CHRISTMAS GREETINGS. In many ways, 2021 has been a successful year for Sahlgrenska Academy, even though the pandemic has continued to manifest itself this year as well. Dean Agneta Holmäng and Pro-Dean Henrik Hagberg would like to extend greetings to all of our colleagues and students before the Christmas holidays.
We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and at the same time thank you for your excellent and valuable work during the year. This Christmas also bears the stamp of the pandemic, but current national guidelines are not having a great impact on our work at the University. It is important to remember, though, that we all have a joint responsibility to act in a way that limits the spread of infection. We hope and believe that we will soon see brighter days, but we need to continue the fight a little longer.
A validation of the high quality of our education
As this year comes to an end, we have much to be thankful for. The challenges we have jointly faced, both in teaching and research, have made the faculty even more closely knit. We would like to highlight the three colleagues who have been honored with the title Distinguished University Teacher this year: Björn Eliasson, Margret Lepp, and Monica Pettersson. Sahlgrenska Academy now has 19 teachers with this fine title, which we regard as proof of the high quality of our education. The Institute of Health and Care Sciences has the largest number of Distinguished University Teachers at the University, and we congratulate them.
We have many rising stars
Our researchers also succeeded very well in the competition for external research funding this year. In the Swedish Research Council’s large call for research proposals in medicine and health, researchers at the University of Gothenburg received the second most research funding of all higher education institutions. The outcome was also very good from other major national funding bodies, such as the Swedish Cancer Society. It is particularly gratifying to see that many large grants have been awarded to the next generation of heads of research. This year, our young researchers received eight starting grants from the Swedish Research Council, two Wallenberg Academy Fellows, two Large Grants from the Swedish Society for Medical Research, and several postdoctoral grants. It is obvious that we have many rising stars, and that gives us confidence and optimism about the future.
A boost for research in medical technology
SahlBEC Lab, the new medical technology laboratory, was recently inaugurated in the heart of Sahlgrenska University Hospital at the BoIC Imaging and Intervention Center. The lab, which is shielded for the safe use of microwaves and biomagnetism, will provide a boost for research in medical technology in fields like neuroscience, oncology, and cardiology. The lab is operated in collaboration with Chalmers University of Technology, and it will provide a unique environment that makes it easier for researchers to conduct patient-centered medical research.
Our faculty has strong bibliometrics
In this year’s large call for project funding under the ALF agreement, we were able to award extra funds, and we have also been able to announce more ALF positions. We could do this because of the additional SEK 25 million we received. This increase was based on good results from the Swedish Research Council’s latest national evaluation of our ALF funds. Our university and our region received the highest score in Sweden. A new evaluation will be conducted next year, and we are well prepared. Several staff members have done an excellent job in producing the comprehensive information needed for our self-assessment. We can confirm that our faculty has strong bibliometrics to support us, but we know that there is stiff competition in the various areas of the evaluation. This time next year we will know how it turned out.
We are now stepping up our efforts to increase donations to our faculty, both through presentation material to potential donors and our ability to display a unique exhibition about our Nobel laureate, Arvid Carlsson. The exhibition has importance, not only for our faculty, but for the entire University, because it highlights the only Nobel laureate we have who was chosen while working here.
Personally, we are looking forward to relaxing with loved ones and enjoying the snow (which we hope stays for Christmas) with our grandchildren and dogs.
Enjoy and relax, so we can all return with a new shot of energy for the 2022 spring semester!
Agneta Holmäng and Henrik Hagberg
