Columns
Here we gather columns written by researchers at Uppsala University. They share both their expertise and their personal reflections, with links to important issues in society and current events.
-
The plague year of 1710 was also a difficult year
24 februari 2021
As historians, it is our job to take a step back and give perspective to our current situation. For anyone looking back, it isn’t hard to find other difficult years. In Sweden’s past, 1710 was undoubtedly one such year, writes Jonas Lindström, res...
-
Antibodies - for better or worse
09 november 2020
Immune cells protect us from contagions and keep us healthy, but sometimes they mistakenly attack our own bodies in autoimmune diseases. There are still no cures for autoimmune diseases, but, in my research team, we are studying how monoclonal, or...
-
The Ten Equations you need to know…
01 oktober 2020
COLUMN. Maths is often seen in terms of a lonely genius trying to answer a difficult obscure riddle. For me, maths has never been like that. In my research at Uppsala University I have used maths to model everything – from ant trails and fish scho...
-
“The American dilemma is far from resolved”
15 juni 2020
The police violence in Minneapolis that resulted in the death of George Floyd has once again thrust relations between black and white Americans onto the agenda, a dilemma that will most likely play a central role in this autumn’s presidential elec...
-
“We have to decide how we will let AI impact our lives”
12 maj 2020
Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and its impact on our lives will continue to expand. With the five-year AI for Research initiative, Uppsala University is taking an interdisciplinary approach to developing this new technology, writes Thoma...
-
"Ten years with positive parenting in Uppsala"
07 april 2020
‘Being a parent is not always easy – with Triple P, you can strengthen your parenting skills’. That’s what the advertisements say at the preschool for parental guidance, according to the Triple P – Positive Parenting Programme. Our research shows ...
-
"Swedish schools face many challenges"
23 mars 2020
Since the latest PISA review, there has been a certain lull around Swedish schools. But their educational task is broader than the purely knowledge-related one. And in a world where democracy is under threat, pupils lack a desire to learn and ment...
-
Lisa Ekselius: But why only women?
08 mars 2020
WoMHeR is Uppsala University’s new centre focusing on treating and preventing women’s mental ill-health. “But why just women?” one may wonder. The answer is abundantly clear, writes Lisa Ekselius, Professor of Psychiatry and Senior Consultant Psyc...
-
"Mother tongue instruction or Swedish? Pupils want both"
03 juni 2019
Multicultural Sweden needs a substantial expansion in both mother tongue instruction and teaching of Swedish as a second language. It is not only school children’s language development but also affirmation of their identity and background that cou...
-
"Shadow of Brexit looms over European elections"
06 maj 2019
The United Kingdom and the other 27 EU member states had agreed that the British withdrawal from the Union would take place in good time before the elections for the European Parliament. But the postponement of the withdrawal deadline now means th...
-
“Tepid is not nearly warm enough”
22 januari 2019
“The digital change process has begun in earnest and the organisations that will flourish are those that have a dynamic digital intrapreneurship.”, writes Katarina Blomkvist, senior lecturer at the Department of Business Studies and one of the aut...
-
“Climate change is ultimately a rationing issue”
15 oktober 2018
Kevin Anderson, Zennström Professor of Climate Change Leadership at Uppsala University, responds to the report from the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change from 8 October 2018.
-
"Release the collections!"
27 mars 2018
Over a five-year period, SEK 175 million will go towards digitalisation and making cultural heritage collections available. The digitalisation work that will be carried out in the next few years will lead to a significant amount of exciting new cu...
-
"Big questions do not have small answers"
27 december 2017
Some questions we perceive are “bigger” than other questions. What does it mean to live, to be, rather than not to be? When does life begin and when does it end? What is a human being? Does life have a meaning or do we endow it with mere façades o...
-
"Should we save small endangered species?"
06 november 2017
Biodiversity isn’t just for nature geeks. Understanding the genetic mechanisms behind the adaptability of populations is an absolute necessity if we are to have any hope of preserving this diversity, writes Jacob Höglund, Professor of Animal Conse...
-
"Xi Jinping's political power is now being tested"
05 oktober 2017
The Gui Minhai case, a foreign citizen who was taken from outside of China’s borders, shows that the regime has moved the limits of what it is permitted to do. In light of China’s increased international influence, it is more important than ever t...
-
“Liberty, equality, fraternity!”
28 september 2017
By brain and heart alike, Amartya Sen, who has been awarded the 2017 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, is creating a better world, writes Li Bennich-Björkman, Skytte Professor of Eloquence and Political Science.
-
"Tracing the mechanisms of enzymes"
16 juni 2017
By studying ancient proteins, we can learn why modern proteins behave the way they do, reconstructing evolutionary timelines for how new functions arise, writes Lynn Kamerlin, Professor in Structural Biology.
-
"Studying Violence: When Research and the Real World Collide"
19 april 2017
My and others’ research suggests that the overall numbers of attacks have increased over time for both aid workers and peacekeepers, writes Larissa Fast, Fulbright-Schuman Research Scholar.
-
"Lifting our gaze"
07 april 2017
It is a privilege to come to work every day and find myself surrounded by so many people with similar and complementary interests. For it is precisely in the discourse among us that new ideas are born, writes Hans Ellegren, Professor of Evolutiona...