Festive celebrations in the City Hall
The Stockholm City Hall was filled to the brim when Stockholm University’s new doctors, professors, jubilee doctors and honorary doctors were celebrated at the end of September. The Inauguration and conferment ceremony is a joyful academic tradition and this year it gathered around a thousand guests.
The Hall was packed to the last row when around a thousand invited guests were seated in the Stockholm City Hall to participate in the Inauguration and conferment ceremony on 27 September. Ragnar Östberg’s hall, decorated for the evening with flowers, flags and discreetly lit walls and arcades, shimmered a little extra warmly in contrast to the gray rainy autumn weather outside the gates.
In her opening speech, President Astrid Söderbergh Widding reflected on what a university really is and should be:
“The term universitas itself – the whole – suggests that a university is a universe in itself, or perhaps better still, that in its universality it reflects the universe, the exploration of which is far from concluded.”
She spoke about how since its inception, the university has been a place for knowledge, enlightenment and the pursuit of truth – Stockholm University’s core values.
“Our mission as higher education institutions emanate from a spirit of inquiry, a thirst for knowledge, a willingness to listen, from critical thinking and dialogue. It stands in stark contrast to the unshakeable conviction that the only valid viewpoint is one’s own. It also stands in opposition to the idea that universities should pursue specific agendas of various kinds.”
In her speech, the President also expressed pride that Stockholm University is leading the way in the work with open access. Looking back at the past year she highlighted, among other things, several successful interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary initiatives, including two centers of excellence for which the university has been granted funding by the Swedish Research Council: The Stockholm Center on Global Governance, in the human science academic area, as well as the Excellent Dark Universe Center and Technology Enabler, within the Oskar Klein Centre in the sciences academic area.
She concluded her speech by congratulating and thanking all the researchers present:
“May the results of your research benefit the University, Sweden and the world.”
164 new doctors participated
During the ceremony in the City Hall, 164 new doctors were conferred. During the period 1 July 2023–30 June 2024, they had defended their theses and received their doctoral degrees at Stockholm University. Also 26 new professors who took up their duties the same period were installed. 16 jubilee doctors were conferred, of which 4 in absentia. The jubilee doctors received their doctoral degrees at Stockholm University 50 years ago.
Development seen from above
The inaugural lecture was given by Andreas Madestam, professor at the Department of National Economics, who spoke about “Measuring the wealth of nations: development viewed from above”. In the project, the researchers use 1.7 million aerial photographs to investigate how changes in land use, especially in areas in Africa south of the Sahara, are related to economic development. They hope to find out what drives long-term development and prosperity.
“In addition to creating a historical ‘Google Earth’, which enables the public to look back in time and space, we hope that the detailed aerial photographs can be useful to other researchers interested in studying human impact”, said Andreas Madestam.
The aerial photographs are from different times, from 1939 onwards, with the early photos taken by British pilots. With the help of robots, the photos are now being scanned and the researchers then use machine learning to stitch the images together and extract analysable data.
“By combining historical data, modern technology and an interdisciplinary way of working, we open up new insights into long-term development and prosperity – insights which we hope will help to deal with some of the biggest global challenges of our time”, said Andreas Madestam.
Four teachers received the Award for Good Teaching
During the evening the Award for Good Teaching was awarded to recognize good pedagogical efforts and their importance for students’ learning. The 2024 award winners are: Christina Ramberg, Department of Law, Emeli Lönnqvist, Department of Criminology, Olena Jansson, Department of Slavic and Baltic Studies, Finnish, Dutch and German, and Salim Belyazid, Department of Physical Geography.
Six honorary doctors were conferred
Six honorary doctorates were conferred, all of whom have contributed in distinctive ways to the University’s activities in research and education. The honorary doctors are: Katja Franko, Magnus Florin, Camille Parmesan, Matthias Tschöp, Zhaojun Bai and Phoebe Okowa.
Three gold medals of the 8th size
Stockholm University’s gold medal of the 8th size, is granted to those who have contributed in a meaningful way to strengthening the university, its research or its teaching. 2024 Recipient of the gold medal of the 8th size are: Professor Karin Helander, Former head of Human Resources Deparment Marie Högström, and Former administrative manager and senior adviser Mikael Knutsson.
Watch the broadcast from the ceremony 2024.
Watch the film “Old aerial photos provide a new outlook on 20th century history”.
Last updated: October 3, 2024
Source: Communications Office