Uppsala University readies for future challenges

- We will continue our quest for quality in all our activities, and internationalization is a key part of this work. While research is international by tradition, today the entire University is more of a global actor than ever before. This is true of our education, where we need to be attractive internationally, but also of our other activities, says Vice Chancellor Anders Hallberg.

The program for internationalization therefore includes strategies for research and education as well as for the University environment in general. International contacts and exchanges for teachers, students, and administrative staff, international recruitment in research, participation in international competitive calls, global dissemination of research findings, and language courses are just a few examples mentioned. The program will now be the point of departure for developing concrete measures throughout the University’s many parts.

The 2010 Plan of Action was also adopted by the Board. It ensures stability and continuity in the quality work that has been underway for many years. The government’s proposed expansion of direct allocations for research and doctoral studies, a total of SEK 42 million for Uppsala University, will be given to the respective disciplinary domain boards for continued investment in more research time for internally promoted professors, two-year postdoctoral positions, and doctoral positions – and in preparation for shouldering the funding of a greater share of research infrastructure.

Another commitment starting in 2010 involves the strategic research fields singled out by the government. The action plan allocates the nearly SEK 60 million proposed across seven fields. Several of these are based on collaboration with other universities and university colleges.

Regarding doctoral education, special attention will be paid to the funding of doctoral candidates. The aim is to increase the share of salaried doctoral candidates.

In undergraduate education, at the basic and advanced levels, there will be a continued emphasis on quality, by enhancing the contacts between teachers and students, among other efforts. The government has also allocated extra funding to cope with the strained situation on the labor market. This entails more externally commissioned education. The action plan also sets aside extra money for the Language Workshop and for courses in Swedish for foreign students – a need that is growing with the ever more heterogeneous student body.

The Vice Chancellor is also tasked with making the decisions needed to comply with the regulations regarding paid tuition for students from a third country that the government is expected to issue in the spring of 2010.

The Board also decided to establish a new unit, the Hugo Valentin Centre, by merging the Centre for Multiethnic Research and the Uppsala Programme for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

For more information about the action plan, please contact Planning Director Kerstin Jacobsson, phone: +46 (0)18-471 13 75; cell phone: +46 (0)70-167 90 67, kerstin.jacobsson@uadm.uu.se and about the internationalization program, Office Director Margaretha Andersson, phone: 46+ (0)18-471 18 76, margaretha.andersson@uadm.uu.se.