Category: Okategoriserade

In recent weeks, many emails have arrived in the Vice-Chancellor’s mailbox. Most of the emails call on the University to distance itself from Israel’s actions in Gaza. I have received numerous such emails, all much the same. Lately, however, I have also received other messages, speaking of vulnerability and distress. These emails are written with individual care and sometimes sorrow. In these unique messages, members of staff and students express their feelings of being vulnerable, uncomfortable and sometimes afraid. 

I wish to emphasise that we cannot allow this at our University. Here, everyone must be able to be present, to work and to seek knowledge. Respect for one another and one another’s opinions goes without saying. We in the management team have not modified our views or changed our mind on the issue of taking a position in response to the demonstrations. 

Let me be absolutely clear.

A university is a place for critics and critical thinking. If university leaders take a position on a matter of social debate in the name of the institution, this jeopardises the foundation upon which academia rests, by limiting the freedom of the individuals who constitute the whole. In matters of opinion, there is no voting and no pursuit of consensus at an academic institution. On the contrary, we must always defend the insight that the opinion of the majority at a university must never be enforced on all its staff or students. For this reason, the University does not take political positions. We refrain from doing so in the name of democracy, even when it is inconvenient and difficult. 

We are a university and must remain free from pressure and always defend freedom and democracy. Of course we want the war to end, the killing to stop, the humanitarian aid to reach those in need. Just as we have stated before, we hope that this historically protracted conflict, which has escalated in a terrible way since 7 October, will end in a peaceful solution. 

Until that happens, everyone active at our University must be able to feel welcome and safe. This is a shared responsibility. 

Over ten years ago, Campus Gotland became part of Uppsala University. Much has happened since then. Many students have received high-quality education in a wonderful environment. We have developed a graduate school that is both innovative and competent. The Blue Centre is a force for Gotland, for Sweden and even the world. The Department of Game Design has perhaps the most international programmes at the University, with unique expertise not previously available in Uppsala, as is the case at many other departments that have been strengthened and expanded since the merger. Problems and obstacles have largely been overcome and I can honestly describe the trend as a success. However, as in every other part of our great University, there are  adjustments that need to be made.

Recently, several statements regarding the range of programmes at Campus Gotland have been made in the media, most recently in an open letter to the University from the organisation Tillväxt Gotland. Change often raises concerns. I completely understand that, of course. At the same time, I see the commitment as a strength to build upon. 

At Uppsala University, the faculties are responsible for the quality and content of their programmes and research. Several faculties have recently decided, independently of each other, to put on hold or discontinue certain programmes. I understand that it may look like coordinated cuts, but it is the result of decisions being taken in different parts of the organisation at the same time. The reasons for the proposed changes differ between the different programmes. One programme has a lack of applicants, another has too few students, a third has been put on hold because it will be redesigned, a fourth will be offered by another education provider, and so on. All in all, these changes will be noticeable in the short term and the number of students on campus will temporarily fall. At the same time, future-oriented development work is under way on the teacher education programmes, for example, but also on the business studies programme, the results of which we hope to see soon. The target of 1,500 students on campus remains and it is my conviction that we will be back at those levels within the next few years. Research will also be further strengthened, and discussions on those initiatives are ongoing. 

It is normal for all higher education institutions to review their range of programmes at regular intervals and make changes to them. In order to live up to our high standards and goals, we have launched extensive efforts to profile Campus Gotland more clearly. The Campus Gotland Board, chaired by Vice-Chancellor Tora Holmberg, is tasked with driving these future-oriented ventures together with the University’s Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor, Jenny Helin. Many employees both in Uppsala and on Gotland will be involved in this. The Campus Gotland Board will discuss the profiling and focus of these ventures this week, and a decision on the new focus will be made at the end of the summer. 

As Vice-Chancellor, I can assure you all that Uppsala University is, and will continue to be, a responsible stakeholder on Gotland. Uppsala University has a long-term committment to Campus Gotland. 

UUniFI is the name of a new initiative at the University very close to my heart. The abbreviation stands for Uppsala University Future Institutes, whose aim is to enable research into complex societal challenges by harnessing the breadth of Uppsala University. The institutes will be characterised by excellence and innovation, generate new research and establish new collaborations, increase visibility and strengthen the international position of the University. 

The idea behind the institutes has been in the works for a long time. A seed was planted in the previous government’s research policy bill, which raised the issue of profile areas. That task, as we interpreted it, was to identify a number of profile areas for the University. It was a difficult challenge for a university like ours, as our profile is, in actual fact, to not have one. Rather, we want to be a broad, leading university with a range of areas of excellence identified by researchers that vary over time. The question is an interesting one, though. What more can we do as a university to contribute to a better world, as we typically say.

If our breadth is our strength, perhaps we need to embrace it; or so my thinking goes. 

There is much discussion across society about the challenges we face: the climate issue, pandemics, conflicts, data security, migration and so on. These challenges are difficult for many different reasons. There are often no clear-cut answers; conflicting objectives influence choices; the issues are multidisciplinary in nature and require multiple resources that do not typically work together. 

Across our fantastic University, many people are contributing in different ways to finding answers to questions related to all these challenges facing society. That is positive, but I think we can achieve more if we connect the forces that are currently strong but scattered across the University. The question is how?

My answer, after visiting other universities and holding many fruitful discussions with wise people at our University, is UUniFI. To start with, we have identified six different institutes with specialisations in which we are currently strong and where we believe the University can quickly establish broad, constructive, rewarding and world-leading collaborations – collaborations that could produce the answers the world is waiting for.

These institutes are focused on: 

• Conflicting objectives – Multidisciplinary studies of conflicting objectives and synergies in processes where society is being transformed to tackle major challenges
• Multi- and interdisciplinarity – Platform and physical environment for the initiation and development of problem-driven and thematic research cooperation across subject, faculty and disciplinary domain lines (CIRCUS)
• AI research – Multidisciplinary studies of the opportunities and problems related to the use of AI and the digitalisation of society
• Migration – Multidisciplinary studies focusing on processes related to migration and integration 
• Precision health – Multidisciplinary studies focusing on increasing and providing more equitable health by preventing, diagnosing and treating with precision 
• Green energy transition – Multidisciplinary studies focusing on the energy transition and society’s increasing energy demand

These are lofty ambitions, perhaps even a little cocky. It’s a question of sticking our neck out, but not too much. We can back up our claim that we can do this. At Uppsala University, we have capabilities that not many others have. I am convinced that these well-motivated initiatives can deliver better, more pioneering and relevant research and unite all parts of the University. A common feature of all the identified areas is that they have strong research across the board. This means they can mobilise – both individually and by connecting with each other – interdisciplinary added value with a strong relevance to these major societal challenges. Through UUniFI, we are bringing together research from all of the University’s faculties and disciplinary domains, enabling them to make an even greater contribution to the shaping of society.