GU-Journal 1-2020

GUJournal News

INDEPENDENT JOURNAL FOR THE STAFF AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG #1 MARCH 2020

News

Green-light for carbon dioxide budget News

Still a strong economy Report

The academic women’s trap

GU IN RWANDA REPLANTING OF THE COUNTRY’S FORESTS

Vice-chancellor

Carbon dioxide budget for reduced emissions HIS SPRING, the university mana-

gement will make a decision on the measures required for us as a university to meet the commitment outlined in the Climate Framework for universities and colleges. The framework is an agreement between the higher education institutions to contribute to climate change adaptation and reach the so-called 1.5-degree goal. The goal is to reduce the university’s emissions by 50 percent by 2030.

It was in September last year that I made the decision to join the Climate Framework, after broad consensus within the organisation. A committee was assigned to implement the framework and propose priority measures. The committee produced a report on priority areas to work on, which covers proposals for measures in all of the different parts of the Climate Framework – from business trips and energy usage to the construction of new buildings and the purchasing of goods and services. The report shows which measures have a high, medium and low impact on our emissions. As an example, we know that business trips and construction are areas where measures have a major impact on emissions. There is no doubt that by adapting our travel habits, it will have a significant impact on the university’s emissions.

THE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS three overall

proposals that are particularly important for conducting and directing our work on climate change adaptation efficiently and effectively.

The first proposal is to introduce a carbon dioxide budget to control and monitor the organisation’s emissions, for which we currently have an estimate. The idea is that this should encompass the entire

university. At the same time, we have come a long way and the choice of measures can be adapted to the prevailing conditions within the organisation.

The second proposal is to carry out a climate impact study to investigate any emission sources that the University of Gothenburg is not currently measuring. The aim is to give us a better overall picture so that we can see what we need to improve.

The third proposal is to develop and use the Climate Fund to implement measures that more clearly align with the Climate Framework. We finance the Climate Fund through a fee that we charge for air travel, which can then be used for measures to improve the environment, such as subsidizing train travel.

THE CURRENT DECISION means that the report will now be turned into an action plan for how we will implement the Climate Framework within the university, and that we investigate the introduction of the carbon dioxide budget, the implementation of a climate impact study and the development of the Climate Fund. The investigations will be completed in May. Adaptation is essential for the climate. The University of Gothenburg has long worked with climate and environmental issues and has an environmental management system that ranks very highly among Swedish public bodies.

With measures in line with the Climate Framework, we have an opportunity to not only maintain this position but also to be a role model in Europe.

Vice-Chancellor EVA WIBERG

Editor-in-chief :Allan Eriksson, phone: 031–786 10 21, e-mail: allan.eriksson@gu.se Editor-in-chief: Eva Lundgren, phone:031–786 10 81, e-mail: eva.lundgren@gu.se Photographer: Johan Wingborg, phone: 070–595 38 01, e-post: johan.wingborg@gu.se Layout: Anders Eurén, phone: 031–786 43 81, e-mail: anders.euren@gu.se Address: GU Journal, University of Gothenburg Box 100, 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden E-mail: gu-journalen@gu.se Internet: gu-journalen.gu.se ISSN: 1402-9626 Translation: Hero Tolk

Reg.nr: 3750M

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Reg.nr: S-000256

News

Contents NEWS 04–09 04. Climate framework to reduce emissions.

06. Still a good economy for GU. 08 Demands gender equality.

REPORT 10–11 10. Academic house- keeping mainly for women.

FOCUS 12–25 12. The country of

a thousand hills.

14. Profile: At home

in two cultures.

18. Experiments with

5 400 trees.

24. Difficult being

a parent and a PhD. PEOPLE 26–28 26. Userfriendly technology.

28. PressReader a service for everybody.

29. The snapshot.

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Vasiliki u Mylonopoulo Photo: EMELIE ASPLUND

Masthead

Field research is not about working 9 to 5 ELCOME TO THIS

year’s first issue of the GU Journal, which has been released a little later than usual as we wanted to include the report from Rwanda. Editor Eva Lundgren and photographer Johan Wingborg were given a unique opportunity to accompany a research team who are studying tropical trees and how they cope with climate change. In addition to the articles in the journal, the visit will ultimately lead to a film that the research team will use to demonstrate what they do and to help them seek more funding. Furthermore, Eva and Johan took the opportunity to do even more and interviewed people in senior positions in Rwanda who have a doctorate from the University of Gothenburg.

Above all, it provided an insight into what it is like to do field research and all the day-to-day challenges that need to be swiftly resolved.

It was certainly not an eight hour working day. Visiting a poor country that is struggling with a traumatized past was both educational and pro-

vided a new perspective on living in the Western world.

International contacts are of course very important for the development of research, but there is also an obvious downside: the environmental impact of aviation.

Some trips simply have to be made, while digital technology can be used to replace the trips that do not. The University of Gothenburg plans to introduce a carbon dioxide budget to highlight each unit’s environmental impact. If the proposal is implemented, the University of Gothenburg will be a pioneer in sustainable development. It is often argued that there is a conflict between internationalization and sustainability, but is that really the case?

As Erik Lundberg pointed out during a climate lunch, there is a fairly considerable willingness among the general public to change their behaviour and fly less frequently and for shorter distances. As a university, we must also show that we practise what we preach.

Allan Eriksson & Eva Lundgren

MARCH 2020 GUJOURNAL

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News

Halving climate emissions in ten years The University of Gothenburg will halve its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. This is the implication of the Climate Framework, which the university has undertaken to follow. One suggestion is to create a carbon dioxide budget to direct climate initiatives.

– Reducing emissions is quite simply a matter of credibility for the university, student representative Elin Gunnarsson points out.

IT WAS ON September 26 last year that Vice-Chancellor Eva Wiberg decided that the University of Gothenburg should join the Climate Framework for universities and colleges.

A committee has now submitted a report with proposals on priority areas, to which the Vice-Chancellor has given her support.

One of the proposals involves an investigation of the emission sources that the university does not currently measure, says Fredrik Högberg, coordinator at the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development, GMV. – IT INVOLVES, for example, new buildings and the materials we buy, such as furniture and computers. But it can also apply to documents that we store on different servers,

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which generate carbon dioxide emissions without us realizing it. None of this has previously been included in the environmental report the university produces every year, and that needs to change.

An exhaustive account of emissions is an important prerequisite for the committee’s next proposal: a carbon budget.

– IN ORDER TO be able to

successfully halve our carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, we must reduce emissions by about 6 percent a year, explains Henrik Aronsson, Head of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences.

To do that, of course we must know what our current emissions are. Certain savings, such as heating and electricity, may be difficult to achieve,

... It would mean that the Climate Fund would receive about 50 million SEK per year.

FREDRIK HÖGBERG

while others may be easier.

For example, trips within Europe could increasingly be taken by train. To make it more appealing, they must be easy to book and the prices must be reasonable. Moreover, perhaps some compensation should be given for the extra time required. For trips outside Europe, it is important to first carry out an environmental impact assessment; some long-distance trips could be replaced by digital meetings instead.

The students have been the driving force when it comes to climate initiatives, says Elin Gunnarsson, Vice President of the University of Gothenburg Student Unions, GUS. – Sometimes you hear talk about there being a contradiction between sustainability

Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG

and increased internationalization. Undoubtedly, there are challenges, but as students we believe that both areas are important and can be developed simultaneously, for example through climate-smart travel or more digital meetings.

Henrik Aronsson

Elin Gunnarsson

Fredrik Högberg

THE COMMITTEE also proposes developing the Climate Fund, says Fredrik Högberg.

– Today, a standard fee of 118 SEK is imposed on each flight. The money is donated to a Climate Fund that staff and students can then seek funding from for various climate-related projects. Our proposal is to set a price for every kilogramme of carbon dioxide emissions instead.

For example, the Västra Götaland region has a model where one kilogramme of emissions costs 1.5 SEK. And Trafikkontoret includes a cost of 7 SEK per kilogramme of emissions when planning road construction. If the University of Gothenburg lies somewhere in between, perhaps at 3.5 SEK per kilogramme of carbon dioxide emissions, it would mean that the Climate Fund would receive about 50 million SEK per year, compared with the current amount of approx-

imately 2 million SEK. Such a system would, among other things, enable internal emissions trading, Fredrik Högberg points out.

– A DEPARTMENT that does

not emit much carbon dioxide could benefit from being climate friendly. And if a lot more money is contributed to the Climate Fund, they could of course make really substantial investments in climate-smart solutions.

Travel is often seen as something positive. But Fredrik Högberg thinks that too much travel can also be a health and safety issue.

– It may be nice to avoid having to travel to a conference just to give a speech for twenty minutes. If the alternatives are good, such as a digital meetings for example, there is a tremendous benefit both for the climate and the individual.

ELIN GUNNARSSON is very pleased that the University of Gothenburg is now moving forward with its climate initiatives.

– It is important to practise what you preach. All the university’s sustainable educational programmes will not be credible if the university does

not also do what it can to be sustainable.

The Vice-Chancellor has now given the committee a mandate to continue working on the proposals. The committee’s outcomes must be reported no later than May 1.

– In the autumn, a pilot study will also be conducted in relation to the proposal for the carbon budget, says Henrik Aronsson.

Eva Lundgren Allan Eriksson

Facts The University of Gothenburg’s goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent by 2030. The following areas are included: energy usage, business travel, education, research, students, collaboration and utilization, commuting to and from work, buildings, purchasing and procurement, food and catering, investments, carbon sinks and waste management.

The Climate Framework committee consists of Mattias Goksör, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Malin Broberg, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Henrik Aronsson, Head of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, as well as Elin Gunnarsson, Vice President of GUS.

MARCH 2020 GUJOURNAL

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News

Challenges despite strong economy When summing up the events of 2019, it is predominantly positive: everything is moving in the right direction. But there is a concern about how the university will rectify the high level of retained capital. This is the opinion of the University Board, which also endorsed the proposal to support the Faculty of Humanities.

FÖRRA ÅRET plaLast year,

the University of Gothenburg planned a small deficit, but had a surplus of 38 million SEK, which led to an increase in retained capital by the same amount.

– On the whole, everything is very positive. The University of Gothenburg is growing, we are attracting more students, more national assignments and, in addition, the external contributions are increasing, says CFO Peter Tellberg, who emphasizes that the surplus in this context can almost be seen as a calculation error in relation to the university’s total turnover of 6.8 billion SEK.

THE MAIN explanation for the improved financial situation is a large increase in revenue from education. In eight years, the University of Gothenburg has not achieved its funding agreement targets set

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by the government. Last year, the so-called underproduction was only minus 5 million SEK, versus minus 82 million SEK in 2018.

– IT IS PARTLY a technical

effect of the delay of registration in Ladok, so it is difficult to estimate. Even before the spring term, however, we could see that the number of registered students was increasing, which is a clear break from the trend.

Another explanation is that external research grants increased by 4 percent to a total of 2 billion SEK. The increase is a result of foreign research grants, not least EU grants.

At the end of the year, the University of Gothenburg’s retained capital amounted to 1.26 million SEK. The vast majority, over 800 million SEK, is tied up in research projects that have not yet been completed. Measured in relation

to costs, the IT Faculty has the largest share of retained capital, followed by the Faculty of Science and then the Sahlgrenska Academy.

– When the entire academic sector has retained capital of up to 12 billion SEK, it is difficult to justify large investments when there are other areas of society that are in more urgent need. The Swedish National Audit Office has also repeatedly criticized the universities for saving too much money.

LAST YEAR, expenses increa-

sed by 3.1 percent compared with the previous year. Payroll expenses account for the greater proportion of the increase.

In 2019, slightly more people were employed, in total 45 full-time positions. However, the increase is very small.

– It is a significantly lower rate of increase than we have seen in recent years, says Pe-

ter Tellberg. At four faculties the number of employees has decreased, at three it has increased and at the Sahlgrenska Academy it remains unchanged. Given the retained capital, there should be scope for greater investment, especially in research.

ALTHOUGH THE financial situ-

ation is stable, Peter Tellberg points out that there are significant differences between faculties and between institutions, but also between different research groups.

The University Administration is in a difficult position.

Last year they had a deficit of 5 million SEK. – Prior to 2020, the University Administration received no compensation for price and wage increases, nor for the increase in the cost of essential systems that the entire university uses. Two of the reasons are greatly increased

20 Cl 19 os i ba ng la nc Bu e 20 dg 19 et 20 20

co m e O

ut

Financial outcome per faculty, SEK million

Faculty of humanities

-15 -29 -17

Faculty of social sciences

8 106 -11

School of Business, Economics and Law

-3

Faculty of Education

3 82

3

Sahlgrenska Academy

46 507

25

Faculty of Science

IT-faculty

49 260 -4 7 67

-5

Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts

UB

4 25

-3

72 -25

7 23 -13

costs for implementing the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test and for staff healthcare via Feelgood. Obviously, we want to ensure we have a good working environment, but we must also be able to question what we get for our money. In addition, these are costs that are incurred at a central level, but which everyone in the entire organisation uses.

The budget for 2020 shows a surplus of 8 million SEK for the entire university.

The Faculty of Humanities, which is struggling with financial problems, will receive an additional grant of 30 million SEK over three years to cope with the transition.

– THE PROPOSAL was prepared during the autumn in consultation with the faculty management. It is a temporary investment of 10 million SEK per year from 2021–2023, which goes towards funding education, says Peter Tellberg.

In 2019, the faculty repor-

ted a loss of 15 million SEK, which was a big improvement on the forecast. In 2020, the budget is estimated to be minus 17 million SEK. According to Peter Tellberg, the Faculty of Humanities has worked ambitiously with action plans that have had an effect, but that is not enough.

Reconstruction alone means increased rental costs of 23 million SEK per year, which is 43 percent higher, compared with 2019.

Given the retained capital, there should be scope for greater investment, especially in research.

PETER TELLBERG

According to Marie Demker, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, work began as early as 2017.

– WE HAVE CARRIED out outreach activities to recruit students and increase our visibility, and we have carried out internal activities to increase our revenue and to make better use of the resources we have. But we have also had a construction process that required tremendous effort on our part, firstly in terms of the working environment and the study environment, and secondly in terms of project management.

She points out that the grant gives the faculty the opportunity to continue the transition.

– THE EXTRA RESOURCES

come in handy by strengthening and energizing our commitment to the change process.

In return, the board will take 50 full-time student places from 2021. This corresponds to a reduction of 2.5 million SEK and how these places will be allocated is an issue that will be determined at a later date.

Allan Eriksson MARCH 2020 GUJOURNAL

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News

Difficult for women to make career Improving academic culture and ensuring an objective meritocracy.

These are the two most important proposals from a committee that aims to increase gender equality at the Faculty of Science.

An administrator will now be recruited whose remit will be to work with gender equality for a oneyear period.

DESPITE MANY YEARS spent

working on gender equality, currently only 19 percent of the professors at the Faculty of Science are women. Furthermore, there does not seem to be any change in sight; only 23 percent of the associate senior lecturers are women and since 2012, the proportion of female doctoral students and post-doctoral positions have also been in steady decline.

To investigate what the faculty can do about the discouraging figures, Dean Göran Hilmersson appointed a committee last autumn.

– I ASKED FOR a page with action

points but received a comprehensive report and a large number of specific proposals.

I am really impressed with the committee’s work.

The committee has interviewed members of the faculty’s management, a number of female employees as well as women who

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have left academia. They have also sent out a questionnaire.

– The differences between the departments are quite considerable, says Anne Farewell, Associate Professor in Microbiology, who headed the committee. Several departments have approximately as many female as male doctoral students but subsequently, the number of women start to decline. The Department of Conservation is the most equal, but with a clear gender divide between the areas of garden and landscape and building crafts. Although the Department of Mathematical Sciences is male-dominated, it still has many female lecturers in relation to the relatively low number of female doctoral students. Could it be related to the fact that the department is shared with Chalmers, who introduced the special Genie equality initiative?

THE FACULTY HAS taken a num-

ber of steps over the years to make it easier for women to pursue careers, including offering mentors and coaching.

– It can be beneficial, but it can also be interpreted as women having to change in order to fit in, Anne Farewell points out.

Instead, the environment should be one where all employees feel welcome. Several women we interviewed told us about unpleasant comments: one employee was told that she had received a distinction just because she

If we are to avoid having a single-sex faculty, gender issues must be handled on a more fundamental level.

GÖRAN HILMERSSON

was a woman, another that she could not have a career because she had had a child. Moreover, other unpleasant behaviour was also pointed out, such as people who get up and shout during seminars. The management should be clear that such behaviour is simply not acceptable.

THE COMMITTEE has compiled a list of 13 suggestions for how to get more women to stay in academia.

– You could, for example, make life easier for doctoral students with children by giving them two extra years to complete their doctoral studies, as is the case in Denmark, instead of just one year. We must also

Anne Farewell has stopped hoping that gender equality will come about by itself.

ensure that appointments are meritocratic and that everyone assessing candidates is objective.

Perhaps we should also consider the positions that are being advertised: more women are applying for senior lecturer positions than for professorships.

We could also get ideas from other institutions, such as the Sahlgrenska Academy, which has a checklist of skills that must be evaluated when promoting a professor.

A LOT OF THE information stated

in the report has been known for a long time, explains Göran Hilmersson.

– If we are to avoid having a single-sex faculty, gender issues

must be handled on a more fundamental level. The committee has therefore been tasked with extending its investigation and an administrator will be appointed to work with gender equality for a one-year period.

Most of the committee’s proposals are neither difficult to implement nor particularly costly, Anne Farewell points out.

– When I started studying, I was told that gender equality would come about by itself. That was thirty years ago. Now, I hope this initiative will lead to real change.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg

Facts The report Increasing the Number of Women at the Na-

tural Sciences Faculty is based on interviews with the management at the Faculty of Science’s seven departments, interviews with female staff, a questionnaire and material from RED 19. The committee consists of the chairperson Anne Farewell, as well as Raimund Feifel, Håkan Pleijel and Stavroula Golfomitsou.

The most urgent reforms, according to the committee • Appoint a Gender Equality Project Manager • Establishing a Gender Equality Advisory Committee • Create gender policies • Give clear instructions to external evaluators and create an objective scoring form • Provide education and workshops on gender issues for management, the academic appointments board and the associate professor appointment committee.

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Report

The academic women’s trap Tidying away dishes, organizing the Christmas party, doing the administration for seminars, resolving conflicts ... Some jobs within academia do not contribute to your scientific credentials but they still have to be done.

It is called academic housekeeping and mainly affects women.

– DO YOU MEAN ordering goods,

managing the lab, making sure there are gloves and that kind of thing? Ingela Dahllöf, Pro Dean of the Faculty of Science, wonders when the GU Journal phones her.

She continues: – Of course I’ve done that. It starts as a junior; you want to prove yourself, so you put in a tremendous amount of effort and it is only when it starts to become an unspoken norm that you begin to see the pattern: “Why do I always do this?” It took a few years before I asked myself that question and stopped. But no one else took on those tasks.

INGELA DAHLLÖF’S experience is typical, at least if you are to believe the studies in the field. Sara Kalm, Senior Lecturer in Political Science at Lund University, first came across the term academic housekeeping in American research.

– It highlighted something I had known about for a long time but couldn’t really put into words.

She began to take an interest in the phenomenon and, in conjunction with a course in gender

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– WHILE WOMEN TEND to be caught

up in what is called low promotability work, men tend to navigate, often with the help of networks, toward the more prestigious positions. They get published faster and progress more quickly in their careers.

The structure is evident at the University of Gothenburg. Petra Angervall cites the female-dominated fields of healthcare sciences and teacher training as examples.

– It is mainly women who teach, while a larger proportion of men do research. In educational science, the hierarchy is particularly evident. Most professors are

Research indicates that women, to some extent, make choices that do not benefit them in their careers ...

Sara Kalm Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG

– THIS TYPE OF non-accredited work is certainly not unique to academia, but what is particular about the university world is the hierarchical structure, and as a young person you have to earn your credentials in certain specific ways in order to get a permanent job in the long term. Therefore, it is important how these housekeeping tasks are allocated because it is done at the expense of academic credentials, which of course provides a strong incentive to avoid it.

Sara Kalm believes that the academic system, as it is structured, favours purposeful, competitive and enterprising behaviour. So you have to be tough, assertive even – something that most people find difficult, but which is particularly problematic for many women.

Petra Angervall, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Education and Special Education, is not only convinced that this is the case, but also claims that academia is not at all a neutral, objective and transparent meritocracy but in fact, just like the corporate world and the world of sports, strongly characterized by values that confirm masculinity. She has researched academic housekeeping herself and refers to international studies.

Photo: PRIVATE

pedagogy, she took the opportunity to write about it – which led to a well-received article in the journal Sociologisk forskning (Sociological Research) last year.

PETRA ANGERVALL

Ingela Dahllöf

men, while women are lecturers.

The pattern becomes even more apparent if you break down these numbers and look at the distribution of lecturers. About 80 percent of them are women.

SO WHY IS that the case? Why don’t more female lecturers have an academic career? Why do the careers of female lecturers stall and why do they devote themselves to lecturing?

– Research indicates that women, to some extent, make choices that do not benefit them in their careers. Some do not want to have that kind of pressure and competition, while others say they are expected to make these choices.

In my study, one woman commented: “Someone has to stay and run the department when the others are out there earning credentials.”

That is like a housewife. “I’ll stay behind, you can go” Staying be-

hind contributes value that should be given greater recognition, says Petra Angervall.

So does Sara Kalm. At the beginning, she did not see academic housekeeping as a gender issue, but as an equality issue.

– I saw how people in lower positions with lower status were in fact real stalwarts that made organizations work. But they were not rewarded; it involved women as well as men. It was the injustice that got me started. But the more research I have taken part in and the more I have travelled around and shared other people’s stories, the more convinced I have become that there is a gender pattern.

But has it not improved? Last year, for example, more female than male professors were recruited at the University of Gothenburg.

– I think it has got better. There is a greater awareness of this now compared to when I started, and we have become more proficient at dividing housekeeping tasks.

But there is still enough for it to be a problem. This is something we have to work on, says Ingela Dahllöf.

So what happens when the housekeeping is divided up? Are men rewarded in a different way?

– You know, I haven’t really thought about that.

Nor had Sara Kalm before she wrote her article. But now, after learning about other women’s experiences, she believes that the social significance of academic work differs depending on who is performing it.

– If a male professor performs this work, it is much more visible.

He receives a completely different type of recognition than a young female doctoral student.

He does something beyond what is expected and is seen in a much more positive light. That might be considered a little unfair, concludes Sara Kalm.

Text: Lars Nicklason Illustration: Maria Källström MARCH 2020 GUJOURNAL

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Focus Rwanda

The Land of a thousan hills Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg

Rwanda is a densely populated country, as big as the province of Småland with a population of 12 million.

Approximately 19 percent live in cities. The capital Kigali has 1.2 million inhabitants. The climate is temperate with two rainy seasons, February–April and November–January.

Most Rwandans are Christians, predominately Catholic.

Ninety percent of the labour force is engaged in agriculture, but Rwanda also imports large amounts of food.

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nd

Facts The country is originally thought to have been inhabited by the ­pygmy people, the Twa. Approximately a thousand years ago, the ancestors of today’s Hutus are believed to have settled in the country, after which groups of Tutsis also migrated there. The Hutus are thought to have been farmers, while the Tutsis were engaged in animal husbandry.

“Tutsi” has also been a term for the ruling class, regardless of ­ethnic origin. Gradually, the different ­peoples merged.

In 1885, Rwanda became part of German East Africa and then, ­after the First World War, it become a Belgian colony. The Belgian colonial power introduced identity cards, which specified the holder’s ethnicity, which is thought to have entrenched the racial and class divisions.

The country became independent in 1962 with Grégoire Kayibanda as its president.

Africa Rwanda Uganda Kongo

Burundi

Tanzania

In 1973, the then Defence Minister Juvénal Habyarimana took control of the country through a military coup.

Following this, there was a succession of different conflicts, however in 1993 an agreement was signed which meant that the Tutsi-domina­ted guerrilla movement Front patriotique rwandaise won seats in government. On April 6, 1994, President Habyarimana’s plane was shot down. That was the

catalyst for the genocide that took place from April 7 to July 15, when nearly one million people were killed, mainly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus.

Since the genocide, extensive reconciliation efforts have been initiated. One week each year, from April 7–13, the genocide is commemorated and all 30 regions in the country have memorial museums.

Rwanda is one of the countries in Africa that receives the most aid and is currently regarded as well-organized with relatively little corruption.

Paul Kagame has been the President since 2000 and he is the leader of Front patriotique ­r wandais. In the 2017 election, he won 99 percent of the votes.

Source: Nationalencyklopedin The UR (University of Rwanda) – Sweden Programme for Research, Higher Education and Institutional Advancement is a programme funded by Sida that began in 2002.

The aim is to support the development of domestic research and postgraduate education in Rwanda. The environmental research that Göran Wallin coordinates has been part of the project since its inception. The School of Global Studies has also been involved since its inception, while the Sahlgrenska Academy joined in 2007.

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Profile

At home in Sweden and Rwanda It took Eric Mirindi Dusenge just three months to finish writing his doctoral thesis. Why? Because he was in a hurry to start the postdoctoral European Union’s Marie Curie scholarship he had just received.

That meant returning to the ­University of Gothenburg and to tree plantings in Rwanda.

IT IS AN EARLY Sunday morning in Huye, a town in

southwestern Rwanda where one of the University of Rwanda’s campuses is located. We have breakfast on the veranda of one of the hotel rooms: omelette, toast and a plate of banana, watermelon and pineapple. It was in Huye that Eric Mirindi Dusenge was an undergraduate student in the mid-2000s and here is also one of his favourite places in Rwanda: the arboretum where, as a student, he collected plant specimens and spent his time running and meditating. Now he is back as a postdoctoral fellow and involved in a project about how tropical plants absorb and emit carbon dioxide, a surprisingly unexplored area. The project is headed

by Göran Wallin and Johan Uddling at the University of Gothenburg.

But when Eric tells me about his background, he starts in Kigali where he grew up. A lot of what he has to say is difficult to take in on a quiet Sunday morning.

The worst thing, understandably, is the 1994 genocide, a tragedy that represents a sort of ground zero for Rwanda’s contemporary development. It began on April 7, lasted for a hundred days, and resulted in about one million deaths, mainly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus. The UN was later criticized for its inaction, despite having knowledge of what was going on.

– I was eight years old, the oldest of five siblings, and of course did not understand much about the events.

But during the three months of the genocide, we did not dare leave our house. It was only at night that our parents snuck away to try to find food. In the end, we

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MARCH2020 2020GUJOURNAL GUJOURNAL MARCH

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Profile

The arboretum in Huye is one of Eric Mirindi Dusenge’s favorite places.

were escorted by soldiers from the Rwandan Patriotic Front who took us to the Amahoro football stadium where thousands of people sought refuge. My mother held her hand over my eyes so I wouldn’t see all the dead bodies along the road.

THE GENOCIDE RESULTED in huge numbers of refugees,

some of whom returned home. Those responsible were brought to trial at an international tribunal, but local public courts, called Gacaca, were also set up, mainly to get perpetrators to admit their crimes and ask for forgiveness. Since then, a reconciliation process has taken over, where for an entire week every year, April 7–13, the genocide is commemorated. Moreover, all 30 districts in the country have special memorial centres in honour of the horrific event.

Since the genocide, Rwanda has recovered and become a role model in Africa with strong growth and low levels of corruption. In particular, the country has made great strides in terms of equality; today, the proportion

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of women in Parliament is 64 percent, which is the highest in the world. Rwanda is also one of the safest countries in Africa to live in, Eric says.

– Everyone has health insurance, more and more people go to university, many obtain passports and travel abroad, which was very unusual in the past. And when I came home in 2019, after four years of doctoral studies in Canada, several blocks in Kigali had changed so much that I got lost and had to call my sister for help.

But progress has not been beneficial for everyone.

Eric has personal experience of this as well.

– My dad, who worked as an agronomist for thirty-three years, was forced to retire in the early 2000s because he did not have a university degree. He was only 52 years old. My mother worked as a primary school teacher and had to support the family. But then she was diagnosed with cancer and when she passed away there was practically no money to support the family.

That is when Eric decided to study hard to get a degree.

Even though I shared a room with two friends, my scholarship was barely sufficient for rent and food.

ERIC MIRINDI DUSENGE

– I did not want to end up in a situation where someone could tell me that I am not good enough. I wanted to have control over my life.

Today, most of the University of Rwanda has moved to Kigali. But when Eric started studying in the mid2000s, it was in Huye.

– My university years were hard. Even though I shared a room with two friends, my scholarship was barely sufficient for rent and food. But I had decided to continue studying and endure it. Eventually, I chose biology.

RWANDA IS A FORMER Belgian colony. Therefore, for a long time, French was the most important teaching language in schools. However, in 2009, the government decided to switch to English – with immediate effect.

– Naturally, it was difficult. Many teachers were educated in France or Belgium, they did not know any English. The older teachers had to retire, while the younger ones simply had to retrain.

For Eric’s part, the language change meant that he had to quickly translate his undergraduate dissertation from French into English.

– I used Google Translate. The essay is undoubtedly full of linguistic errors, I would not actually dare to look at it now. But even though it was difficult, today most people think it was a good decision to switch languages, English is the language of science, after all.

In 2009, Eric came into contact with Göran Wallin and Johan Uddling, who were responsible for coordinating educational programmes, funded by Sida, in collaboration with the University of Gothenburg and the University of Rwanda. He got involved in a project on photosynthesis in tropical plants.

– IN 2012, I received a scholarship for one of the

project’s master’s programmes and ended up at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences in Gothenburg. After graduation, I would have liked to continue my doctoral studies there, but at the time there were no vacant positions, so instead, I applied to the University of Western Ontario in Canada. But this autumn, when I found out that I had been accepted as a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Gothenburg, I was very happy to be able to go back.

During all his years abroad studying, Eric sent money home to his family, including money to educate his sisters.

– It was so obvious that I haven’t even thought about it; in Rwanda you simply help your family.

An academic career, with research and teaching, that is Eric’s dream for the future. Preferably, he wants

to stay in Gothenburg. However, he does not see working in Rwanda as an opportunity for now.

– I think my father’s experience and the life we went through after leaving his thirty-three years old-job as agronomist changed me. I want to continue build ing and focusing on my international career to the point where no one can decide overnight on my fate. I also want to offer my future children a life where they experience endless opportunities and not endless limitations.

As a postdoctoral fellow, Eric will do research on how tropical plants store carbon.

– FORESTS IN TEMPERATE regions account for about 13 percent of all carbon sequestration, while boreal forests account for 32 percent. Most of the carbon, about 55 percent, is sequestered in tropical forests, but oddly enough, not a lot of research has been conducted on these forests. So there is a lot to do.

Breakfast is over and Eric looks at his watch. Soon he has to get changed before attending Sunday mass.

– Most Rwandans are religious, but they still have a fairly relaxed approach to religion. Basically, my own take on the world is to try to make things as good as they can be. In this way, I hope to contribute to the development of society, in Rwanda, Sweden and the rest of the world. Maybe I can repay society for some of the educational opportunities and other opportunities I have received.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg

Eric Mirindi Dusenge Currently: He received the European Commission’s Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Gothenburg.

Current research: Part of Göran Wallin’s and Johan Uddling’s project on how tropical trees can cope with climate change.

Family: Father and three sisters in Kigali, a brother in Paris.

Interests: Hiking in Rwanda, Sweden and Canada. Likes football and running, but he finds research the most enjoyable activity.

Vision for the future: To be a researcher and lecturer and contribute to development in Rwanda, Sweden and the world.

Religion: Catholic.

Favourite place: In Rwanda: the arboretum in Huye; in Sweden: Hönö.

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Experiment stations give answers about forests future Will Africa’s tropical forests cope with climate change?

This is an area where there is remarkably little research. To learn more, Göran Wallin and Johan Uddling, together with local researchers, have started a project in Rwanda, which includes three unique experiment stations.

In early February, the GU Journal visited these stations in Rwanda.

WE ARRIVE IN Kigali at seven-thirty in the evening.

Before we get off the plane we are told that plastic bags are banned in Rwanda and must be discarded immediately if we have brought any with us.

When we finally leave the airport after a couple of baggage checks, a master’s student, Carl Svensson, is waiting for us. Soon we also see Mao Birgirimana driving the University’s jeep, specially commissioned from Sweden for field studies in Rwanda. We just manage to load all the luggage into the jeep before the rain starts.

THIS IS NOT an ordinary rain shower. This is torrential

rain, there is thunder and lightning as Mao drives out of the car park.

Rwanda is known as “the land of a thousand hills” and this is especially true for Kigali; the roads go up and down as well as in circles. We drive past the bus

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Doctoral student Etienne Zibera discusses with Johan Uddling.

stop, which is in a valley but suddenly we come to a halt in the midst of a traffic jam. We are told that the bus stop is flooded with two metres of water and that we have to turn around.

Our destination is Huye in southwestern Rwanda, a city with 50,000 inhabitants. The distance from Kigali to Huye is 80 kilometres, as the crow flies, but that is of little consequence in a country full of winding roads, instead we are told that we will have to drive 130 kilometres. In the dark and the pouring rain it takes us almost four hours to get there.

IN A PARTNERSHIP with Sida, the University of Go-

thenburg is involved in several projects in Rwanda.

One of the most important projects started in 2003 and involves a partnership on environmental research between the University of Gothenburg, the University of Rwanda and the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board. Göran Wallin, who has been working within the partnership since its inception, tells us that it has spawned several doctoral and master’s degrees, as well as student exchanges.

– We hope to start a double degree programme shortly, enabling the doctoral students to graduate from both the University of Gothenburg and the University of Rwanda.

– In the current project, which is supported by the Swedish Research Council and Formas, we are examining how tropical trees, which have evolved in a warm and stable climate, may be impacted by climate change. The hypothesis is that the trees will not be able to handle the change very well, but we really do not know, as surprisingly little research has been conducted on tropical forests.

The hypothesis is that the trees will not be able to handle the change very well, but we really do not know, as surprisingly little re­search­ has been conducted on tropical forests.

GÖRAN WALLIN

THE FOLLOWING MORNING we head out to one of the th-

Myriam Mujawamariya explains photosynthesis to some students.

ree experiment stations set up by the research team, the one in Rubona, located at 1,600 metres above sea level.

– The station in Makera is located at 1,300 metres above sea level, and the one in Sigira at 2,400 metres above sea level, says Johan Uddling, as the university’s jeep takes us along a bumpy road, full of potholes and

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Focus Rwanda

mud from landslides after the last few days of torrential rain.

This is a type of plant laboratory that is truly unique.

Each station has 18 areas where 20 indigenous species have been randomly planted and exposed to six different combinations of water and nutrient regimes. As they are located at different altitudes, they are also exposed to varying levels of heat. All in all, the project includes 5,400 trees, in addition to potted plants. Which species thrive in competition with each other and which ones ultimately die? How might climate change impact the plants, and will they be able to adapt?

– Carapa grandiflora is one of the trees that are sensitive to higher temperatures, Johan Uddling explains.

It is my personal favourite of all the trees included in the project, a love that I share with the country’s chimpanzees, who eat its fruit.

A GROUP OF 100 students from the School of Forestry,

Biodiversity and Conservation is expected to visit.

– We have had to buy a huge amount of lunch so that it is enough for both the students and us who work, explains Göran Wallin.

All the students speak English. I ask whether that is perhaps due to the fact that there are several local languages in the country, but that is not the case. The native language of the vast majority of Rwandians is Kinyarwanda. Rather, it is simply the case that English is the language used to teach natural sciences in schools.

Myriam Mujawamariya is one of the lecturers the

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▲ Sabine Iradukunda Uwase was one of about a hundred students who visited the experimental station in Rubona, where Göran Wallin, among others, lectured.

– It’s much more fun to come out in reality than just to read books, she says.

students will meet; she has almost completed her doctoral studies. She talks about photosynthesis and temperature sensitivity. Another doctoral student, Aloysie Manishimwe, is surrounded by a group of students as she talks about how the temperature of a leaf can be 40 degrees even though the air temperature is only 25 degrees, while doctoral student Bonaventure Ntirugulirwa, gesticulating in an animated fashion, explains how sun and shade impact different trees in different ways.

The students are obviously enjoying their visit. – We get to see things in real life, it is so much better than just reading books, Sabine Iradukunda Uwase explains.

On Thursday, this research station will be on display again, but this time as part of a workshop that has been planned for months. The preparations have not only involved inviting the relevant people – they also involved getting principals and officials to sign documents and give their approval. – THERE IS A LOT of red tape, Johan Uddling points out.

But the programme we have put together will be really interesting with several doctoral presentations and attended by large number of central policy makers.

So far it is only Wednesday and we are off to Nyungwe, the best preserved rain forest in Central MARCH 2020 GUJOURNAL

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Focus Rwanda

När det var som värst täcktes Rwandas yta av bara 17 procent skog, nu har vi dock nått regeringens mål om 30 procent.

DISMAS BAKUNDUKIZE

Rwanda is a poor country where the memory of the 1994 genocide is still very much alive.

But it is also a country of strong progress..

Africa. Besides its importance as a carbon sink, it is also essential for the region’s access to water; both the Congo and the Nile have sources here.

Recently, Rwanda has been involved in several conflicts with neighbouring Burundi. That is why soldiers are posted along the route. Suddenly, we have to stop; a large group of baboons is slowly sauntering across the road.

BEFORE VISITING the rain forest, we have to make a detour to a guard station to ask about the drone. This is because Johan Uddling and Göran Wallin have both spent a lot of time getting documents approved so that two Rwandan technicians can film the forest from the air using a drone. Even though filming has been permitted, something seems to be missing.

– You will get permission, says the guards at the station. Just not today.

Taking photos with an ordinary camera is fine, however, and as we continue towards Nyungwe, we stop repeatedly to photograph the magnificent view.

At 2,500 metres above sea level, the clouds are nestled between the lush green mountains, and the heights are dizzying.

When we arrive, two guards accompany us down the steep paths through the forest, one to take point and one to form the rear-guard. Each visitor is also given a bamboo pole for balance, which is particularly welcome, as the ground is wet and slippery. But we are fortunate enough to have yet another guide with us, Brigitte Nyirambangutse, who holds a doctorate from the University of Gothenburg, and is an expert in biodiversity and carbon flows.

Climbing downhill is fine, but uphill is more of a struggle. We have not gone very far but we still need to hurry before it gets dark.

When we arrive, we meet Bonaventure Ntirugulirwa, who will be participating in tomorrow’s workshop.

He talks about differences between cultures and that Africans, for example, are not always very conscientious about punctuality.

– But tomorrow, we are holding a European workshop, everyone must be at the venue no later than 10 o’clock.

The Thursday workshop does not only include doctoral presentations, but also a speech by Dismas Bakundukize, the head of the Forest Management Agency at the Rwanda Water and Forestry Authority.

He discusses how population growth in the 20th century has led to deforestation, causing major problems with soil erosion, as well as the planting of exotic species, such as fast-growing eucalyptus.

– AT ITS LOWEST point, Rwanda was covered by only 17

percent forest, but now we have reached the government goal of 30 percent. Our new goal is for 85 percent of agriculture to include afforestation using indigenous species. The partnership between the University of Gothenburg and the University of Rwanda is one way of facilitating this.

Another participant was Donat Nsabimana, lecturer at the University of Rwanda, who received his doctorate at the University of Gothenburg in 2009.

The workshop concluded with traditional entertainment. Drums, horns and singing accompanied by the stomping feet of dancers with bells around their ankles.

– I have been in Rwanda several times, Göran Wallin explains. All major events end with dancing, music and something to eat and drink, that’s just how it is ...

Facts Tropical montane forests in a warming world The project examines the climate sensitivity of indigenous tree species in Rwanda. It includes three experiment stations, located at 1,300, 1,600 and 2,400 metres above sea level, where a total of 5,400 trees have been planted to examine how they respond to temperature, access to water and ­nutrients.

The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council and Formas and is headed by University Lecturer Göran Wallin and Professor Johan Uddling, both from the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences.

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Focus Rwanda

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Obedience in vicious times – If I had not become a doctoral student in Gothenburg, I would never have completed my PhD. Being away from my children for long periods, however, was a high price to pay.

These are the words of Charline Mulindahabi, the Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Rwanda, who defended her doctoral thesis at the School of Global Studies in 2015.

“OBEDIENCE” IS A positively charged word in Rwanda.

But it was also obedience that made many people take part in the 1994 genocide, when one million Tutsis were murdered in a hundred days.

– What I wanted to investigate was whether the concept has changed since then, says Charline Mulindahabi when I meet her at the Department of Political Science and International Relations in Huye. Is it actually good to be obedient if it leads to murder? To find out, I conducted in-depth interviews with four categories of people: perpetrators, survivors, people in positions of power and people who were neither one nor the other.

I concluded that people recognize that obedience is something horrible when it has such terrible consequences as mass murder, but that in other contexts it is a good thing. It is as if they want to redeem the concept and protect it from negative associations.

Charline Mulindahabi began her doctoral studies at the School of Global Studies in 2010. This entailed periods of 5–6 months in Gothenburg, interspersed with shorter trips to her home in Huye.

– MY HUSBAND, who was also a doctoral student, took

care of our three children, who were between seven and three years of age. He defended his doctoral thesis before me, however he managed that, but I would never have been able to concentrate on my studies if I had been living at home. However, I missed out on a lot when my children were young. When I quarrel with my daughter, who is now sixteen years old, she points out that I do not have the right to say anything, as I was gone so much when she was little. That makes me feel guilty. So even though I find it very important to

gain experience from other countries, it would be good if doctoral studies could be organized so that you are only away from home for short periods of time.

The genocide is commemorated throughout Rwanda. For example, an entire week in April is dedicated to the disastrous event.

Many children are traumatized by the genocide, even though it happened 25 years ago, says Charline Mulindahabi.

– They were not part of it themselves, but it is of course a terrible event in their family’s history, something that is not really possible to understand.

AS HEAD OF Department, Charline Mulindahabi devotes a great deal of her time to administration, including coordinating a master’s programme on local government. But she has also been involved in a collaboration between universities in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania about investigating the endangerment of humanities in Higher Education.

– Practically all the investment in education and research goes to science, medicine and technology. The humanities are not seen as important, neither by the government, the students, nor their parents. We are trying to change that by offering new combinations of subjects. We are trying to create programmes where students can combine economics and history or law and languages, for example. The partnership between different universities means that we can encourage one another and perhaps come up with new ways to strengthen the humanities. This is important, particularly for Rwanda with its traumatic history.

Charline Mulindahabi Title of her doctoral thesis from 2015: Obedience troubled?

Exploring the meanings of obedience in the post-genocide Rwanda.

Works as: Head of Department of Political Science and International Relations, School of Governance, University of Rwanda.

Family: Husband and three children.

Lives in: Huye, Rwanda.

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People

Wants user-friendly

TECHNOLOGY Use your intuition instead of complicated manuals!

Vasiliki Mylonopoulou is passionate about making computers and software as user-friendly as possible.

– It should be easy to use new technology, because otherwise it is useless, she says.

VASILIKI MYLONOPOULOU was a computer engineer

who became obsessed with coding and programming.

Back home, in Thessaloniki, Greece, at the Technological Educational Institute, she would remain at her desk, often for hours at a time, until she had fixed a bug.

But her curiosity brought her to Umeå to study a master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction, and suddenly a whole new world opened up.

– I instantly fell in love with this subject. Suddenly, it occurred to me that the technology itself must be able to show you how it should be used.

We can develop lots of cool IT products, but if users do not understand how to use them, they will not work, says Vasiliki Mylonopoulou

SHE BELIEVES THAT there is often a mentality among

computer engineers that if they themselves can use what they have designed, it means that it works – it is just the users who are stupid. In Human-Computer Interaction, we want to change the perspective and put the focus on the human user instead of the machine.

– My job simply involves making computers easier for people to use, says Vasiliki Mylonopoulou. You should not need to read complicated manuals, you should be able to use your intuition.

Vasiliki Mylonopoulou has been a postdoctoral fellow at the division of Human-Computer Interaction, at the Department of Applied Information Technology, since October last year. Together with two colleagues, she is creating a new course on the subject, for which she will also be the course lecturer.

– IT IS INCREDIBLY challenging. In mathematics, there

is right and wrong, but that is not the case in this field.

We will try to understand how people think and how they intuitively use technology. It will be interesting to see how the students handle this uncertainty – that there are no correct answers.

In parallel with her work with students, she also conducts her own research. She is currently running the Digital Seniors project, together with her colleague Alexandra Weilenmann, which involves creating design tools to design technology for our older selves. The focus is on exploring whether our age affects how and why we use technology. And how we can adapt the technology to meet our future needs as seniors.

– I think there has been too much focus on looking at what older people cannot do when it comes to new technology. Personally, I find it more interesting to study what they actually can do, and build design tools based on that.

THE PAST FEW years have been hectic for Vasiliki My-

lonopoulou and she is now looking forward to settling in Gothenburg for a couple of years. After her master’s degree in Umeå and before starting her postdoctoral position at the University of Gothenburg, she spent three years as a Marie Curie doctoral student at the University of Oulu, in Finland. A position that involved 36 trips over the course of three years.

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Vasiliki Mylonopoulou Age: 34.

– It was tremendous fun and incredibly hectic. There were 15 doctoral students from different European countries who participated in the programme, and we studied to become experts in how to use IT to bring about positive changes in health behaviours, she says.

At the age of 34, Vasiliki Mylonopoulou already has an impressive CV. However, an academic career was not necessarily an obvious choice.

– I HAVE DYSLEXIA, she says. And when I was growing

up in Greece, there was no special support for that at school. That is why I chose to become a computer engineer which focuses much more on mathematics than reams of text, even though I was probably more interested in psychology as a subject.

Today, she can combine her interest in human behaviour with her knowledge of technology. She is also interested in arranging and participating in activities that support people with learning difficulties who work or study at the University of Gothenburg.

– Yes, now all the pieces seem to have fallen into place, she says. And I am really enjoying Gothenburg, both from a work and leisure perspective.

Profession: Post-doctoral researcher in Human-Computer Interaction at the Department of Applied Information Technology.

Lives in: Gothenburg Grew up in: Thessaloniki, Greece.

Family: Partner, as well as a family in Greece – including her mother, father and older brother.

Interests: Playing computer games, power yoga and pole gymnastics.

But how did you adjust to our Nordic climate when you are used to a Mediterranean climate?

– There is not enough snow in Gothenburg. I love winter, even when it is –20 °C. It was wonderful to come to Umeå from Greece – Christmas lasted 6 months! she says, laughing.

Text: Karin Frejrud Photo: Emelie Asplund MARCH 2020 GUJOURNAL

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News People

Did you know that PressReader is a digital service that makes it possible to read newspapers and weekly magazines from all over the world, either on your computer or mobile phone?

Annika Svantesson, university librarian at the Social Sciences Library, explains how to go about it.

– IT’S EASY, everything is on the UB website. What is unique about PressReader is that it contains 7,000 newspapers and weekly magazines from 100 countries in 60 languages. It does not have everything, but it has a tremendous amount of material and the advantage is that you get an exact copy of the printed newspaper. Unfortunately, it does not have all the Swedish daily newspapers, but it has Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet. You can search for anything going back one year and you can select country, language or subject. It is not primarily for research purposes, but for providing access to daily newspapers and weekly magazines.

– This means that as a student,

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employee or foreign guest researcher, you can read the daily newspapers without paying for them. For more scientific purposes there is Mediearkivet (the Media Archive) as well as Factiva, where you can search and read articles in full.

Here, the material spans a much longer time frame and there is more comprehensive coverage of the Swedish and international daily press and industry press.

How do you access the services from home?

– Use your GU account to log on to the library’s databases, electronic journals and e-books when you are off campus.

When it comes to PressReader you can

also read material on a mobile device, up to a maximum of 5 issues in a 24-hour period.

How good is the University Library at providing digital services?

– It is something we are investing heavily in, in different formats. It’s great that all of our students and staff have access to everything, just a few clicks away. We have a lot of e-resources, you just have to go to our homepage (https://www.ub.gu. se) and search, or contact us if you have any questions or suggestions for purchasing journals, books or databases. The contact links are at the top of each page.

Text: Allan Eriksson Photo: Håkan Granath

Debate

US Citizens in Sweden can vote in US elections Are you a US Citizen? Then you have the right to vote in US elections in 2020. Help to do so is available online.

VIRTUALLY EVERY American citizen, 18 years or older (on election day 3/11/2020) living outside the US temporarily or permanently, is eligible to vote by absentee ballot in US elections during this important election year – as every year. This right includes primary elections, and sometimes state and local elections. Rules governing eligibility vary from state to state. Even American citizens who have never resided in the US are eligible to vote in most states. You will need to provide a US voting address, which could be the address of the hospital where you were born, the address where your parents were staying at the time, the address of a friend or relative, or anywhere you feel the strongest connection. If you’ve previously voted in the US, you should use that address as your voting address.

des not only information about eligibility for voting for all 50 states, but also easy-to-follow instructions for registering to vote and requesting absentee ballots from your local election official by fax, email or regular mail. It also has answers to questions, including a chat function and an FAQ list. If you request your absentee ballots now, you should obtain them for every election you are entitled to vote in in your state during 2020, including the general election on November 3.

VOTING HAS become easier since the advent of the Vote from Abroad website, www.votefromabroad.org This website provi

Sally Boyd Professor emerita and US Citizen MARCH 2020 GUJOURNAL

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News The snapshot

News

blic

Where? Who? When?

• • •

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Aftonstjärnan, Lindholmen.

Jonas Holmberg, Sam Ghazi, Dorna Behdadi and Olle Häggström.

January 28, 2020.

GUJOURNAL MARCH 2020

In short In connection with the screening of the film iHuman by Tonje Hessen Schei during the Gothenburg Film Festival, a cinematic salon on technological development and AI was held. The salon host was Jonas Holmberg, Artistic Director of the Göteborg Film Festival, and taking part in the discussion were Sam Ghazi, author; Dorna Behdadi, doctoral student in Practical Philosophy, and Olle Häggström, Professor of Mathematical Statistics The salon was a collaboration between the Göteborg Film Festival, Jonsered Manor, the University of Gothenburg and Folkuniversitetet. Photo: Johan Wingborg

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