three times more expensive in five years, which may be because they were previously quite cheap, but is still a concern. If all these services become illegal, and employees can no longer use, for example, Word or Excel, daily work will of course be affected.
AMERICAN IT IS world leading.
– So, it is difficult to completely do without American technology. Nor can we, according to the regulations on public procurement, require that we buy only European services, for example; legislation can of course be changed, but that
takes time. The challenge is therefore to create a robust system where we have control over our own operations and do not risk ending up in the hands of others. Part of this is about creating parallel solutions, which, however, must not lead to excessively high costs.
One solution could be open-source services, i.e. free software that does not need to be procured and is openly available to use, modify and distribute further, explains Tony Ottosson Gadd.
– AMONG OTHER THINGS, there is a decision to introduce Next Cloud for storage, something that will probably be in place at GU by the summer. Next Cloud also has more functions that can replace other parts of Microsoft 365. But we also need to do a broader analysis of what software and hardware and what cloud services we need. Where are the biggest risks, what risks can we accept and how much resources should we spend on what?
Already on April 8, the IT unit began work on making proposals for how GU should be able to handle these and other issues.
– The issue will be prepared in the management of the digitalization portfolio and later in the university management, explains Tony Ottosson Gadd.
Text: Eva Lundgren
Photo: Shutterstock
»The challenge is therefore to create a robust system where we have control over our own operations and do not risk ending up in the hands of others.«
Tony Ottosson Gadd
→ Facts:
According to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), personal data may only be transferred outside the EEA/EU area if the recipient country has an adequate level of protection. A number of countries outside the EEA/ EU have been deemed by the EU Commission to have such a level. The first data transfer agreement between the EU and the US, Safe Harbor, was rejected by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2015 after doctoral student Max Schrems demonstrated the lack of security at Facebook. The EU Commission then concluded the new agreement, Privacy Shield. On 16 July 2020, this agreement was also declared invalid, a ruling known as Schrems II. On 10 July 2023, the EU Commission concluded another agreement with the US, the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF), which is considered to meet an adequate level of protection for personal data. On 20 January 2025, the US administration dismissed all but one member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB). The body, which is responsible for ensuring that US intelligence agencies do not violate the rights of individuals when collecting personal data, is currently not in a position to make decisions. It is the European Commission that assesses whether personal data transferred from the EU/EEA to another country is adequately protected. In cases where protection is not considered to be assured, it is not permitted to transfer personal data from the EU/EEA to the country in question with an adequacy decision as support.
More information: www.imy. se/en/.
Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG
Better and more open with Researchdata
On 25 March, Researchdata.se was launched, a new national portal that will facilitate for researchers to find, share and reuse research data.
– This is an important step towards an ever more open science community and something we have been wanting to do for a long time, says Eva Stensköld, manager of the Swedish National Data Service (SND), which is the unit behind the portal and the one managing it.
THE VERY PURPOSE of the platform Researchdata.se is to have one common window to most of the research being produced at Swedish universities, explains Eva Stensköld.
– The portal is part of the work on achieving the goal of the EU and the Swedish AI Commission about making publicly financed research data open by 2026. Transparency is not about only giving researchers access to data; but also about everyone else, such as citizens interested in the documentation underpinning political decisions, being able to use the platform. Keeping research openly available is an important democratic issue, not least considering the fact that citizens contribute to research financing.
BUT THE AIM of the portal is not solely to facilitate searching for data but also sharing it. Equally important is that the portal makes it easier to reuse results
so that researchers do not have to spend time of something that has already been done, Eva Stensköld points out.
– The data may also inspire new projects and different partnerships, for both researchers and students. The material is made as searchable as possible and is being managed in accordance with the FAIR principles, i.e. findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.
OF COURSE, transparency does not apply to any confidential data, e.g. protected personal data, business secrets or circumstances pertaining to national security, says Karin Westin Tikkanen, Senior Adviser at SND.
– But even if the data itself cannot be provided, its metadata can be published; the researchers do need to know that the data is there in order to request a confidentiality review. The metadata describes who, when, where and how the data was collected. We normally say that data should be as public as is possible and as restricted as is required.
It is not just governments that demand open data today. More and more publishers and financiers do as well, says Johan Fihn Marberg, Section Head at SND.
– For the credibility of the publishers it is important that the results in their journals are verifiable. And for the financiers, who invest large amounts in data gathering, it is essential that they get maximum benefit from financed projects. In addition, there is, in Sweden as well as in
»The material is made as searchable as possible and is being managed in accordance with the FAIR principles, i.e. findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. « Eva Stensköld
the rest of Europe, an ongoing review of the qualification system where not only publications in scientific journals, but also sharing of data, will be included. This will mean additional incentives for researchers to contribute to the scientific community.
RESEARCHDATA.SE is funded by nine universities as well as the Swedish Research Council. But the partnership ranges more widely than that and encompasses almost all higher learning institutions in Sweden, Johan Fihn Marberg explains.
– But we also collaborate with other European and international infrastructures. One entirely new partnership is the EU commission’s newly started European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) which promotes open science. Through all this collaboration, Swedish research data will be visible and accessible in Europe as well as in other international
contexts, while our own researchers gain access to international data.
The information on the platform is available in Swedish and English, and the research data catalogue is designed to be easily searchable, says Johan Fihn Marberg.
– In the left-hand column you will find different subjects, geographic locations and collections. You can also simply enter a search term.
One aim of Researchdata.se is for the platform to stimulate researchers to manage their research data from the very beginning of a project to its end, Karin Westin Tikkanen explains.
– Through the portal, the researcher can get advice on what they should consider while working with the data, such as how to organise it, what file formats are appropriate, what might be important to document
in order to facilitate sharing and how to protect the material. If the researchers deals with all this continuously, it will be less burdensome to do it when the project is approaching its end.
WHEN THE GU JOURNAL visited there were 5,879 datasets in the portal, says Johan Fihn Marberg.
– But that figure is constantly changing. The universities have a responsibility for monitoring their research data, which is another reason for participating in Researchdata.se.
The platform will be developed continuously, explains Eva Stensköld.
– Together with our partners and other sections of the scientific community SND will continue to promote research quality and transparency, to the benefit of society as a whole.
Text: Eva Lundgren
Photo: Johan Wingborg
Eva Stensköld, Karin Westin Tikkanen and Johan Fihn Marberg explain that Researchdata.se will make science even more accessible.
→ Facts:
About Researchdata.se: On 25 March Researchdata.se was launched, a new national web portal for researchers looking to find, share and reuse research data. The portal is operated by the Swedish National Data Service (SND) and is a collaboration between several national research infrastructures.
The aim of Researchdata.se is to provide increased access to research data from a wide-ranging array of scientific disciplines. The portal also provides practical guidance for researchers on sustainable data management, as well as access to tools and training resources from SND and other national and internatio-
nal stakeholders.
The following organisations are part of the partnership: Bolin Centre, Huminfra, InfraVis, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden (NBIS), Swedish Biodiversity Data Infrastructure (SBDI), SciLifeLab, Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Science (SITES) as well as SweDigArch. It is funded by the universities in Gothenburg, Lund, Stockholm, Umeå and Uppsala as well as Chalmers, Karolinska Institute, the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and the Science Council.
Opportunity to educate students in Gaza
On the 20th of March, as the first higher education institution in Sweden, GU started up a possibility for teachers who want to contribute to distance education of students in Gaza. Around fifty GU teachers have already expressed interest.
– Colleagues from Chalmers, Malmö University, Mid Sweden University and Södertörn University have also been in touch, says Helena Lindholm, one of three GU employees tasked with coordinating the efforts.
LAST AUTUMN, the International Centre sent out a request to GU employees to see if they were interested in contributing to distance education of students in Gaza. They got around fifty responses. This has now led to the vice-chancellor making a decision to officially support the initiative. Three people will coordinate the work: Helena Lindholm, professor of peace and development research, Feras Hammami, associate professor of cultural preservation, and Pernilla Myrne, senior lecturer in Arabic.
– We are now on a tour to the faculties and the University Library to explain to faculty
»We in the coordination group want to take care of the great commitment at GU, while we at the same time ensure that our teachers' contributions really respond to the needs...«
Helena Lindholm
management, education boards, education councils and others about the initiative. In this context, being able to say that the assignment comes from the vice-chancellor is of course important, explains Helena Lindholm.
FERAS HAMMAMI has been collaborating for a number of years with Birzeit, a university in the West Bank that has, among other things, launched the Rebuilding Hope initiative. It is about supporting higher education institutions and students in Gaza, including through online teaching.
discuss the courses.
– By collaborating with Birzeit, we get an overview of what type of education the students need the most, he explains. Medicine and healthcare is of course important, but also to train architects, engineers and teachers, among other things.
According to UN reports, Israel has destroyed more than 80 percent of Gaza’s built environment. UN experts are deeply concerned about “scholasticide” in Gaza, as the education system has been systematically destroyed. All universities have been wiped out, teachers have been killed, others have fled, buildings with classrooms, labs and workshops have been destroyed, and courses are empty.
However, the Covid pandemic had the good effect that students in Gaza have become accustomed to distance learning, says Feras Hammami.
– The studies are conducted in the parts of the buildings that still remain, otherwise in a
camp, a school or somewhere else. The internet is not very reliable and the students get electricity for computers and mobile phones from small generators. But they adapt to the situation. Many people probably have an incorrect image of Gaza, says Helena Lindholm.
– The technical knowledge is high and the long-term Israeli occupation and the blockade of Gaza that began in 2007 have also led to an innovative spirit and a solution orientation. What Birzeit University focuses on is finding the right kind of teachers and course materials that can be used in existing professional education at the higher education institutions in Gaza. This can, for example, involve digital lectures, supervision, recorded lab activities and gaining access to databases and research infrastructure, explains Helena Lindholm.
– WE IN THE coordination group want to take care of the great commitment at GU, while we at the same time ensure that our teachers' contributions really respond to the needs of the Palestinian students and the higher education institutions. It is important to find matches between teachers and what is desired as smoothly as possible and without delay.
Supporting education in Gaza is also about contributing to the feeling of being part of an academic context, explains Feras Hammami.
– It is important for both teachers and students to feel that they are not forgotten and that they are still part of the academic world. In the long term, the collaboration is also about contributing to the reconstruction of Gaza, where culture, cultural preservation and the
management of memories will play an important role in the healing process.
Something that the group also wants to investigate is the possibility for master's students from Gaza to come on an Erasmus exchange to GU, much like the exchange has been opened up for Ukrainian students.
THE SYSTEMATIC violence against Gaza has been going on for a long time, points out Helena Lindholm.
– Regarding the age of a young person, for example, you can say that they are "sixteen years and six wars old". For these young people, it is extremely important to feel hope for the future after all and that the world has not abandoned them.
→ Facts: On the 20th of March, the vice-chancellor decided to officially support an initiative where teachers from GU provide distance learning to Palestinian students in Gaza. The initiative is led by a working group. In addition to investigating the possibility of distance learning, the group will also disseminate information about current initiatives and investigate the possibility of external funding. The work will continue during 2025 and most of 2026 and will then be summarized for the university's management. The working group consists of Helena Lindholm, professor of peace and development research, Feras Hammami, associate professor of cultural preservation, and Pernilla Myrne, senior lecturer of Arabic. For registration or questions, contact Helena Lindholm: helena. lindholm@gu.se.
Text: Eva Lundgren
Photo: Johan Wingborg
Helena Lindholm and Feras Hammami
With an eye on Europe's future
– In southern Germany they almost see Hamburg as being part of Scandinavia. And it is true that the city has more or less the same stores, brands and other things as they do in the Nordics.
This is what Ann-Kristin Kölln says. As an expert in political parties and having grown up outside Hamburg she has recently appeared on several media channels, most recently in SVT’s live broadcast about the German election. →
Ann-Kristin Kölln is a professor of political science, a member of the Young Academy of Sweden as well as the chair of the party research programme at the Department of Political Science.
– Of course, there is ongoing research into electorates and elections all around the world. But an entire programme focusing on political parties is something that is unique to the University of Gothenburg in a European context. I myself is currently mostly interested in factions within European parties, where the members have opinions that diverge from the main party line. The general view is that factions are detrimental to electoral outcome for the party. But I have developed a new theory that I am currently testing, which assumes that this does not necessarily have to be the case: As long as the overarching goal is agreed upon, a faction within a large centrist party can attract new voters, I would argue.
European politics is perhaps not something that Swedes in general are very interested in. But as unrest has grown in the world and the relations between the U.S. and Europe have deteriorated, events in other countries have become all the more important even for Sweden. This is not least true for developments in Germany. On 23 February, they held elections for the Bundestag and Ann-Kristin Kölln was brought on as an expert, such as on SVT.
– The election was dramatic on several levels. Germany’s Social Democratic Party, SPD, only got 16.4 percent of the vote, the worst election result since 1890! And Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) were not very satisfied either with their 28.5 percent, as the forecasts had indicated upwards of 8 percentage points higher.
But most of the interest has probably been directed towards Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), who, with 20.8 percent of the vote, doubled their electoral support since the election in 2021, Ann-Kristin Kölln explains.
– AfD mainly attract young men; around 27 percent of men from 18–24 years of age voted for the party. Compare that to around 35 percent of women of the same age who instead chose to vote for the left party, Die Linke. The reason behind AfD’s success is usually explained by people being tired of immigration; Germany is the European country that receives the highest number of asylum seekers. But relatively few migrants settle in former East Germany and yet, that is where the support for AfD is at its highest.
One reason could be that the wall that came down in 1989 in many ways still remains.
– Developments in the former DDR is lagging behind the rest of the country. Despite Germany being one of the world’s largest economies the population there still
have lower wages and pensions, as well as worse social services compared to former West Germany. Many therefore opt to move west, and rural communities in particular are depopulating. This naturally leads to more deterioration with less culture and worse public transport. Before the fall of the wall the DDR was the most esteemed country in the Soviet-controlled part of Europe, now the region is considered a problem.
In Germany, as in many places in the world, there is stark polarisation between east and west, urban and rural, women and men, Ann-Kristin Kölln stresses.
– So, what to do? Somehow we need to get people to feel they are part of society, which requires MAYor investments, such as in jobs, infrastructure and culture.
Germany must now quickly put together a government with Friedrich Merz as Chancellor. And the rest of Europe is also hoping that Europe’s strongest nation gets its act together and takes responsibility, not least in terms of armament, explains Ann-Kristin Kölln.
– There is a chance that Germany reintroduces some form of national service, where citizens may be able to choose between military and civilian service. But following the second world war the Germans have fended off all forms of war rhetoric, so if the country is to increase defence spending the goal must be worded as being about freedom and democracy, not about armed combat.
Ann-Kristin Kölln grew up in Hamburg in a family that were happy to discuss politics. When she later did an internship with a political party she was fascinated by how politics influenced citizens and annoyed over the fact that decisions were often made on fairly shaky grounds. This was one of the reasons why she decided to study more political science and apply for a research position.
She took her BA in political science and law at the University of Münster. And it was when she was studying for her master’s degree at the University of Warwick, in the UK, that she met her future partner, Göran Duus-Otterström, who is now also a professor of political science.
She got a postdoctoral position in in Gothenburg.
– One of my main interests is sports, for example table tennis; in Gothenburg I played for BTK Linné. But my greatest involvement in table tennis since childhood was when Göran and I lived for three years in Århus.
With my team, Sisu Aarhus, we won the district championship. That was in 2019 but shortly thereafter I stopped competing; I gave birth to our daughter and of course everything closed down because of the pandemic.
The Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg is one of the best in Europe. But Ann-Kristin Kölln likes Gothenburg for other reasons as well.
»Somehow we need to get people to feel they are part of society, which requires mayor investments, such as in jobs, infrastructure and culture.«
ANN-KRISTIN KÖLLN
– Just like Hamburg, Gothenburg is a port city with cranes and similar architecture. I also appreciate that Gothenburg is near the sea and has such good cycling paths. Hamburg reaches the sea via Elbe but has better public transport, such as a very good underground; it is also a much larger city than Gothenburg.
And Sweden as a whole has several advantages, Ann-Kristin Kölln argues.
– Professors do very well in Germany, both in terms of wages and research resources. But before you get that far you have to eke out a precarious living in an insecure career as a doctoral student and later as a post-doc with no permanent employment. The number of professors is also low compared to Sweden; a large university such as the one in Munich only has about 11 professors of political science, compared to our department which has around 25, plus as many senior lecturers and associate senior lecturers. The scientific discourse becomes less interesting if only few people participate, and the uncertain conditions, where you can hardly get a permanent employment before the age of 40, means that many talented people give up.
And Swedish childcare is also an important reason to move to Sweden, Ann-Kristin Kölln explains.
– My brother, who still lives in Germany, pays around 800 euro per month for a place in preschool. The costs leads many to ask their grandparents to help out in order to make ends meet. And working life in Sweden is also much more understanding of parents of small children. Not least my own department where we never have meetings before 9 or after 15. And the school’s home language tuition is amazing, I don’t think there is anything like it anywhere else in the world.
If Ann-Kristin Kölln gets some time to spare, she prefers to spend it on cultural pursuits, such as reading fiction in German or English, or attending theatre or dance performances.
– But most of all I enjoy visiting art museums. Over the past few years I have become more and more interested in individual artists and have also tried to buy some art at auctions. That market is of course very expensive and prices have risen even more during and after the pandemic. My favourite artist? Undoubtedly the Latvian American artist and playwright Raimonds Staprans.
ANN-KRISTIN KÖLLN
Current position: Professor of Political Science, Chair of the Party Research Programme at the Department of Political Science, Member of the Young Academy of Sweden.
Lives at: Bagaregården.
Family: Partner Göran Duus-Otterström, Professor of Political Science, and two children aged 5 and 1.
Hobbies: Table tennis, go for a run at Skatås, culture, such as literature, theatre, dance and art.
Better in Sweden: Fish, pillows (German pillows are too large and saggy), digitalisation.
Better in Germany: Bread, Apfelschorle (apple juice with carbonated water), easier to get a rental contract.
HOW AI AFFECTS
AFFECTS YOU
Generative AI has quickly become part of many people's everyday lives. But how should the university respond to all the new ways of working, studying and managing knowledge? There are many opinions, both among employees and students.
– The rapid development sometimes gives the feeling of being in a tumble dryer, says Mattias von Feilitzen, for example.→
Illustration: LARS LANHED
AI technology divides the classroom
Around 80 percent of the students at the Faculty of Social Sciences use AI when they study. For the teachers, the inverse is true: around 80 percent do not use AI in their teaching.
This is the result of two studies, conducted by teachers at the School of Global Studies.
One year ago the Faculty of Social Sciences announced development funds for smaller pedagogical projects. That was the starting point for a project that included two surveys, conducted by Arne F. Wackenhut, Senior Lecturer in Global Studies, Maris Gillette, Professor of Social Anthropology, and Elizabeth Olsson, Doctor of Peace and Development Research and Language Advisor at ASK.
– The rapid development within generative AI has led to discussions about the death of home exams and about switching to classroom exams and oral examinations. But what do the students think of the new technology and how do they use it? Those were questions that we, through the support we had from the faculty, were able to study in a more systematic manner last autumn, Arne F. Wackenhut explains.
A questionnaire was disseminated to students in courses at the faculty. The 541 responses we received contained a few surprises, says Maris Gillette.
– We thought that the students primarily use tools such as Copilot and Chat GPT to produce text. But it turned out that the tools are used in several different ways, and that many are quite critical of using AI as support during exams.
Instead, one of the most common usages when reading was for quickly getting a summary of the text’s content. And the fact that reading is a problem for many students is something that Eliza-
beth Olsson recognises from her work as a language advisor.
– One of the comments in the survey I think sums up what it feels like for many students: “I don’t want to use AI, but I do so anyway, even though I know that it is worse for learning, since I don’t have the time to get to all the required reading.” This may be worth considering: Using AI for writing is frequently mentioned but the reading process may just as important to focus on.
»Discussions with teachers and classmates are important for reasons of learning but also for social reasons.«
MARIS GILLETTE
Many students see the AI tool as a study buddy, Maris Gillette points out.
– And it can function as that. But what concerns me is if the student stops at that: chatbots sometimes provide good answers but frequently really bad ones, and the student must keep asking questions. In addition, the discussions with teachers and classmates are important for reasons of learning but also for social reasons, and cannot be replaced by an AI.
Over the past few years, Elizabeth Olsson’s primary function as a language advisor has been precisely about providing support on using AI. She holds a three-hour introductory course on generative AI as well as workshops on how to draft a course policy that includes AI in the study directions.
– It is about supporting the students in using AI in a good way. I have had fantastic group discussions with students where it
emerged that many of them prefer to work without AI support. At the same time, I have met teachers who feel that they do not know enough about the AI tools to be able to discuss them with students, a concern that I can fully understand.
The second survey conducted by the three researchers concerned the teachers’ use of AI. It shows major differences in their views on the tools: there are those who use AI tools very actively, while others want nothing to do with the technology. Only around 20 percent of the respondents have integrated AI in their teaching, says Arne F. Wackenhut.
– One reason is that it takes time to familiarise yourself with how AI can be used in teaching, time that is not included in the scheduling. Career-wise, it is the writing of scientific articles that takes precedence and you also need to make time for everything else, such as teaching, examination and administration. After having done remote online teaching for two years during the pandemic, many are also tired of quickly having to learn new ways of working. Teachers want to meet their students and discuss with them, not talk to a chatbot.
Since 2023 there is one central guidance document for the use of generative AI for teachers and one for students. But the two surveys show that both students and teachers ask for even more comprehensive support concerning when and how AI can be used, and what constitutes inappropriate use.
One help could be to distinguish AI as a tool from AI as an agent, Elizabeth Olsson argues.
– AI functions as a tool if it facilitates and supports your own work and your learning. But AI is an agent if it does the work for you, so that you do not have to do it yourself. It is the AI as agent that is problematic in terms of what will happen to learning and critical thinking if you
– Both teachers and students want more support when it comes to AI use, explain Arne F. Wackenhut, Elizabeth Olsson and Maris Gillette.
neither read your literature nor write your own text?
A chatbot or other language model presents its answers in a manner that makes them appear credible and true, Maris Gillette points out.
– They give the impression of them being intelligent interlocutors. But the AI tools have no brain or intellectual ability, of course. It is important to keep in mind that they are just language models whose answers are based on probabilities and not on people who possess knowledge.
The development within generative AI can be compared to when Wikipedia emerged in the beginning of the 2000s, argues Arne F. Wackenhut.
– At the time, there was a notion that you no longer needed to learn anything,
as everything is available online. Later, we gradually realised that the opposite is true, knowledge is essential to knowing what to look for and assessing the answers you get. The same is true for AI tools: they can be helpful in some contexts. But our universities must still produce educated
Facts: In the autumn of 2024, a project was carried out that included two surveys, designed by Arne F. Wackenhut, Senior Lecturer of Global Studies, Maris Gillette, Professor of Social Anthropology, and Elizabeth Olsson, Doctor of Peach and Development Research as well as Language Advisor at ASK. The surveys were about the use of AI at the Faculty of Social Sciences, one about the students and one
people with good critical thinking. And key skills, such as the ability to analyse complex issues, cannot be outsourced to an AI system.
Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
about the teachers. The results showed that 80 percent of the students use AI for studying while 80 percent of the teachers do not use AI in their teaching.
The survey was conducted by Arne F. Wackenhut, Senior Lecturer of Global Studies, Maris Gillette, Professor of Social Anthropology, and Elizabeth Olsson, Doctor of Peach and Development Research as well as Language Advisor at ASK.
Exam support saves work and time
A support system for assessing exams that combines the best of both humans and machines, this is the aim of an entirely unique AI tool, developed by Victor Appelgren, IT Coordinator at the Department of Business Administration.
– The idea is to eventually make it available throughout the whole university, he explains.
There are numerous challenges in assessing exams in a way that is both fair, legal and comprehensible to the students. This point is made by Kristina Jonäll, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Business Administration, who acted as a sounding board during development of the tool.
– Particularly when it concerns large courses with perhaps 300 students it is very difficult to provide precisely the same type of objective assessments. Different teachers have slightly different approaches, but not even when the same teacher assesses all the exams can you be certain that they do exactly the same assessment on Friday afternoon as they do on Monday morning.
Managing such vast amounts of data is something that large language models are good at, Victor Appelgren points out.
– But using tools such as Chat GPT when marking exams does not work very well, the assessments turn out different each time.
The tool developed by Victor Appelgren is instead based on controlled models. This means that the system has been trained on precisely the material that is important in a certain context. In this case, it concerns exam questions
and answers that have been exported to the AI tool from DISA, together with the teacher’s assessment templates, says Victor Appelgren.
– The tool assesses the students’ answers and suggests a score. In order to get as good a scoring as possible the teacher can compare their own assessments with those of the AI tool and adjust the template fed to the tool so that it better aligns with their own assessment approach.
The tool also provides feedback to the students, Kristina Jonäll explains.
– As a teacher, you want to give feedback to the students, but in a course with several hundred students that will be impossible to find the time for. But the AI tool can review all the text in a few minutes and will comment on answers that is incorrect or in what way it needs to be complemented. However, it is important to point out that the AI only provides suggestions for how to mark and assess the exam. The teacher always have the final say.
The tool will also give the teachers statistics on how the students answered.
– Perhaps a large number of students had problems understanding a particular question. So, you may need to think about whether the question needs to be clarified, or made simpler or more tangible. This helps the teacher ask better questions that may lead to better answers.
The AI tools also mark only what is outlined in the assessment criteria, nothing else, Kristina Jonäll explains.
– After all, a teacher is only human and can be influenced by things such as a student’s language, which may vary in quality, or if a student uses examples that the teacher for some reason dislikes. A machine, however, is very good at being
consistent and ignoring circumstances that are irrelevant.
So in order to use the tool well, the teacher would need to spend some time on working through the exam questions and assessment criteria. But once that is done, the marking will be done much more quickly while also improving the quality of both exam questions and marking, argues Kristina Jonäll.
– Teachers can then used the time saved to do things that they find important but rarely have time for, such as in-depth discussions with their students.
The AI tool is run in an entirely closed environment at the Department of Business Administration which requires an X account and login. The system also saves traceable logs of each process of the exam management, says Victor Appelgren.
– The language model we used was
developed by the French AI company Mistral. The reason for our choosing that solution is that Mistral, unlike Open AI, complies with GDPR legislation and they also collaborate with AI Sweden. Overall, the University of Gothenburg should switch to European AI companies, I would argue.
The aim of the department of Business Administration is to use AI support as a standard tool when assessing exams from the autumn of 2025, says Head of Department Roger Schweizer.
– Our teachers have expressed great enthusiasm for the AI exam project. It can be used for more or less any type of exam, even if it will not be possible for everyone to use the support immediately.
AI support has many benefits, Roger Schweizer argues.
– Not least the fact that it can draw the teachers’ attention to aspects with which
– It's about exam support, but the teacher is responsible, say Victor Appelgren and Kristina Jonäll.
students are struggling and thus improve their teaching. This will have a positive impact on course development, both in the way we teach and where we can improve our approach. The learning of the students will improve but it will also improve the working environment of the teachers as they will be able to focus on their core task, teaching.
Currently, the tool is only used by the Department of Business Administration, Roger Schweizer explains.
– But eventually it will be available for use throughout the whole university. We are working with the university lawyers to ensure that we comply with all the requirements for documentation and process description. We also carefully make note of all that we have learned in order to subsequently, after we have introduced the support at the Department of Business Administration and perhaps
to the rest of the School of Business, Economics and Law, be able to roll it out to the university as a whole or elsewhere where there is demand for it. When the University of Gothenburg is ready to take the leap, the tool will be ready!
Facts: Victor Appelgren, IT Coordinator at the Department of Business Administration, has developed an AI support for marking exams, where all the information is gathered in one place: exam questions, student answers, feedback, statistics and scores. The support will eventually be made available to the entire university.
The AI will provide support, but it will always be the teacher/examiner who is responsible for all forms of assessment and marking.
Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
Computer games as a way of life
Illustration: LARS LANHED
Children who start playing computer games as early as 6 or 7 years of age run a greater risk of becoming addicted compared to children who start 3–4 years later. This is indicated by research at the University of Gothenburg, conducted at the country’s largest clinic for gaming addiction where they both see patients and conduct research.
But the addiction can be treated, as shown by an ongoing pilot project.
The patients coming to the Clinic for Gambling Addiction and Screen Health play computer games around 50–70 hours a week. These games take up a large part of their lives. And yet, screen time is not included in the diagnostic criteria, explains Anna Söderpalm Gordh, Adjunct Professor of Experimental Psychiatry and Head of Research at the clinic.
– Instead, what is important is the consequences of gaming to the patient’s life, which will depend on their situation: for example, if the gamer neglects their job, ignores exercising and has no time for their family or other social relations and puts the game ahead of everything else, then it is an addiction.
Those receiving treatment at the clinic have in almost all cases initiated the contact themselves, such as through 1177. Most of them are men; there are almost no women among the patients, says Anna Söderpalm Gordh.
– Why this is, we do not know. Perhaps women rarely play games in an unhealthy way or it may be more of a stigma and thus more difficult for women to admit to a gaming addiction. One theory, which I have applied for funding to look into, is that women maybe have a different kind of harmful screen behaviour, for example involving social media or shopping.
Many people believe that it is primarily very young people who become addicted to gaming. But the average age of those who come to the clinic is 27, says Anna Söderpalm Gordh.
– That is an age at which many people start questioning their life: their friends have graduated, maybe got a job and started a family, but what have they done during all these years?
The first thing the patients are asked to do when they come to the clinic is to fill in a form where they estimate how much time the spend on gaming. They also meet with a therapist and undergo
-
Many people play to escape problems or anxiety in their everyday lives,” says Anna Söderpalm Gordh.
comprehensive social surveying. Around half of the patients have some form of co-morbidity such as depression, ADHD or autism. Many also play games to avoid problems or anxiety in their lives, Anna Söderpalm Gordh explains.
– Playing computer games is not necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary, it can sometimes be an effective way of managing your problems: the game has a structure, you know what is happening and what is expected of you, and someone who has problems at school can become a valued leading character in the fictitious world. In addition, games can be instructive, fun and a way of socialising with friends. But of course, if the game takes over your life it becomes harmful.
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) is the type of game that most frequently lead to addiction. Unlike for example football games, which last for one match and then end, these games can go on forever. The fact that many people have made friends online that they cannot meet in any other way will of course make it even more difficult to quit, Anna Söderpalm Gordh explains.
– Many games also contain “loot boxes”, a kind of gift box where the player randomly receive something valuable, such as a new asset or weapon. These boxes can sometimes be bought for in-game money. But more concerning is the fact that there are games in which those boxes can be bought for real money, which is a first step toward, say, playing casino online.
Together with her doctoral student,
Annika Hofstedt, Anna Söderpalm Gordh recently presented a study conducted on two patient groups: younger people from 15–25 years of age, and patients over the age of 25. The younger group turned out to have started gaming when they were from 6–7 years old, and developed an addiction when they were on average 14 years of age. The older group started gaming when they were around ten and experienced manifest problems only when they were on average 21 years old.
– So it takes less time to develop an addiction if you start very early compared to being a little older. Just as parents do not give alcohol to a small child they should not let young children play online games either.
So how do you treat a gaming addiction? At the Clinic for Gambling Addiction and Screen Health they have developed a special method that involves a treatment period of 8–12 weeks with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
– The patients will set targets for how much they want to play, identify what triggers them to play and figure out what they can do instead.
A little over one year ago, Anna Söderpalm Gordh received 7 million krona from the Research Council to conduct a randomised controlled trial in order to investigate how the treatment is working. The most recent evaluation shows very positive results.
– Those who spend 50–70 hours a week on gaming reduce their gaming time by almost 40 hours on average; so they gain an entire working week! They also feel better mentally and are less depressed and anxious. I am now hoping that the public will become aware of the fact that the addiction is treatable and that more people with problems will contact us.
Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
Facts: Anna Söderpalm Gordh is the Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology and Head of Research at the Clinic for Gambling Addiction and Screen Health, at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital. It is the only clinic in Sweden that both treats and does research into gaming addiction. Anna Söderpalm Gordh has received 7 million krona from the Research Council in order to test a treatment manual for the patient group.
Since 2018, gaming disorder is treated as an addiction by the World Health Organisation (WHO).