Akademiliv

Sahlgrenska akademins nyheter

På Svenska
University of Gothenburg Logotype
  • News
  • Notices
  • Grants
  • About Akademiliv
Photo: Jakob Lundberg.

Lars Kölby on his dissertation: “I remember the taste of doom”

22 February, 2024

RESEARCHER PORTRAIT. He recalls the fear. “I was led into the room like an animal ready for slaughter. I thought: Now, I will be exposed as a complete fraud, humiliating myself, my family, and my supervisor.” Halfway through the dissertation defense, everything turned for Lars Kölby. It all transformed into euphoria that lasted for a month.

He is a professor of plastic surgery and head of department. Lars Kölby’s research focuses on craniofacial surgery and innovative 3D printing of tissue.

Part of his job is supervising doctoral students.

“I find it terribly enjoyable. There’s one thing that is the real reward for me as a supervisor. And it repeats itself time and again,” says Lars Kölby, adding:

“It happens about a month before the dissertation. That’s when the doctoral students ignite on all cylinders. They come in and out of my office with one reference article after another. ‘Look here, Lars! They did this. They understand nothing. And look here. They did it this way. That’s completely wrong! But we did it this way. It’s so much better’.”

What do you feel then?

“You know, seeing how doctoral students just explode in the final stretch. That’s the joy. It’s fantastic. Then I understand that I have contributed to lifting them from one level to another.”

“A total high, like a rush”

How do you personally remember the last weeks of your own doctoral project?

Lars Kölby is the head of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the Institute of Clinical Sciences, University of Gothenburg. Photo: Jakob Lundberg

“It was a total high. Like a rush. And that rush consisted of two parts. The first came when I was nearing the completion of the thesis. I lived in Trollhättan then and commuted. I sat up late at home, writing.”

Lars Kölby continues:

“My wife and kids had gone to bed long ago. It was maybe around 1 am. I sat there typing. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I went to have a shower.”

As the warm water spouted against him, something happened.

“Just a moment ago, I had been completely exhausted sitting at the computer, barely able to stand up. But now, it just began flowing with good ideas, one after another. About what I should do with the text, and new experiments. I just stood there in the shower. It was very pleasant. It was feeding into my head.”

“I’ll have to find another job”

Then came the day of Lars Kölby’s dissertation defense, in December 1999.

“The last few hours before, I had a feeling of catastrophe. I can still taste it. The taste of doom. ‘I won’t make it.’ I seriously thought about what I would do next if I couldn’t continue. ‘We’ll have to solve it. I’ll have to try to find another job somewhere’.”

He remembers the feeling and thoughts as he was about to enter the pathologist’s auditorium.

“When we walked toward the door, it was something absolutely terrible. I was led into the room like an animal ready for slaughter. I thought: ‘I will be exposed as a complete fraud. I will humiliate myself, my family, my mother and father, my supervisor. The entire University of Gothenburg will be dragged through the mud by what is about to happen now.”

The transformation of emotions

But didn’t you have confidence in knowing that you had done good work?

Lars Kölby conducts research on craniofacial surgery and innovative 3D printing of tissues. Photo: Jakob Lundberg

“There’s nothing wrong with my self-confidence. I had prepared quite well. I had gone through all possible questions I could get. Intellectually, I knew it. But not emotionally. It was such tension.”

There was one question, in particular, that Lars Kölby had prepared extra hard for. One he hoped to get from the opponent.

“If that question came, I knew exactly what to answer. Then I would have the chance to tie together all my sub-studies. I had thought: ‘If he asks that question, he has only himself to blame! Because then I’ll run the race, then I’ll take the long answer’.”

Did you get that very question?

“Yes. That question came, maybe halfway through the defense.”

Then it kicked in, the transformation of emotions. First in the feet.

“It was totally physical. I pushed the chair back to look at my feet, if you could see anything. Had they swollen? Or burst? It was like a wave slowly spreading. After a few minutes, that feeling had risen to the calves. And after that, to the knees. Then to the thighs, and the stomach. It was very strange. Then it jumped to the chest. Finally, it reached the head. Bing! The second half of the public defense was like a triumphal march,” says Lars Kölby, clarifying:

“So, my feeling was triumph. But I was probably quite bad. It is likely that I did a highly mediocre dissertation defense.”

Ecstatic for a month afterward

How did you feel afterward?

“People had said that you should be so down after your dissertation. I was ecstatic for an entire month straight. Around the clock. It was very strange.”

The memory of those feelings makes Lars Kölby reconnect with the doctoral students he supervises.

“When they come to me in the final phase before the public defense, when they rev up. When they go at full speed, everywhere, working day and night. It’s so… It’s so fantastic. And practically everyone does this. Otherwise, it’s pointless.”

BY: JAKOB LUNDBERG
The article was first published by the Institute of Clinical Sciences.

By: Elin Lindström
Tagged With: institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper

HAPPY SUMMER!

The newsletter from Akademiliv will return on Wednesday, August 21st.

Contact your institute to add your event to the calendar in the Staff Portal

  • Biomedicine: Kristian Kvint: kalender@biomedicine.gu.se
  • Core Facilities: Amelie Karlsson: amelie.karlsson.2@gu.se
  • Clinical Sciences: Katarina Olinder Eriksson: klinvet@gu.se
  • Medicine: Nina Raun; kommunikation@medicine.gu.se
  • Neuroscience and Physiology: Josefin Bergenholtz; kommunikation@neuro.gu.se
  • Odontology: Johan Thompson; info@odontologi.gu.se
  • Sahlgrenska Academy’s Office and faculty-wide calendar events Åsa Ekvall; info@sahlgrenska.gu.se
  • Health and Care Sciences: Karin Mossberg; vardvetenskap@fhs.gu.se

Information from Sahlgrenska Academy Research Support Office

[UPDATED JUNE 2024]
The Sahlgrenska Academy Research Support Office provides an overview of upcoming and current calls, nominations and events in an information letter. This letter is updated on a monthly basis.
Current and previous newsletters are also available in the Staff Portal.

’20 minutes for researchers’ is back – see full spring program

During 20 minutes over Zoom, the Biomedical Library gives tips on tools and services that can facilitate your research everyday life.

More news

En personlig död (A Personal Death) – a chance to win Björn Fagerberg’s new book

27 May, 2024

NEW BOOK. During his career as a physician specializing in internal medicine, Björn Fagerberg has been involved in many end-of-life situations, …  

She is doing her residency in the US with a medical degree from Gothenburg

21 May, 2024

STUDENT. Doing a “residency” in orthopedics in the United States is an unattainable dream for many newly qualified American doctors. Now Janina Ka …  

Alba Corell reports from a high-level brain tumor meeting

20 May, 2024

COLUMN. The recent gathering of the Scandinavian Society of Neuro-oncology (SNOG) in Gothenburg has concluded. Professor Asgeir Jakola hosted and …  

From South Africa to Sweden: Collaborative Research Efforts Improving Pregnant Women’s Health

17 May, 2024

GLOBAL HEALTH. In the bustling Tygerberg University Hospital in Cape Town, a dedicated research team led by Lina Bergman, is on a mission to …  

Sara Bjursten and Anna Wenger are the recipients of the Assar Gabrielsson Prize 2024

17 May, 2024

AWARD. The Assar Gabrielsson Foundation has named Anna Wenger as the winner in the basic science research category and Sara Bjursten as the …  

A full day for PhD students focused on mental health

16 May, 2024

PHD STUDENTS. For the sixth time, PhD students at Sahlgrenska Academy were invited to PhD Day, organized by the Doctoral Student Council. The day …  

Kaj Blennow ranked highest in Sweden in neuroscience

16 May, 2024

AWARD. In this year's edition of the researcher ranking from Research.com in the field of neuroscience, Kaj Blennow is ranked 17th …  

Linda Wass is doing a postdoc at Stanford with ALF funding

14 May, 2024

ALF FUNDING. Biomedical Scientist Linda Wass has just settled in Stanford, California, where she will spend two years as a postdoc. She is the …  

Karin Nilsson wrote the Thesis of the Year at Sahlgrenska Academy in 2023

14 May, 2024

AWARD. Karin Nilsson, currently a postdoc at the Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, receives the faculty-wide Thesis of the …  

Some answers from the proposed members of the next Faculty Board

14 May, 2024

FACULTY ELECTIONS. The eight proposed members of the next Faculty Board hereby give some brief answers on how they want to contribute to the work …  

More news...

Sahlgrenska Academy

© University of Gothenburg
PO-Box 100, S-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Phone: 00 46 31 786 0000

About the website

Elin Lindström is editor for Akademiliv.
Please feel free to send your ideas and comments to akademiliv@gu.se

Sign up for the Akademiliv newsletter:

Send you tips to Akademiliv

Do you have a suggestion for news, grants, seminars or an education?
Send an email to Elin Lindström Claessen