Background and organisation
The Gothenburg Research Institute is a spicy 33-year-old with a vision for the future. Since its inception, many people have helped ensure that the research at GRI is true and relevant.
GRI was established as a foundation in 1990 with the aim of conducting research and development work within the School's subject areas and thereby, in co-operation with the School's departments, promote economic research in Gothenburg. The foundation's statutes, §3, state that:
...the research institute shall be a scientific institution which in its research and publication of research results shall work independently. The activities shall be characterised by academic openness.
and that:
The Institute shall promote both international and national exchange of researchers by offering space for visiting researchers in programme groups and developing new research areas.
Two legal entities
Today, GRI consists of two different legal entities: the GRI Foundation and the GRI Institute. The GRI Foundation operates through the GRI Institute, which is part of the Stockholm School of Economics. The Foundation and the Institute are managed by two different boards.
National and international research
Since its inception, GRI's goal has been to promote the exchange of researchers, both nationally and internationally. This work is ongoing by offering places for visiting researchers in programme groups and developing new research areas.
In the beginning, the Gothenburg Research Institute had primarily a business profile, but over the years it has become increasingly interdisciplinary in nature.
Researchers from different fields work together
Today, disciplines such as business administration, ethnology, psychology, pedagogy, technology, law, social anthropology, Swedish language, human ecology and sociology are represented in the research at GRI. From the start, doctoral students dominated among the researchers; today almost all PhDs are doctors, docents and professors, with an emphasis on post-docs.
Gothenburg Research Institute facing new challenges
The Gothenburg Research Institute is currently being reorganised to ensure that it can continue to deliver relevant and important research in the future. As of June 2023, Ulrika Holmberg is acting director of GRI.
