We have not been able to celebrate the university's annual Inauguration and Conferment Ceremony, which instead has been postponed. We have been able to arrange the Conferment of Master's Degrees ceremony, but only online. But above all, next to all education has been forced to change, at the same time as research has been affected in many ways – not least in regards to international exchange – due to the new conditions the pandemic obliges us to adapt to.
It is my hope that neither education, nor research, will have to suffer too much damage, despite obvious challenges. At the same time, I am as President impressed and grateful for the great flexibility that has been demonstrated within the University.
More important now than ever is still the institutional autonomy of higher education and academic freedom, two global issues that both have been questioned during the year – in more ways than before and in many places in the world – this is something we as a university have to relate and respond to.
For Stockholm University, as a signatory to the Magna Charter Agreement, it is evident that academic freedom and the autonomy of higher education institutions must be asserted and defended whenever they are threatened.
The same applies to the other principles that Magna Charta emphasizes - "equity and integrity" - meaning equality in the broadest sense of the word, and scientific integrity. These principles are necessary for the credibility of our universities, both in research and education, for the future.
This is a text written by President Astrid Söderbergh Widding under the subject line “Words from the University's Senior Management Team”, where different members of the university’s management team take turns writing about current issues. “Words from the University's Senior Management Team” is included in each issue of “News for Staff”, a newsletter that goes out to all university employees.