Vision 2021-2030: A University for the World

The University of Gothenburg will foster internationally distinguished education and research in all the sciences with a view to contributing to the evolution of knowledge and enhancing its own competitive power.

Education and research at the University will be characterised by scholarly-scientific and pedagogical collaboration in complete academic environments guided by ethical considerations. Staff and students driven by curiosity, creativity, and the unrestricted pursuit of knowledge in vigorous disciplines come together in order to evolve fresh knowledge.

Continuous quality-improvement efforts will contribute to the development of knowledge while strengthening the international competitiveness and recognition of the University. These efforts include the promotion of academic culture in a spirit of loyalty among colleagues as well as the dissemination of findings and experiences.

All education will be connected to research, and the quality of both teaching and research will be reinforced by collaborative projects on local, regional, national, and international levels. The University will work actively to counter inequality to counteracting inequalities at the structural level while upholding norms which ensure that staff and students treat one another with mutual respect.

The University of Gothenburg will strengthen its relevance as an agent and a partner in society, with the aim of influencing societal development and contributing to the fulfilment of the global development goals.

Firmly anchored in the University’s tradition of a powerful commitment to social progress, unfettered research, and a high level of general education, staff and students will work towards sustainable societal development in the long term.

In close cooperation with a variety of agents in society, on local, regional, national, and international levels, the University will pursue improvement and innovation in society at large. By way of constant development in education and research, the University will meet society’s long-term need for competences and knowledge while preparing students for their future working lives.

The University will step up its contribution towards the sustainable-development goals articulated by the United Nations’ General Assembly in Agenda 2030.

The University of Gothenburg will develop as a coherent organisation, as well as an attractive place of work and study, in order to reinforce the quality and relevance of the education and research conducted at the University.

The organisation of the University will be coherent in a well-balanced manner, promoting the idea of the University as a whole. The development and governance of the University are informed by recognition of the crucial influence exercised by the academic profession as well as by students. The quality and relevance of the University’s operations will be developed by way of stable conditions, a sense of involvement, and cross-border collaboration of various kinds, all of which will be imbued with respect, reciprocity, and joint responsibility. Consequently, the University will be governed with keen attention to long-term perspectives and in a spirit of decentralisation and trust.

All staff and students will contribute to the development of education and research by virtue of their various roles and competences. The University will be characterised by collaboration in a wide sense, staff and students together shaping an internationally attractive place of work and study. Combined with active leadership, dialogues and processes sustained by the cooperation of peers will create working conditions in which the range of a full-scale university is an ever-present advantage.

Our goal: By 2024, the University of Gothenburg will have strengthened its position as a leading university with regard to sustainable development.

Work on sustainability issues in education and research is an internationally recognised feature of the University of Gothenburg. The University will take this work further in the years ahead, augmenting its relevance as an agent and a partner in society at large and thereby contributing to Agenda 2030 and the global goals set for sustainable development, including economic, social, and ecological dimensions.

This commitment entails responsibility for developing specialist competence, as well as for building new knowledge by means of interdisciplinary collaboration in education and research. The University will also cooperate with other agents in society in ways that enable students and staff to evolve fresh insights and contribute to joint solutions. As a large organisation, the University of Gothenburg has a considerable impact on its environment. Consequently, it is under an obligation to increase its internal efforts in the field of sustainable development.

During the period from 2021 to 2024, the University of Gothenburg will:

• Communicate the role of the University in society’s endeavour to improve sustainability with clarity and emphasis;
• Strengthen the development of sustainability perspectives in education and research;
• Initiate and improve collaboration with organisations and other agents in the surrounding world in order to further sustainable development throughout society;
• Reduce the University’s own unfavourable effects on the environment by continuing to pursue long-term systematic work on sustainability.

Our goal: By 2024, the University of Gothenburg will be generally perceived as a natural partner in sustainable social-development work based on knowledge.

Good relations with the surrounding world are necessary if the University is to play an active part in social-development work based on knowledge. Ever since its creation, the University of Gothenburg has cooperated closely with the world around it. In order to be a University for the World, the University will need to reinforce and build on that profile, meeting increasing demands and expectations that the University will be a prominent agent in society.

Top-class education and research develop within the framework created by the quality criteria and procedures that govern the scholarly-scientific community, but also in relation to the world around the University. Carefully integrated internationalisation efforts form part of this context. Cooperation at local, regional, national, and international levels will see the University extend its contributions to social development in a variety of spheres. Thanks to responsible and dedicated collaboration which engenders palpable benefits for all parties, higher education and research have a favourable social impact while encouraging continuous development in the University and augmenting its relevance as a force for good in society.

All collaborative schemes pursued by the University will be rooted in its core values.

During the period from 2021 to 2024, the University of Gothenburg will:

• Strengthen collaboration with other seats of learning and with various organisations in society in local, regional, national, and international networks which add value to the development of education and research;
• Stimulate international perspectives by increasing and extending international exchanges for students and staff;
• Develop frameworks for encounters between Academe and society at large, with a special focus on innovation, life-long learning, and practical utilisation of knowledge, by means of shared efforts and a wide dissemination of research findings;
• Promote interaction between the University and the world around it, increasing its visibility to external parties.

Our goal: By 2024, the University of Gothenburg will have strengthened its ability to recruit and foster staff-members who contribute to education and research of the highest quality.

The competence of a university’s staff is the most essential factor when it comes to achieving internationally distinguished education and research. As the world around us keeps changing, the demands on the University keep growing: as an employer, it needs to offer a working environment which promotes equal treatment for all as well as a culture of cooperation among colleagues. At the same time, attractive terms of employment will encourage both national and international recruitment.

As articulated in the University’s Vision, the commitment to top-quality education and research will guide the development of the University’s competence-provision efforts in conjunction with its aim to create complete academic environments.

During the period from 2021 to 2024, the University of Gothenburg will:

• Evolve a systematic approach to competence-provision work, proceeding from the long-term needs of educational and research environments within the framework of a culture of cooperation among colleagues and good working conditions;
• Design systems for extending staff qualifications with a focus on the development of complete academic environments, also including collaboration with external agents;
• Continue its work on improving procedures for recruitment, preparatory processes included, with a view to ensuring meritocracy and transparency which contribute to excellence in recruitment and in the furthering of staff qualifications;
• Increase international recruitment and improve the reception and introduction of international staff.

Our goal: In 2024, the University of Gothenburg will be widely recognised for its success in creating physical and digital environments which are fit for purpose and serviceable in the long term, satisfying the needs of all those who work here.

Investments in physical premises, infrastructures, and digital systems solutions account for a large share of the University’s total costs, and they entail long-term commitments. In addition, the University, being a public authority, is expected to keep streamlining and digitising its operations. Taken altogether, these conditions call for clearly defined procedures governing strategic decisions and coordination with regard to the development of physical and digital environments.

Serviceable, cost-effective, and well-functioning physical and digital environments and infrastructures are crucial to the University’s ability to foster top-quality education and research while forming a coherent organisation. Besides, such environments are instrumental in opening channels between the University and the wider world. On the basis of the University’s long-term requirements, its development of premises will contribute to the creation of strong centres for teaching and research, as well as of vigorous arenas for collaborative schemes involving external agents.

The University’s need of physical meeting-places for learning, pedagogical development, and research will be balanced against the potential gains and effects of increased digitalisation.

During the period from 2021 to 2024, the University of Gothenburg will:

• Provide a sound basis for a financially viable, cost-effective, and sustainable supply of premises for ongoing and forthcoming strategic local projects;
• Build on experiences drawn from the Covid pandemic in efforts to create new, interdisciplinary environments for education and research, as well as to streamline and develop administrative procedures;
• Increase the degree to which premises and infrastructures are utilised, by means of internal coordination as well as collaboration with external agents;
• Contribute to the current transition to Open Science.

Our goal: By 2024, the University of Gothenburg will have expanded its efforts to promote a sustainable environment for work and study.

The Vision states that the University of Gothenburg will provide plenty of opportunities for learning, knowledge formation, and exchange of experiences while constituting an attractive place of work and study. The quality and relevance of the University’s activities will be developed by way of stable conditions, a sense of involvement, and cross-border collaboration of various kinds, all of which will be imbued with respect, reciprocity, and joint responsibility.

Promoting a sustainable environment for work and study will result in high-level performance over time; but it will also encourage fruitful cooperation of various kinds, enabling participants to contribute to the activities of the University and make them even better. A sustainable environment for work and study which benefits every student and member of staff is vital to their health, and the achievement of the University’s long-term goals depends on it.

Stress-related ill-health is a growing challenge throughout society, not least because of the gradual disappearance of boundaries in working life. Consequently, the University will pay particular attention to conditions in the environment of staff and students that might reduce or prevent stress-related disorders, such as workload over time, the distribution of working and teaching hours, and the digital work and study environment.

Safety and clarity are also crucial to the working environment of students and staff, not least when unforeseen things happen. Anyone who is nevertheless exposed to hatred, threats, or violence in relation to his or her University activities will feel safe in the support provided by the University.

During the period from 2021 to 2024, the University of Gothenburg will:

• Direct targeted measures against stress-related ill-health among staff and students, working proactively with the in-house healthcare services for students and employees in order to promote health across the board;
• Strengthen the University’s work on equality and non-discrimination with a view to preventing and dealing with harassment, with a special focus on sexual harassment;
• Ensure that all staff and students are aware of the support available for those exposed to hatred, threats, and violence;
• Analyse and reinforce the abilities of people in leading positions to perform their duties successfully, and invest additional efforts in developing the University’s supply of forms of internal competence development for staff, leaders, and directors.

Our goal: By 2024, the University of Gothenburg will be operating management and governance procedures adapted to its Vision of being A University for the World.

Greater autonomy has increased expectations that institutions of tertiary education will work on developing their organisation and their internal management. The Vision states three over-arching commitments regarding the development of the University: top-quality education and research; sustainable and knowledge-based social development; and a coherent organisation, providing an attractive place of work and study. It is also clear from the Vision that the University leadership will apply long-term perspectives, decentralise operations wherever possible, and work in a spirit of trust; and that the University will evolve into a coherent organisation which emphasises the idea of the University as a whole. The management and governance of the University will be rooted in a continuous endeavour to enhance the quality of its operations thanks to stable conditions, a sense of involvement, and cross-border collaboration. Achieving these aims calls for development on the part of governance.

Combined with active leadership, extended dialogues and the evolution of processes based on the cooperation of peers will shape transparent and purposeful procedures for planning operations, and for ensuring that decisions are made on the basis of careful preparatory work. These procedures will utilise the range and the competences offered by the University as a whole.

During the period from 2021 to 2024, the University of Gothenburg will:

• Promote coordination between strategic operative development efforts and systematic quality-enhancing measures across the board, including issues of diversity, equality, and non-discrimination;
• Analyse and develop the university-wide steering and funding operations pertaining to education and research, including collaboration with external agents;
• Develop the steering and funding operations underpinning the University Library and the central University administration with a view to achieving transparency, practicability, and cost-effectiveness in connection with shared services and resources;
• Increase the opportunities for cooperation, exchange of experiences, and knowledge formation across the various activities and internal organisational boundaries of the University.