Scandinavian summit a big leap for Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Six years after the recruitment of Mikael Hedeland to Uppsala University as a Professor of Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry, his research group is engaged in several multidisciplinary projects bridging the Faculties of Pharmacy and Medicine. The team is also involved in numerous international collaborations and in late October, the group welcomed colleagues from Denmark and Norway to a Scandinavian conference.

“We gathered for the first time last year at the University of Oslo. Back then with the aim to define the possibilities for developed cooperation within, above all, education. That meeting turned out a success and when we now teamed up again, we made the leap from great potential to established collaboration. This year's agenda included, among many things, oral exams, a system that is already achieving success in Oslo, and which we are currently approaching at our courses in Uppsala,” says Jakob Haglöf, Director of studies at the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry.

Also on top of the agenda was Artificial Intelligence in Analytical pharmaceutical chemistry. As previously, reported, this technological advancement brings both challenges and opportunities in higher education, but at the Uppsala conference, the participants chose to focus on the latter. The University of Oslo has already introduced a PhD course to prepare their young researchers for active roles in a future scientific society. A position where the capacity to analyze AI-generated information tend to be a central component.

“As a pharmaceutical chemist, you are often faced with considerations where AI is an increasingly powerful tool, but which also requires competence to comprehend, evaluate and interpret your material. We must provide our students these skills, which is most effectively achieved in Scandinavian cooperation. In the fall of 2025, we will start the next course, and by then hope to include PhD students from Uppsala University,” says Stig Pedersen-Bjergaard, Professor at the University of Oslo.

The meeting in Uppsala also found time to focus on potential student exchanges and the possibility to greet degree project workers across national borders. Discussions which, according to Professor Mikael Hedeland, turned out fruitful and might be realized already in the near future:

“Due to its nature, Analytical pharmaceutical chemistry belongs to the disciplines that benefit from international collaboration, and this week's conference definitely confirmed the great values in adding new perspectives. The fact that we have now a firm foundation for Scandinavian cooperation also increases our scope to further refine our methods and to assist Uppsala's pharmaceutical and medical research environments in their work to develop the drug therapies of the future.”

For many of the Scandinavian guests, the visit to the Biomedical Center also was their first trip to Uppsala, and in addition to scientific discussions, the schedule included guided visits to the historic University Main Building, Museum Gustavianum and the Uppsala Cathedral.

“It has been both a productive and pleasant visit to your beautiful city. Today we return to Copenhagen with important insights regarding both education and research that will undoubtedly generate benefit in our own operations. My ambition is that our new network will soon also start meeting online, but above all that we in autumn 2025 will be able to welcome our Scandinavian colleagues to Denmark for a conference as rewarding as the one we just participated in,” says Bente Gammelgaard, Professor at the University of Copenhagen.

Text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Magnus Alsne, Mikael Wallerstedt