Address: GU Journal, University of Gothenburg, Box 100, 405 30 Gothenburg , Sweden.
E-mail:
gu-journalen@gu.se
ISSN: 1402-9626
Translation: Språkservice
Innehåll
News 04–10
04 Necessary to reduce operational support, says Malin Broberg.
06 Strong reactions to the cutbacks.
08 Conference on children’s rights.
10 Interprofessional learning.
Profile 12–15
12 “Teacher education exists for the sake of the children,” says Jonas Linderoth.
Report 16–23
16 EU project aims to reduce tensions between refugees and other groups
18 Nordicom supports media development in Uzbekistan.
20 The importance of mothers for children’s health
22 Doctoral conferment ceremony
People 24
24 Ambiguous benefits and real harms.
Doctoral ceremony.
Minister and doctoral student.
Cares about knowledge.
Supports media literacy.
A future that hurts
Purposeful work with an eye to the future
ight now, our university is in an exciting phase. Our shared vision for education and research is taking shape more clearly, and many of the changes that have been initiated are steps on the path towards a more cohesive, attractive and sustainable University of Gothenburg. The university management recently held an exchange of experiences with Lund University, which provided valuable insights and confirmation that we are on the right track. The discussions were about quality, leadership and collaboration, and gave us new perspectives on how we can continue to strengthen our operations and our impact – both nationally and internationally.
Two particularly memorable events have recently put the University of Gothenburg on the map. First, the Queen’s visit in connection with the presentation of the new Professor of Global Child and Adolescent Health in the Queen’s name. It was an opportunity that demonstrated both the importance of the subject and
the university’s international roots, with the presence of leading representatives from UNICEF, WHO and other global and national actors.
This was followed by a solemn graduation ceremony where we celebrated our new doctors and honorary doctors. It is fantastic to see the creative buzz of scientific activity that has led to 167 new doctors in widely different fields being celebrated in the presence of loved ones and large parts of the academic leadership.
At the beginning of November, the central work environment committee will hold a theme day on health factors and sustainable academic working life. Creating environments where people thrive, grow and perform is crucial for long-term success – both for the individual and for the university as a whole. We know that certain processes are currently demanding. Change can arouse both expectations and concerns, especially before there are answers to questions about how it will be. I want to assure you that we are taking the most systematic, dialogue-based and transparent approach possible. We listen to different perspectives in ongoing change processes. Even though we sometimes have different views on the need for change, I hope that we can all feel confident that we will reach solutions that will be good for the University of Gothenburg as a whole.
Vice-Chancellor MALIN BROBERG
hat GPT engages many of GU’s employees In this issue we have a debate post by Martin Westerholm, who points out, among other things, that the university is considering purchasing an AI solution that may not be good for students at all.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is turning 35 and was therefore the theme for this year's Global Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference. Jeremy Farrar, Deputy Director-General of the WHO, pointed out that we live in a time that hurts: Democracy and strong institutions are increasingly being questioned and many worry that the society that previous generations have built is now being destroyed. Despite the realization that the future will likely contain changes that many will perceive as steps backwards, we must still continue to take responsibility, he said.
This issue also contains a report on Jean Nepo Utumatwishima who, in the middle of a lecture, was offered a position as a minister in the Rwandan government. He is researching a very important area, namely the importance of the mother for a child’s development. If she is feeling unwell, is subjected to violence and lives in a situation she has no control over, there is a great risk that the child will also be harmed.
The University of Gothenburg must reduce the cost of support services by ten percent over three years. Many employees are worried that their workload will increase. Read more in this issue.
The editorial team wishes you a wonderful autumn.
“We
have to act now – but do so wisely”
The University of Gothenburg has to reduce the cost of support services by no less than ten percent over three years in order to make resources available to research and education. But how to go about it, and what it will entail in practice, is still unclear but will be looked into during the autumn.
THE UNIVERSITY IS facing one of its greatest challenges in a very long time. Vice-Chancellor Malin Broberg has tasked University Director Johan
Johansson with drafting a plan for how the university’s support services, according to the directive, will become more “coherent and effective”. The goal is to reduce the costs by at least ten percent over the course of three years, a figure that, according to the vice-chancellor, is based on an assessment of what the university should be able to tolerate without too much of a negative impact on operations.
– It is a figure that will have a substantial effect but which is also deemed to be possible to manage, says Johan Johans-
son. Later in the autumn, we will specify what it will actually entail in practice.
The reason is a difficult financial situation, where the university’s costs are increasing considerably more than the grants it receives.
– COSTS HAVE increased, inflation is high, and we need to safeguard resources for research and education. We cannot wait any longer, the financial situation makes it necessary to act now, says Malin Broberg.
She stresses that it is not about “cutting back across
the board”, but about using resources more wisely.
– All state agencies today are required to streamline their administration. For us, it will involve discussions about our levels of ambition, prioritising, and reducing the number of tasks, as well as avoiding duplication of efforts. We will also be improving our digitalisation and organisation and coordinating efforts between different levels.
Johan Johansson will be heading the efforts to set objectives and draft a handson plan for the period from 2026–2028. He describes the
Illustration: AMANDA ÅKERMAN
»Strenuous efforts to streamline are already being made ...«
task as a way of collating all the work that is already ongoing in various locations.
– Strenuous efforts to streamline are already being made, but it does not necessarily turn out well when each unit tries to save on resources individually. We need to look at support services overall and avoid just shifting tasks between levels, he says.
THE TASK IS described as a long-term development project, not as a new reorganisation. Johan Johansson points out that it is different from the major reorganisation “GU Förnyas” which was implemented a little over ten years ago.
– That change served us well. But this time, we will not be looking at the organisation, but the tasks. We will look at what is being done within a certain field, who is doing what, what takes priority and what we can stop doing. Only then it may be time to discuss organisational changes. So, the idea is not to centralise, but to better coordinate between the three levels of the university: Central Administration, faculty and department, Johan Johansson explains.
– Coordination does not mean centralisation. Instead, it is the next stage of “GU Förnyas”, says Malin Broberg. We have already strengthened the central administration on the departmental level, but
there are gaps in the connections between levels that may contribute to red tape and duplication of efforts. This is where we need to improve
THE FIRST AREA to review is communications. And according to the preliminary plan we will then continue with other areas: HR, Internationalisation, Educational Support, Finance and Research. Each area will be scrutinized in a collaboration between Central Administration, faculties and departments.
– We want to get as good a picture of how the work is progressing today. This is why managers, employees and academic leaders need to become involved. They are the ones who know what works best and what can be done differently, says Johan Johansson.
Last year, the university had around 2,100 annual labour units within administration, technical staff and library services. It corresponds to 40 percent of all employees.
– We still do not know precisely how much the central administration costs, as it is allocated across several different levels. That is one of the things we need to find out. It is unnecessary to add to any concerns about how much to save or about how many jobs it may concern before we actually know, and that will probably become clear some time next spring.
THERE IS A CONCERN about increasing workloads or losing one’s job among both administrative staff and in the core business.
– I do understand that concern. But the idea is not that this will lead to fewer people doing the same things they are currently doing. That would not be reasonable. Instead, we need to stop doing certain things, and better coordinate efforts between levels and work more effectively, says Johan Johansson.
In order to encourage people to get involved in the process, monthly dialogue meetings are being held with managers. And union reps continuously receive information through co-determination meetings, says Johan Johansson.
– We have gathered 160–170 people on each occasion. The idea is to then bring the matters back to the workplace and to continue the discussions in workplace meetings. When we begin the overhaul, we will also be directly involving our employees in the process.
Both the vice-chancellor and the university director stress that the overhaul is not about disparaging the support services, but to strengthen it.
– THE CENTRAL administration is crucial for our education and research continuing to function, says Johan Johansson. We need to highlight all the important work that is being done and think about how to best develop it further – and to do it together. The university is in a constant state of change, as is society as a whole and the world around us.
About Malin Broberg concurs:
– I see this as an opportunity for strengthening the university’s ability to work in a more coordinated and strategic manner. If we succeed, we will free up resources for what is the university’s fundamental remit – but also for even more sustainable and professional support services.
The project of setting up objectives will continue throughout the autumn. It will be presented to the vice-chancellor no later than on December 15, 2025, and an action plan will be finalised by January 15, 2026.
– This is difficult but necessary work, concludes Malin Broberg. We need to act – but act wisely.
Text: Allan Eriksson
Photo: Johan Wingborg
–It´s
→Facts: Coherent and effective operational support
The Vice-Chancellor has assigned the University Director to develop a target image and a plan during the autumn to develop more coherent and effective operational support. The work aims to reduce the share of operational support in the university's total costs by ten percent over three years. During the autumn of 2025, the University Director will develop a more concrete target image for future operational support and a plan for the period 2026–2028, when the reviews will take place.
The target image will be reported to the Vice Chancellor no later than the 15th of December 2025 and the implementation plan no later than the 15th of January 2026. The assignments will be followed up on an ongoing basis in the Vice-Chancellor’s Management Council and in the University Director's Management Council.
The plan is for the reviews to take place area by area across the three organizational levels. Exactly which areas will be reviewed and how these are defined is not clear but is included in the work to be developed this autumn.
Managers and employees in both support and core operations will be involved in upcoming screenings. The Vice-Chancellor and University Director have initiated a routine of monthly dialogue meetings with question-and-answer sessions to which all managers are invited. In addition, faculty-specific meetings with the Vice-Chancellor will take place during autumn.
about working smarter together, not harder, says Malin Broberg.
Johan Johansson
“It is undignified
to talk about people in terms of
percentages”
The proposal to reduce support services by ten percent over three years has triggered angry reactions at the University of Gothenburg. Pia Lundahl is one of those who reacted to it – and she is not satisfied with the response from the vice-chancellor.
WHEN VICE-CHANCELLOR
Malin Broberg in the previous issue of the GU Journal described the need for streamlining and “necessary prioritisations”, Pia Lundahl, Education Administrator at the Faculty of Education, had had enough. She wrote a letter to the vice-chancellor in which she questioned the rhetoric as well as the depiction of the support services.
“What you are describing, albeit not expressly, is that many people within the support services will lose their jobs. Talking about it as something that we will ‘do together’ does come across as peculiar. Will I be aiding in streamlining myself away?”
But the answer she received – which referred to more information available at the Staff Portal – was not satisfying in her view.
– IT DID NOT MAKE much difference. Instead, it is about how you choose to talk about people and jobs going through change, says Pia Lundahl. She
Pia Lundahl questions how you can cut back 10 percent of support services without unduly burdening more people.
»The least you’d expect is an acknowledgement of the expertise that the university risks losing.«
Pia Lundahl
stresses that her involvement is not about any concern for her own situation.
– I will be retiring at the end of this academic year. I am not reacting on behalf of myself but in response to how the university is handling the issue. I do understand the cost-cutting itself – sometimes you have to adapt to the circumstances as they are. But talking about ten percent as an abstract, without mentioning that it concerns people and the skills they possess. It is undignified
IN HER VIEW, the university risks undermining an organisation that is already overextended, where many people are already labouring under far too many tasks.
– The support services are often described as a drain on resources, but without that support neither research nor teaching will be able to function. When you cut services it will impact other people, mainly those who remain in support services but some tasks will encumber researchers and teachers. And this will impact quality.
She points out that we only know that there will be a ten-percent reduction, but not what ten percent will mean. Are we talking about 200, 500 or 800 million? Regardless, it will have major consequences. The question at the end of the day is how many will have to be let go.
– Imagine that we would have a ten percent increase in wages, we would consider that an enormous raise. When you stay within percentages you obfuscate how large the encroachment really is.
Pia Lundahl would like to see more transparency and respect in the communication from management.
– The least you’d expect is an acknowledgement of the expertise that the university risks losing. And that they speak unambiguously about the consequences and do not hide behind words such as “streamlining”.
She argues that the change is presented as something that we will “do together” but in practice, it is about people losing their jobs.
– The tasks they perform cannot always be replaced by streamlining or digitalisation measures. They have to be taken over by other people. It is a major change, but nobody is willing to talk about it openly.
She also thinks that management should talk about the cost-cutting as an overarching problem, rather than just an issue with support services.
– IF STUDENT COHORTS will be fewer in number and grants will be reduced, teachers will also be impacted. The entire university needs to adapt, not just support services. Pointing to a singular group as “those who need to be cut back” will divide us rather than provide help.
– You could at least say: “We are sorry we have to cut back on services that we know are important.” That would show respect for the people as well as for the services they provide – instead of reducing the operations to a drain on the budget.
What do you think of the overhaul?
– We do understand that our grants will be reduced and that we need to save money, but we have so far only received verbal information. It is vital that they provide unequivocal information, as there is a great deal of concern out there about what the consequences will be and what jobs will be cut.
Maja Pelling, President of the Saco-S union.
– It is a little too early in the process for comments. But overall, I am positive to the overhaul as I believe there is great potential for streamlining and developing operations.
Bitte Klevendal Englund, Administrative Manager at the Department of Law.
– The ambition of ten-percent savings in the administration is something that I find commendable. We know that the administration is a very difficult-to-govern part of out operations. It is therefore reasonable to expect that a lot of inefficiencies accrue. The goal should always be to optimise operations. Starting by formulating an ambition by setting a target can be reasonable –after all, you have to start somewhere. Then the challenge lies in identifying where the greatest opportunities for making gains lie, in the way to go about it and without it having too many negative side-effects.
Gustaf Kastberg Weishelberger, Professor of Public Administration.
– It is very difficult making comments at this stage without it turning into speculation, which in a worst-case-scenario will only amplify people’s concerns. If you are talking about improving cost-effectiveness by 10 percent, rather than a loss of 10 percent in the number of employees, cost savings can be achieved in many different ways.
Peter Brandt, President of OFR/S
Text: Allan Eriksson
Photo: Johan Wingborg
With focus on children's rights
On October 10, it was again time for the Global Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference. The conference was a continuation of the roundtable talks that took place the previous day and also involved a presentation of Anja Huizink, who next year will take up the Queen Silvia's Professorship in Global Child and Adolescent Health.
VICE-CHANCELLOR Malin
Broberg opened by reminding everybody that this is the second conference on children’s and adolescent’s health with the aim of gathering participants from different scientific fields, societal sectors, industry and other stakeholders with an interest in children and young people.
– In these uncertain times
we need to make room for hope. This conference will be such a space since nothing inspires hope as much as our engagement in children and young people. The theme for the conference is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. It challenges us not only to acknowledge the rights of children as a principle for good, but also to ensure that their rights turn into practical reality, each day for each child.
Jeremy Farrar, Assistant Director-General, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Control, the WHO, told us about the British football team that gives 100 percent throughout all of the 90 minutes of the match.
– And yet they lose against Spain, who gives 100 percent for only 5 minutes. Because the Spanish players know
which special moments will make a difference. we are currently at such a turning point, when what we do now will have consequences for a long time into the future. The problems are legion, such as climate change and growing inequality, and there are great forces in motion stoking both internal and external conflicts.
THE EVOLUTION THAT our part of the world has experienced, with democracy and strong institutions, are being increasingly questioned, which has engendered a sense of sadness over the fact that what we have built now appears to be in the process of being demolished, Jeremy Farrar explained.
– But we must overcome this pain and realise that change is necessary; not least when it comes to my own organisation, the WHO, which
must be reformed and streamlined. At the same time, we need to continue taking responsibility, and not leave a vacuum for other forces to take over. Remember that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.
Denys Uliutin, Minister of Social Policy in Ukraine, told us about the resiliency centres that were being built in Ukraine since before the war to support vulnerable families.
– The centres now operate in more than 24 regions, with around 1,500 trained employees who so far have conducted 1.5 million interventions on behalf of families in need. We also have activities aimed specifically at children under the age of four. The aim is to not only talk about children’s rights but to do something tangible.
Sweden ratified the UN Convention on the Rights
– We must learn to handle, the pain that change brings, says Jeremy Farrar at WHO.
of the Child in 1990 and on January 1, 2020, it was also incorporated into Swedish law, the Minister for Social Services, Camilla Waltersson Grönvall, reminded us.
– THIS MEANS THAT every decision, policy or intervention must consider the interests of the child. We also need to listen to the children who, after all, know most about their own lives. It may also concern the management of mental ill health among young people, which is a growing and complex problem.
Visiting Professor Maria Grahn-Farley talked about the HRJust Project, which is funded by the European Union by 3 million euros, and involves a partnership between 15 departments in ten countries. The project investigates how states can use human rights for their own ends. She reminded us that Sweden had long been a role model for children’s rights, such as its ban against corporal punishment in 1979. But lately, something has happened.
– By arguing in favour of countering gang crime, the government has introduced visitation zones where even children, without suspicion of wrongdoing, can be searched. There are also discussions about lowering the age of criminal responsibility, from 15 to 13 years of age.
ACCORDING TO THE government, this is about complying with the requirements in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in order to protect children and young people from violence and crime, says Maria Grahn-Farley.
– But in reality, children are being divided into two groups: those who live in safer places where the opinions and the will of the child should be respected, and those who live in problem areas, who have their rights curtailed and where force and reprisals will be in effect, with the justification that
Among the guests at the Queen's roundtable discussion was GU’s new professor, Anja Huizink.
»This is nothing less than a paradigm shift in terms of Sweden’s approach to children’s rights …«
Maria Grahn-Farley
it is precisely to comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that these laws are being adopted. This is nothing less than a paradigm shift in terms of Sweden’s approach to children’s rights, thinking that punishment and threats will turn children into better people.
One of the keynote speakers of the conference was Anja Huizink who, on February 1 next year, will be taking up Queen Silvia's Professorship in Global Child and Adolescent Health. Her research focuses on two periods in human development: pregnancy and the time just after birth, as well as the teenage period.
– During these two periods, a window opens when humans are particularly vulnerable. But these are also periods when the possibilities are greatest for interventions to support positive developments.
Anja Huizink has headed several projects that support children and young people, using modern technology.
– We have, for example,
used apps to reduce stress among patients, to reduce alcohol intake and to encourage pregnant women to quit smoking. It involves cross-disciplinary research where we also cooperate with the subjects themselves. Cross-disciplinary science is an important part of the chair to which I have been appointed, which is a partnership between Sahlgrenska Academy, the School of Business, Economics and Law as well as the Faculties of Education and Social Sciences. But partnering with society as a whole is also vital. It is important to be curious, but also to be focused on results and having an idea of the end goal for the research.
SEVERAL OF THE ISSUES brought up at the conference had already been discussed during a roundtable talk on October 9 with Her Majesty the Queen Silvia attending.
– The second opportunity to bring together a group of highly competent people within a variety of fields has already led to several new initiatives. It has been incredibly gratifying and I am looking forward to continuing the conversation, explained the queen.
Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
→ Facts: The Global Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference was held on October 10 at the Conference Centre Wallenberg. Attendees: Malin Broberg, Vice-Chancellor, University of Gothenburg; Anja Huizink, Queen Silvia's Professorship in Global Child and Adolescent Health; Jeremy Farrar, Assistant Director-General, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Control, WHO; Denys Uliutin, Minister of Social Policy, Ukraine; Pernilla Baralt, Secretary General, UNICEF Sweden; Camilla Waltersson Grönwall, Minister for Social Services; Maria Grahn-Farley, Visiting Professor and Coordinator for the Eu-funded consortium HRJust; Helene Öberg, Secretary General, Prinsparets stiftelse; Anna Sonnander, Senior Lecturer, the Child Rights Institute, Lund University; Henry Ascher, Professor of Public Health and Associate Professor of Paediatrics; Therése Wissö, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Gothenburg. The conference also welcomed Anja Huizink, who will take up Queen Silvia's Professorship in Global Child and Adolescent Health on February 1, 2026, made possible through a partnership with Carl Bennet AB. On October 9, the conference was preceded by a roundtable talk in the university’s main building in Vasaparken attended by Her Majesty Queen Silvia.
Many wanted to learn more from each other
Interprofessional Learning (IPL) involves two or more education programmes learning about, from and together with each other in order to better be able to cooperate.
On October 16 Sahlgrenska Academy arranged an IPL day.
THIS TIME, THE IPL TRAINING addressed pharmacists, nurses, dentists and biomedical analysts from countries outside the EU/EEA who attend
supplementary training.
The opened with Gunnel Hellgren, Director of Studies for Supplementary Training for Biomedical Analysts, tel-
ling everyone about the idea behind the day.
– IPL is about participants improving their knowledge about each other’s professional disciplines and understanding how different professions collaborate throughout the care supply chain. In addition, we will learn more about patient-centred care. Besides the heads of the programme, a number of teachers and supervisors will be joining us
throughout the day.
The complementary dentistry programme is a two-semester course including a 15-week educational work placement, somewhere in Västra Götaland or Värmland. The other complementary programmes span three semesters, explained Kerstin Ulin, head of the complementary training for nurses.
– At the nursing programme, the first semester focuses
on the Swedish language with a particular focus on nursing, the second semester is about theory and the third semester involves clinical practice at health clinics, in municipal care provision as well as at hospitals. The pharmacy programme has a similar structure, where the practical element during the third semester can take place anywhere in the country.
Kerstin Ulin also talked about the Swedish care supply chain and explained the term “patient-centred care”.
– WE ALL HAVE different roles: we are teachers and students, but also parents, spouses or partners, we are all people with different experiences and skills. And the patient has a role, but is always an individual as well. Naturally, in an emergency situation you cannot sit down and talk to the patient about their current situation. But you should always talk to the patient in a respectful manner; remember that hearing is the last of our senses to go.
Attitude is an ethical matter, approach is a moral matter, Kerstin Ulin explained.
– For example, a physician may advise their patient to quit smoking. But in their current situation the patient is perhaps unable to do so. So the physician needs to listen to the patient, agree on a goal and document the agreement to acknowledge the partnership. Patient-centred care has turned out to be beneficial in many ways: it leads to shorter recovery times, fewer return visits, reduced pain and gets the patient back to work earlier.
VANESA DUBOVCI is a nurse from Kosovo. She is looking forward to attending the complementary training.
– Healthcare systems can look very different in different countries, so it is important to learn about how it works over
here. The nursing profession in Sweden seems to be fairly similar to the one in Kosovo but we do not have any assistant nurses so a nurse gets to do a lot of different things.
– It is very good that we can complement our training instead of having to start all over again. And cooperating with different professions to provide what is best for the patient is crucial.
Festim Zahiri is a dentist,
also from Kosovo. He says that Swedish healthcare seems to be more advanced compared to what he is used to.
– NOT LEAST THE system of digital patient files is much more efficient than just documenting on paper. This enables you to track a patient, even if they change their physician or clinic.
– The complementary training seems quite intense, but I think that is a good thing. I hope to be able to pass the course, then to work for a few years before getting further training in oral surgery.
Text: Eva Lundgren
Photo: Johan Wingborg
→Facts: October 16 was the second time Sahlgrenska Academy organised interprofessional training (IPL) for complementary programmes. The programme is intended for pharmacists, biomedical analysts, nurses, dentists and physicians. However, the complementary medical programme is currently being restructured and will not be held this year. Pernilla Hultberg is the coordinator for complementary programmes and validations.
Festim Zahiri and Vanesa Dubovci listened to Kerstin Ulin's explanations.
Wants to be Sweden’s best university teacher
– Finally! This is what the teachers who attend my continuing education course frequently exclaim. They have really longed for some support from research for things they have suspected throughout their professional careers.
Jonas Linderoth, Professor of Pedagogy, is speaking to us. He thinks that the continuing education of teachers is the most fun he has had. →
Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
hen the GU Journal meets Jonas Linderoth in Kungsparken he has brought his dog, a Lagotto named Goffman, after the well-known sociologist.
– Goffman and I train at Hundakademin, where you find the best dog trainers in the country. In the Danish film, The Last Viking starring Mads Mikkelsen, Hundakademin trained the co-starring dog Kanel.
Goffman is happy to show off his skills, such as bowing, reversing, slipping rings onto a stick and even jumping through his master’s arms when he forms them into a ring. Jonas Linderoth says that he has learnt more about theory of learning through his dog training than what he did in his own doctoral programme in education.
– Anyone who believes that you cannot learn about human beings through animal studies should refuse to see a doctor. I was told that behaviourism was dead when I studied pedagogy, but then you talk to psychologists, who has a different historiography, and who ask you what you think CBT really is.
Jonas Linderoth started as an art teacher. His interest in research stems from a paper that he wrote during his training.
– My examinator thought it was so good that he offered me the position as assistant in a research project about pedagogical games. I noticed that most people who conducted research into computer games and learning did not themselves play any games. Their understanding of the gaming medium was very superficial. As I was a gamer, I could contribute in a different manner and gaming became my field of research.
In 2004 received his PhD through his thesis Datorspelandets mening: bortom idén om den interaktiva illusionen (The Meaning of Computer Gaming: Beyond the Idea of Interactive Illusion) which was one of the first theses on computer gaming in Sweden. And he was one of the first in public discourse: early on, he questioned the pedagogical possibilities of computer games and pointed out that gang crime is hardly due to violent games.
But the debate that truly put Jonas Linderoth in the eye of the storm was an op-ed article in DN on August 24, 2016. In it he criticised the devaluation in the 90s of the teacher as a conveyor of knowledge, something he argued that academics, including himself, have contributed to. This message did not find favour among several colleagues.
– I was not prepared for the massive attention and surprised that well-educated colleagues criticised me without even having read what I had written. And I also disliked that allegation that I sounded like Jan Björklund. However, in hindsight I find that there are worse things in this world than being associated with the leader of the liberal party.
Jonas Linderoth left the University of Gothenburg
for the University of Skövde and was also a visiting professor at the National Defence College. But since 2020 he is back in Gothenburg. And lately, the view of schools has changed. The inquiry into teacher training stresses the importance of both knowledge and the primary school curriculum, for which Jonas Linderoth was one of the experts.
– By the way, representatives of the inquiry into teacher training was visiting us and received a presentation of the university’s governance model for its teacher training. I asked their secretary what her thoughts were of the presentation, and she answered that it was hard to digest. “What was hard to digest, the presentation or the governance?” I asked. “A little bit of both”, she responded.
The inquiry into teacher training has been criticised by several universities.
– There is a number of uninformed interpretations of the inquiry by people who do not know the field and who argue that this is about political ideas that universities should be free from. But a university education is, and has always been, political. Also, politicians are democratically elected, but who voted for the employees who claim to represent the whole of academia? I am concerned that the University of Gothenburg will miss out on the opportunity provided in the inquiry to really review our teacher training. The courses in education science must be owned by the scientists within the field who truly know it.
The teacher training programme has two targets, Jonas Linderoth points out.
– It is there for the education of teacher students, but above all for the children that the teacher students will be teaching. It is their future that is future. Spending the already far too short course on education science provided in teacher training on things that will not provide tangible teaching help to teachers is a waste of time.
The field of science that Jonas Linderoth wants to introduce is called science of learning. In Swedish, it is commonly translated into “cognitive science with relevance to learning and teaching” and originated in educational psychology. For the teachers who attend Jonas Linderoth’s continuing education course science of learning it means that they finally get hands-on tools that make a difference to their teaching.
– It is about working in a responsive way. For example, the teacher needs to know what knowledge the pupils possess in order to be able to connect with what they already know. Short, repeated occasions for learning are better than drawn-out, one-off sessions. It is also more effective to encourage the pupils to actively try to remember what they learned previously, rather than to give repeat lessons. Above all, teaching must take into consideration that our working memories are limited, and it needs to be designed so that our cognitive resources are used for things that lead to learning.
Basing it on teaching strategies that have been shown to work should really be quite uncontroversial. But Jonas Linderoth explains that he has been accused of having an authoritarian and anti-democratic view of teaching.
– But I would argue that a school that creates well-educated citizens is instead the very foundation for a well-functioning democracy and is something that benefits the nation as a whole.
The talk about complete academic environments and the importance of teachers who do research is also something that Jonas Linderoth questions.
– Naturally, the students should be provided with the latest findings in world-class research. But the notion that local research in particular should form the basis for various programmes is very peculiar. Should the content provided to students wholly depend on which researchers are currently working at the department? There is so much good international research within my field, I really have no great interest in pushing out more small-scale studies in the field of Scandinavian Studies of Who Cares; the world seems to be doing fine anyway.
Jonas Linderoth has also given up management positions.
– I was in such a position for a while but couldn’t stand it. You have to look for things that you did in the past year that fits in with the statement of aims, instead of letting the aims govern the activities from the very beginning. I really do admire people who can handle this type of assignments, but I am not one of them.
In general, Jonas Linderoth has a sort of love-hate relationship with academia.
– Many things that are done here are amazing, but other things are downright terrible. Extended training programmes that to not lead to any professional skills is just one example of how we deceive students. I am also sick and tired of all the research that does not contribute tangible solutions to people’s problems. Instead, Jonas Linderoth spends all his time on teaching and writing textbooks. He can spend 40–80 hours on preparations in order to perfect a lesson.
– As a young man I wanted to be a cartoonist and I still make my own illustrations for my slides, even though they might be shown for just 10 seconds. I usually tell my teacher students that if you get one single postcard from a former student that tells you how they succeeded in life because of you, then you have had a good teaching career. And most teachers get more than one such postcard. The times when I have been taught in a way that made me understand an idea or had a whole new world open up to me, have been just lovely. Therefore, my goal in life is to become the best university lecturer in Sweden.
JONAS LINDEROTH
Current job: Professor Educational Sciences at the Department of Didactics and Pedagogic Work.
Latest book: Män och kvinnor by Lena Andersson.
Latest film: Second Victims by Zinnini Elkington.
Latest concert: H.Self at Trägårn. Interests, besides work: Dog training and indie rpgs.
Difficult for Ukrainian migrants in Europe
Due to Russia’s invasion in 2022 there are currently more than 5 million Ukrainians in Europe. Of those, more than 46,000 are residing in Sweden. How do they see their situation and what it means for Europe to receive such a large group of new migrants? This is what a new research programme, funded by the EU Horizon Europe framework programme, will be investigating. The aim is to counteract polarisation and fragmentation due to large flows of displaced people.
The very first time the EU Temporary Protection Directive was implemented was in March 2022 in connection with people fleeing Ukraine. The purpose was to immediately provide residence and work permits, housing and access to school and healthcare. But as the residence permit is temporary it creates a lot of concern, explains Olga Sasunkevich, Associate Professor if Gender Science, who is heading the EU-projectMAGnituDe: Migration, Affective Geopolitics and European Democracy in Times of Military Conflicts.
– The directive has been renewed several times and is currently in effect until March 4, 2027. But what will happen after that, nobody knows. The uncertainty will affect Ukrainians who have fled their country. In Sweden, for example, people from Ukraine requesting protection did not get access to integration programmes or Swedish language training during their first year. Sweden has also been criticised for providing Ukrainians with worse
economic conditions than Denmark and Norway.
It is also difficult to know what the rules are at any given time as they keep changing, which impacts adults and children differently, says Oksana Shmulyar Gréen.
– Someone who, for example, was in their late teens when they came to Sweden has probably not completed upper secondary school and cannot apply to university. Should they then have to study for a Swedish certificate for university despite perhaps soon leaving the country, and, if so, how should it be financed? As you have to have stayed in Sweden for 1–2 years to get a personal ID number it takes time before you can apply for a study grant from CSN. One alternative is to continue their studies at a Ukrainian school, but this would then would have to be done remotely.
Expectations are also great on Ukrainian refugees to be able to work, often from day one, explains Oksana Shmulyar Gréen, Associate Professor of Sociology and one of the researchers in the project.
– But expecting someone who has been forced to leave their country, has ended up in a completely different one and in unknown surroundings, perhaps suffering from trauma, to be able to start working immediately is an unreasonable expectation. As Ukrainians who fled from the war do not know how long they will be allowed to stay they often take whatever job they can get, mostly unqualified low-wage jobs that may also involve long commutes.
Even before the full-scale invasion, it was not unusual in Ukraine to have one of the parents working abroad, such as in
Poland or Sweden. But having the family split up because of war is a different matter, Olga Sasunkevich explains.
– Around 4 million of both internal refugees and those who received protection in Europe have returned to their homes in Ukraine. The reasons are many: It may be about keeping the family together or about returning to care for their parents or other older relatives. Children, who have grown into adulthood and who did not themselves make the decisions to flee, perhaps see greater opportunities in Ukraine than as migrants in a foreign country. And those who fled from one of the occupied territories perhaps return out of concern for losing their home. As there is a labour shortage in Ukraine, the Ukrainian state is encouraging people to return, which can be particularly attractive to someone who has temporary protection but cannot get a job that corresponds to their education. At the same time, receiving large groups of returning migrants will be a challenge to Ukraine.
Paradoxically, it appears that a good refugee policy leads to more people returning home compared to where the reception of refugees has been less than ideal, Oksana Shmulyar Gréen explains.
– This could be due the fact that someone who was able to get an education, to work and support their family simply feels strong enough for yet another move, compared to someone who fared worse.
Wir schaffen das, “We’ll manage it”, was Chancellor Angela Merkels famous remark when Europe, not least Germany and Sweden, received large numbers of refugees from Syria in 2015.
Now the situation has changed, and opposition to refugees has increased in many European countries, including
»Paradoxically, it appears that a good refugee policy leads to more people returning home compared to where the reception of refugees has been less than ideal.«
OKSANA SHMULYAR GRÉEN
Sweden and Germany, Olga Sasunkevich points out.
– There is a risk of unfortunate antagonism, both between different refugee groups, as well as between refugees and the majority population.
These and other important matters will be investigated in MAGnituDe which is a partnership between seven universities and two NGOs: Help Ukraine in Gothenburg and Zavod Apis in Slovenia. The
project is based on the feminist concept of affective geopolitics which have analysed how emotions shape policy. The focus will be on the relationship and interplay between fleeing Ukrainians and representatives of authorities and civil society at different levels, as well as other migrants, and also the host country, says Olga Sasunkevich.
– The project comprises six packages where the University of Gothenburg is in charge of the area of affective, or emotional, citizenship as well as managing the entire consortium. One of the things that the project will investigate is how mass migration, in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, will affect European democracy and how the position of refugees from Ukraine, but also other refugees, can be strengthened in order for them to feel welcome and involved in their new society. Thus it is a project that will investigate very current issues.
Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
Facts: The research and innovation project MAGnituDe: Migration, Affective Geopolitics and European Democracy in Times of Military Conflicts investigates the consequences for European democracy of the mass displacement of Ukrainian citizens. The project is headed by Olga Sasunkevich, Associate Professor of Gender Science at the Department of Cultural Sciences, and is supported by the European Commission’s framework programme Horizon Europe to the amount of 3 million euros. The project will run from 2025–2029. The following parties are involved: Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Spain), Zavod Apis (Slovenis), the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, the Karazin Kharkiv University (Ukraine), the University of Eastern Finland, Gdansk University (Poland), the University of Greifswald (Germany), Help Ukraine Gothenburg as well as the University of Gothenburg. Other participants from the University of Gothenburg include Oksana Shmulyar Gréen, Associate Professor of Sociology, and Andrea Spehar, Associate Professor of Political Science.
In October 2025, more than 5 million Ukrainians were staying in Europe, of whom 46,570 were residing in Sweden, according to figures from https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine.
Oksana Shmulyar Gréen and Olga Sasunkevich hope that their research will increase understanding between different groups.
Supports media literacy in Uzbekistan
A National Strategy for Media and Information Literacy (MIK), this is what Unesco has asked Maarit Jaakkola, Assistant Director at Nordicom, to help Uzbekistan develop.
Throughout the spring, she visited the country in order to survey and consult with various MIK stakeholders, such as journalists, communicators, librarians and teachers.
It is not a small assignment that Maarit Jaakkola has been given.
– Increasing MIK awareness among the citizenry is in line with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s ambition to modernise Uzbekistan. The country is a former Soviet republic and they are currently in the process of putting their dependency on Russia behind them. It is about finding their own Uzbek approach, in which they collaborate with several countries, both in Central Asia, China and Europe. Of course, Russia is still an important partner, not least because many Uzbeks speak or understand Russian. But their desire for more independence is clearly on display through their choice to remain
neutral regarding the war in Ukraine
However, one problem they face is the dissemination of Russian propaganda and disinformation, not least in smaller towns and rural areas, says Maarit Jaakkola.
– In addition to this, there is concern about religious radicalisation. Officially, Uzbekistan is a secular country but they also neighbour Afghanistan and Islam plays an important role in people’s lives. In order to be able to fight disinformation it is important to understand what information really is, and this awareness is somewhat lacking.
Maarit Jaakkola has spent this last spring on site, surveying the current situation concerning media and communication in the country . She has met with a large number of different MIK stakeholders within media, education, libraries and public administration.
– I have also spoken to representatives of the Mahalla organisation, a special clan system which is typical of the Middle East and Central Asia that the inhabitants of a certain residential area are linked to. Within the Mahalla system, people help and support one another, which may involve education and information dissemination. But particularly young
people I spoke to argued that Mahalla is also about control.
The president’s vision of transforming Uzbekistan to a modern and digitalised state has led to a large number of reforms that turned out to be difficult to realise in practice. One such area is media and information literacy, says Maarit Jaakkola.
– Every official state website describe the importance of transparency. But that transparency is counteracted by a very centralised society where nothing happens outside of state control. One such example is schools: the production of text books and continuing education of teachers are two completely separate sectors that have nothing to do with each other. In order to be able to develop, employees need to be more empowered and be given better opportunities for cooperation and networking.
To support the development of media literacy, the president founded the University of Uzbekistan for Journalism and Mass Communication in 2018.
– The university is well-equipped in terms of, for example, recording technology, definitely on par with our own Department of Journalism, Media and Communication. On the wall, there is a quote by the president that emphasises
Maarit Jaakkola has spent the spring in Uzbekistan.
that academics are the key to a prosperous, democratic country. The local research that is possible to undertake locally is important, not least because Central Asia is a blank spot on the map within media research.
There are no constraints concerning access to the Internet or Western literature, and the country officially has freedom of speech. And yet there is much that cannot be said in public, Maarit Jaakkola explains.
– An additional problem is the difficulty getting facts confirmed. Journalists have difficulties getting information confirmed. Corruption is another challenge. The former president’s daughter Gulnara Karimova is in prison, accused of corruption and money laundering, and she was also involved in the so-called Telia Scandal that shook Sweden in 2014. Contradictory messages are now being spread about her having been moved to a lighter house arrest, or about her having been released, but it is very difficult to find out what actually happened.
Media and Information Literacy (MIK) is one of Unesco’s priority areas. In 2011, for example, they produced the so-called MIK framework, a sort of global curriculum for MIK, which was translated into Swedish by Nordicom. Maarit Jaakkola was the only Nordic co-author to the revised edition issued in 2021. She is also involved in the Unesco MIL Alliance Network and the MILID University Network, which aim to promote MIK literacy across the globe.
– While the Unesco framework, international experts and examples from other countries are important, it is also crucial to consider the culture and experience of the country you would like to develop. Changing a society takes time and I would really have needed to stay for longer in Uzbekistan to properly get to know the country.
Friendly people and an interesting culture are some of the impressions Maarit Jaakkola brings home with her after her time in Uzbekistan.
– Not least the incredibly beautifully decorated tube stations in Tashkent impressed me greatly. The differences between urban and rural areas are considerable, but our hope rests with the country’s youth, who often have travelled and perhaps studied abroad, having been shaped by new experiences.
When you try to understand how another country operates, you soon start
thinking about your own culture, Maarit Jaakkola points out.
– We are all socialised into the society where we grow up and learn what is a desirable behaviour. In Sweden we have a well-developed democracy and guaranteed freedom of speech, but perhaps we also censor ourselves or hesitate to bring up difficult issues and problems.
Developing media and information literacy all around the world is something that Unesco brings up at their large General Conference which is arranged every two years, Maarit Jaakkola explains.
– But for the first time in 40 years it will not take place in Paris, but in Samarkand. I think that this is proof of how Unesco takes developments in Uzbekistan very seriously.
About the project: Maarit Jaakkola is Associate Professor of Journalism, Assistant Director of Nordicom, and the Nordic representative in the UNESCO MIL Alliance, a global network for the promotion of media and information literacy (MIK). Within the scope of a Unesco development programme she has now been tasked with developing a national strategy for MIK in Uzbekistan. It is funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation.
On behalf of Unesco and the World Journalism Education Council (WJEC) Maarit Jaakkola is also the editor for a manual on artificial intelligence within journalism programmes across the globe. The book has been translated into six languages: https://unesdoc.unesco. org/ark:/48223/pf0000384551.
Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
Facts: Maarit Jaakkola är docent i journalistik, biträdande föreståndare för Nordicom, samt nordisk representant i Unesco Mil Alliance, ett globalt nätverk för främjande av medie- och informationskunnighet (MIK). Inom ramen för ett utvecklingsprogram inom Unesco har hon nu fått i uppdrag att utveckla en nationell strategi för MIK i Uzbekistan. Finansiär är Swiss Development Cooperation. På uppdrag av Unesco och World Journalism Education Council (WJEC) är Maarit Jaakkola också redaktör för en handbok om artificiell intelligens inom journalistutbildningar över hela världen. Boken har översatts till sex språk: https://unesdoc. unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000384551.
One of the attractions of Tashkent is the richly decorated metro stations.
Photo: MAARIT JAAKKOLA
Doctoral student who became minister
The Northern Province is Rwanda’s most fertile region, with extremely nutrient-rich volcanic soil. But despite several government initiatives, this province also has the highest proportion of malnourished children.
The question of what can be done about this is the subject of a doctoral dissertation recently written by Jean Nepo Utumatwishima, Rwanda’s Minister of Youth and Arts.
Jean Nepo Utumatwishima has been a minister in the Rwandan government since 24 March 2023. At that time, he was in his second year as a PhD student in a Sida-supported research program on malnutrition, in which Swedish univer-
sities collaborate with the University of Rwanda.
– It happened during a lecture in global health when my phone unexpectedly rang. I excused myself, left the room, and answered. The call was from a government representative in Rwanda asking if I would like to become Minister of Youth and Arts. The question came as a total surprise, so I asked for time to think and went back to class. But the next day, I accepted.
Jean Nepo Utumatwishima’s research field is stunting in children caused by chronic malnutrition, something he often encountered while working as a physician at hospitals in Rwanda’s Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Malnutrition, he explains, affects not only physical growth but also brain development, and increases vulnerability to serious diseases later in life, such as diabetes.
– In 2015, a report from the Demographic and Health Surveys showed that 38 percent of children under five in Rwanda suffered from stunting. That report became the starting point for expanding the government’s existing efforts to support vulnerable children – for example, by improving health monitoring and supporting agriculture.
The next report, in 2020, showed that the proportion of stunted children had decreased to 33 percent, says Jean Nepo Utumatwishima.
– “So, progress was being made, but far too slowly. And the improvement did not apply to the whole country – in the Northern Province, the proportion of stunted children had actually increased slightly. The authorities launched new interventions, such as a school meals program, and even distributed fortified crops, livestock, and poultry to the most vulnerable families. The emphasis of all
the initiatives was on improving the lives of children. But to truly understand a child’s living conditions, one must also study the environment. So, when I began my doctoral studies in the autumn of 2021, I was primarily interested in the situation of the mothers. Since the problems were most severe in the Northern Province, that became my focus area.
What Jean Nepo Utumatwishima wanted to investigate was whether a mother’s vulnerability – for example, exposure to intimate partner violence or mental illness – was linked to the child’s risk of abuse or stunting, and whether this was also related to the family’s financial situation.
A total of 601 randomly selected mothers and their children participated, and the interviews were conducted by a team consisting of five doctoral students, eight nurses, and one postdoctoral researcher, in addition to Jean Nepo Utumatwishima himself.
– We visited the mountain villages in November–December 2021. On the surface, they seemed prosperous, but when we started talking to people, we discovered many problems.
In Rwanda, we have nine years of compulsory basic education, yet many of the mothers told us they had dropped out of school — some as early as fifth grade. The same was true for their husbands, and unfortunately for many of the children as well.
Among the findings, Jean Nepo Utumatwishima discovered that many women had very limited decision-making power.
– If, for example, the family owned a cow, it was not certain that the mother could ensure the children got all the milk. If a child fell ill, it could be difficult to seek medical care, and often there was no one nearby to help.
Nearly half of the mothers had experienced physical, sexual, or psychological violence from their partners, including during pregnancy.
– It was, in addition, not uncommon for those who had been abused themselves to also beat their children. Many women suffered from anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress. All of these factors turned out to be strongly linked to stunting in children. We could also see that boys were more affected than girls — one possible explanation being that boys are more often subjected to physical violence.
»It happened during a lecture in global health when my phone unexpectedly rang...«
JEAN NEPO UTUMATWISHIMA
As a minister, Jean Nepo Utumatwishima wants to contribute to his country’s development.
– I hope to help expand social support systems for women and to make screening for intimate partner violence a part of maternal and child health care. We also need to invest more in mothers’ mental health – a mother who feels well, of course, has a much greater chance of being a good parent than one who lives in misery.
Becoming a parent is a huge responsibility, he adds.
– In Sweden, there is much greater awareness of the importance of parental responsibility and of how crucial the first months of infancy are – that is something we in Rwanda can learn from.
Your dissertation focuses on mothers. But fathers are important too, right?
– Absolutely, and I hope that a future PhD student will focus on them as well. It is not easy to comprehend what makes a man beat his pregnant wife or leave all responsibility for the children to the
mother. But to truly support vulnerable families and their children, we must also try to understand the father’s situation.
Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg
Facts: Jean Nepo Utumatwishima became Minister of Youth and Arts in Rwanda on 24 March 2023. He defended his dissertation, titled: Investigating the Association Between Household Gender Dynamics, Intimate Partner Violence, Mothers’ Mental Health, Child Abuse, and Child Stunting in Rwanda, on 24 October 2025, at the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.
Since 2002, there has been a Sida-funded partnership between Swedish universities and the University of Rwanda, aiming to strengthen research capacity, doctoral education, and institutional development in Rwanda.
The Sahlgrenska Academy has been part of the project since 2007 and is responsible for two of its 17 subprograms: infectious diseases and malnutrition.
The malnutrition program in which Jean Nepo Utumatwishima participated is a collaboration between six universities: the University of Rwanda, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Södertörn University, and the Universities of Gothenburg, Lund, and Umeå.
Street in Huye, Rwanda.
A celebration of learning and curiosity
On Friday, 17 October, the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre was filled with music, colour and academic splendour when the University of Gothenburg held its annual doctoral conferment ceremony. In a festive and solemn ceremony, 167 new doctors, ten honorary doctors and two award recipients were honoured – all celebrated for their contributions to science and society.
A doctoral graduation ceremony is no ordinary celebration, but a carefully choreographed and magnificent ceremony, where every note and movement is rehearsed down to the smallest detail in less than 2,5 hours. A few minutes after three o'clock, the herald, Rebecka Sanicke, begins with the words: ‘The performance may begin.’ The University of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra then fills the hall with the sounds of Haydn's ‘Clock Symphony’ and the audience rises.
The student marshals march in with their standards and flags, followed by the university management and the deans of the faculties in their colourful and solemn robes – and then all the new doctors in order, most of them dressed in tailcoats and evening gowns, some in national costumes.
In her opening speech, Vice-Chancellor Malin Broberg highlights the breadth and
strength of the University of Gothenburg:
“We have a fantastic wealth of research subjects in seven different areas. Despite their differences, all new doctors are united by a strong commitment and curiosity to learn more and contribute to a better world.
Then the ceremonial part begins, where each supervisor – partly in Latin –honours the honorary doctors with a hat or a laurel wreath (and a symbolic gold ring) as well as a diploma, and then the new doctors, who receive equally fine diplomas before being led over the parnassus. This passage marks their entry into the community of scholars and their right to pursue academic teaching.
The university also honoured ten honorary doctors who have enriched its activities with their knowledge and experience. Among them was Pernilla Baralt, Secretary General of UNICEF Sweden, who was appointed honorary doctor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences.
Entertainment was provided by the University of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and students from the Academy of Music and Drama. Particular attention was paid to a piece written by Bibi Ladva and Ole Rosvald Haugen on cello and trumpet respectively.
The ceremony ended in the traditional manner with a speech by the chair of the University of Gothenburg's student unions, Petrus Hagby, who addressed the new doctors with an exhortation:
‘Carry your new title with pride and
dignity. Let it be a reminder of what you can achieve.’
After two short performances by the University of Gothenburg Academic Choir, the ceremony ended with the outgoing procession to the joyful tones of Handel's ‘Alla Hornpipe’.
This was followed by a reception with cava and canapés – and celebrations with friends and family. For most, this was just the beginning of the evening, which continued with a grand banquet, entertainment and dancing long into the night to the jazzy tunes of the student orchestra Tongångerne.
Text: Allan Eriksson Photo: Johan Wingborg
Facts: Number of new doctors: 167, of which 100 are from the Sahlgrenska Academy. 10 honorary doctors and two award winners: Pam Fredman's prize went to Professor Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson and the Pro Studio et Scientia award went to Kenneth Odéus.
How many participated: Nearly 1,000 people attended the event at the Congress Hall, Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre. Approximately 800 people attended the banquet, which lasted from 7:30 p.m. to around 11 p.m., with speeches and entertainment provided by students from the Academy of Music and Drama.
The doctoral conferment ceremony is organised by Academic Ceremonies, Communications Unit: Elin Lööv, Carina Elmäng and Christoffer Vikström.
Second
Bottom
Top images, left and right: New doctors are honoured and receive their diplomas.
image, left: Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson receives the Pam Fredman Prize.
images, left: Honorary doctors of the Faculty of Humanities: Gun Lund and KarlMagnus Johansson.
Ambiguous benefits and real harms
Should GU purchase access for students to ChatGPT Edu? The question will come before university leadership at a time when competing companies are engaged in what the New York Times describes as an ‘escalating A.I. arms race to win over universities’. OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, aims to create ‘A.I.-native universities’ by ‘embedding its artificial intelligence tools in every facet of campus life’. It is incumbent on universities to reflect meaningfully on their own goals, and the costs and benefits of generative-AI.
Let us start here: we are being asked to pay for a product that is not obviously good for our students. Ongoing research often begins with the qualification that these tools are sufficiently new that there is no consensus regarding their effects. But we cannot avoid the presence of research that shows reduced neural connectivity, accumulated cognitive debt, impaired memory formation, and limited creativity, independent thought, and critical reasoning amongst generative-AI users. Alongside meta-analyses that point to ‘moderately positive impact on students’ academic achievement’ are studies that show negative impacts on mental health, social interaction, and academic experience. We are not fulfilling our mandate to use public resources well if we pay for a service that may harm our students.
Let us also be clear that we ask too narrow a question if we weigh what is good for our students purely in terms of a few percentage points up or down in intellectual performance. A university’s social function includes serving as a centre of deliberative reflection in which different goods are weighed against each other. We fail at that task if we do not set prospective benefits against wider costs:
the hollowing out of essential educational tasks as shortcuts become too easy; the social destabilisation of disrupted job markets; the political consequences of mass misinformation; the environmental impact of unprecedented water and electricity consumption; the relativisation of human creativity.
Advocates will say that students will use the product anyway, and an AI-driven future is inevitable. The myth of inevitability is pernicious not only in its falsehood, but also in its distortion of our agency. The future role of AI may take many different forms, and what we do matters because it shapes who we are quite apart from future outcomes. It matters if we signal to students that we regard these products as beneficial, and compatible with the goals of their education. It matters if we signal to AI-companies that we are okay with the mass theft of intellectual property that brought their models into being; the soft extortion and human indifference of ‘pay for an upgraded version of our product or we will use your ideas to train a model that we fully intend to displace your creativity and labour’; the disproportion between rhetoric and action regarding environmental responsibility and user protection; the openness to profit through the production of misinformation, violence, and explicit material. It matters if we signal to the government that we have no reservations about its whole-hearted pursuit of an AI-shaped future in the name of poorly defined goals like ‘innovation’ and ‘competitiveness’.
But, someone may say, we face an equality issue because some students can afford to pay for the ‘Edu’ version, and some cannot. The argument is incomplete. The relevant question is not just ‘is
an equality matter at stake?’, but also ‘is the matter sufficiently singular to merit redressing?’ Our students experience a range of inequalities that we do not address: some can afford the regular exercise and healthy food that aid performance, and some cannot; some can avoid a long commute or part-time work, and some cannot. Is access to ChatGPT Edu so pressing an equality concern to warrant intervention just here? Let me put the point like this: if, in a time of shrinking budgets, there are millions of kronor available to redress inequality, then I would be delighted to hear it, but let us then have an evidence-based discussion of the inequalities that most affect our students. A tool of ambiguous educational value that is available freely anyway can hardly be our most pressing concern.
There may be particular courses or disciplines within GU in which student access to ChatGPT Edu would be demonstrably beneficial. It is worth discussing these contexts. Doing so would model the kind of reflection on discrete, targeted uses—by all means, let us advance cancer research—that has not taken place as generative-AI was released indiscriminately to the public, and governments began investing blindly. Could GU set aside money for targeted uses? That is worth a discussion. Blanket purchase for all students is one more indiscriminate step that furthers the illusory inevitability of tools of ambiguous benefits and very real harms.
Martin Westerholm Viceprefekt för utbildning, institutionen för litteratur, idéhistoria och religion, docent i religionsvetenskap och teologi
