ÐÒÔË·Éͧ¼Æ»®

A new dean and vice dean is to be elected for a four year period from 1. August 2025 to 31. July 2029.Ìý

The dean and vice-dean are elected as a pair. The deadline for submitting candidate proposals was Monday, 17. March.

One proposal was received: Professor from the Department of Social Anthropology as dean and Professor from the Department of Economics as vice-dean. Professor from the Department of Information and Media Studies is also a member of this dean team.The candidates were proposed by Katharina Sass, Dag Elgesem, Birgit Kopainsky, Michael Tatham, and Simon Neby.

The dean team has accepted the nominations, and the formal eligibility requirements are met.

Since only one proposal was received, the election will be conducted by the faculty board in a board meeting in May, in accordance with the .

Here you can read the team's election programme (2025-2029)

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We are running for election to balance the economy, ensure predictable conditions, restore trust, and improve relations between the departments and the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Core ValuesÌý

Our program is based on core values such as transparency, dialogue, and collaboration. We aim to promote academic diversity, independent research, and high-quality teaching.

We will regain trust in the Faculty of Social Sciences by creating a faculty where openness and clear communication are at the forefront, where we facilitate bottom-up collaboration initiatives, where income and resources are distributed in a predictable and transparent manner, and where the activities of the departments are safeguarded:

1. Transparency and dialogue: The Faculty of Social Sciences should be characterized by transparent and predictable processes where openness and dialogue are central. Principles for decision-making processes should be clear, and dialogue between different levels in the organization is encouraged and valued. We will be a receptive and open-minded deans team, appreciating and respecting diverse perspectives.
2. Safeguard and strengthen the core units’ activities: We have fundamental trust in the departments’ assessments in designing teaching and research activities. The university should be built from the bottom up, with a high degree of autonomy for the departments. Quality in the university's core tasks – research, teaching, and knowledge dissemination, societal dialogue, and innovation – should be the focus. We will contribute to ensuring that the basic activities at the departments receive the necessary support to develop. This is best achieved through a faculty with small distances between units at different levels, and where administrative services are well adapted to the various needs.
3. Strengthen internal and external collaboration: Collaboration between departments and across the faculties at the universities must be based on initiatives from the basic environments. We will therefore facilitate increased collaboration in teaching, research, and administration, especially where there is an expressed desire from the core disciplines. The Faculty of Social Sciences has a responsibility to enable and create sustainable frameworks for collaboration, both academic, administrative, and financial. In this work, it will be important to actively promote the interests and needs of departments to the ÐÒÔË·Éͧ¼Æ»® leadership and other relevant bodies.

Research and research training

1. Research conducted at the Faculty of Social Sciences should be characterized by freedom and ambition. It should be driven by academic interests and curiosity. The faculty should support and facilitate a research culture where researchers' academic integrity and independence are central. Significant socially relevant basic research is conducted in our academic environments, funded both externally and through basic funding. It is the responsibility of the Faculty of Social Sciences to create good conditions for research funded by basic funding and to make this visible. By creating favorable conditions for basic research in the core units we will ensure a broad and diverse research environment.
2. In the future it will be important to make use of both free and thematic driven research schemes. We will continue and strengthen the good administrative work that takes place in the research application process. This work is crucial in further efforts to ensure the successful implementation of projects, including collaboration with external partners, such as industry and private actors. In addition, we see a need for more research administrative services to be closely linked to the department.
3. We are committed to ensuring that there are incentives for the core research units to apply for and run externally funded research projects. Among other things, when it is economically feasible again, we intend to offer a fourth year of funding for Ph.D. positions in RCN and ERC projects. We seek a balance between the Faculty of Social Sciences' income and expenses related to externally funded projects.
4. Research training at the Faculty of Social Sciences should contribute to developing researchers with up-to-date knowledge and skills necessary to conduct high-quality research. Researchers should be able to contribute to identifying and solving important societal tasks, both within and outside academia. We will continue the important work of highlighting the competencies that the faculty's Ph.D. candidates can offer the labour market. This includes emphasizing their ability to think critically, solve problems, and innovate, as well as highlighting their specialized knowledge in their respective fields. We will ensure that the training component offered to Ph.D. candidates from ÐÒÔË·Éͧ¼Æ»® is relevant and contributes to high quality in their research work and professional development. We will prioritize increasing operational funds for Ph.D. candidates and postdoctoral fellows as soon as the faculty's economy is balanced.
5. We will work to ensure that the departments are allocated open Ph.D. positions from the Faculty of Social Sciences as soon as it is economically feasible. This will ensure that we can attract talented candidates and strengthen our research environment. Open Ph.D. positions also provide an opportunity to identify and support a broad range of talented researchers early in their careers, which is important for maintaining high quality and relevance in research.
6. Postdoctoral candidates are an important part of the research activity at the Faculty of Social Sciences. They play a central role in driving research forward and contributing to academic development. It is important that postdoctoral fellows also have good working conditions, access to necessary resources, and a supportive work environment.

Dissemination and innovationÌý

Dissemination of research and participation in public debate are central parts of the academic culture and responsibility of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Making the relevance of our research visible helps to build trust and promote a culture that values critical thinking and knowledge-based dialogue.

1. The scientific staff at the Faculty of Social Sciences are skilled in research dissemination and play a central role in public debate. We will support and strengthen the good dissemination work already being done in various forums.
2. It is important for the Faculty of Social Sciences to have good cooperation with public administration, industry, and the community sector. Such cooperation helps strengthen the societal relevance of teaching and research. It also enhances the role of academic disciplines and research groups as relevant contributors to defining and exploring socially relevant issues, locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Through this type of cooperation, academic environments can also contribute to environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable development.
3. The Faculty of Social Sciences engages in significant activity at the intersection of research and innovation, including hosting Media Futures and other innovation projects. These are important arenas for collaboration and visibility. We will support such activities that stimulate the application of research-based knowledge and value creation.
4. Innovation also occurs through smaller projects and among students. We will support staff and students in developing small and large innovation projects and in utilizing funding opportunities, such as ÐÒÔË·Éͧ¼Æ»® Idea.

Education and student lifeÌý

One of the strengths of the Faculty of Social Sciences is that we can offer students a unique combination of subjects and specializations that provide both career relevance and academic formation. We will support the departments' efforts to educate satisfied and active BA and MA students with critical thinking skills and other abilities they can use in the workforce.

The Faculty of Social Sciences should continue to be an attractive place of study for engaged and curious young people. Students are the lifeblood of the university: They reflect the society they come from and bring new impulses and ideas. After they complete their studies at ÐÒÔË·Éͧ¼Æ»®, they take their academic knowledge and tools back to society.

The quality and reputation of the study programs are important in attracting good, motivated students from all over the country. The departments have different challenges and experiences related to their study programs. We will support and contribute to the departments' work by:

1. Supporting work that ensures high quality in education and strengthens our reputation in society.
2. Establishing clear frameworks for interdisciplinary collaboration on study programs. The possibility of increased collaboration between the departments' programs and courses at the BA and MA levels should be considered, but the initiative should come from core teaching units. We will also look at opportunities for how new offers of interdisciplinary studies can be financed, for example through credit income.
3. Ensuring that the departments receive the information they need to make good choices for the future regarding quality and successful study completion. This may involve collecting and making available data on students' completion, satisfaction, and dropout rates and the underlying factors having an impact on such numbers.
4. Highlighting our alumni as an important resource for student recruitment and for the faculty's collaboration with the public, private, and voluntary sectors. Alumni can be more actively included to increase students' perception of the career relevance of their studies.
5. Promoting internationalization: We will facilitate more exchange programs and more collaboration with foreign universities, giving students the opportunity to gain international experience and broader perspectives.
6. Ensuring good student involvement in the further development and improvement of existing study programs and in the development of new ones. Student representatives should be regularly included in relevant discussions.
7. Supporting students' well-being and engagement: We strive for good contact and close cooperation with student organizations and will particularly support their efforts to combat loneliness among students. We will support social and academic events to promote an inclusive and active student environment. Furthermore, we will support student organizations and their work in building student organizational culture. We will continue the dialogue between the Faculty of Social Sciences and student representatives at the existing well-functioning places.
8. Ensuring good information for students. Students request better information and in a timely manner about course offerings and the application process for master's programs at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Here we will engage in dialogue with students to find concrete solutions.
9. Exploring opportunities for more quiet study spaces during exam periods by better utilizing the Faculty of Social Sciences' areas.

Economy and OrganizationÌý

The Faculty of Social Sciences has a diversity of academic environments, research fields, and educational programs, all with different needs for personnel, facilities, equipment, fieldwork, and support functions. The activity and creativity of the academic environments will be especially important in the coming period, as the faculty's economy depends on both study- and research-generated income. The faculty's primary role should be to facilitate the best possible use of resources in line with this and according to the departments’ priorities and plans.

We recognize that the Faculty of Social Sciences will face economic challenges in the next years. We will ensure that the faculty emerges from this situation in a way that safeguards the continuation of the core units at the faculty. In this process, transparency about financial management and the work to achieve economic balance is of great importance. We will base our work on the following principles:

Organization

1. The mission of the Faculty of Social Sciences is to deliver high-level research, research dissemination, and research-based teaching, and to contribute to innovation and value creation based on research activities. This is not possible without strong academic environments and departments. The faculty's existence is legitimized by its contribution to enabling the departments to carry out their activities. We have fundamental trust that the departments know best how to operate and develop in a good way. Therefore, it is of great importance that the faculty provide the departments with academic autonomy and predictable conditions.
2. Administration is a necessary prerequisite for, and a valuable part of, the departments' activities. When administrative and scientific activities are coordinated and well-integrated, added value is created. We achieve this best when academic and administrative staff share an understanding of reality and collaborate to achieve common goals. Therefore, the administration should be largely placed close to the departments; we want to facilitate more proximity where it is useful.
3. The Faculty of Social Sciences currently has different types of centers organized and funded in various ways with different time horizons. In line with our focus on predictability and transparency, we see a need to continue the working group's efforts to map and assess the conditions for the organization and funding of the centers at the faculty.
4. As an extension of our emphasis on autonomy, dialogue, and anchoring, we support university democracy and elected leadership at all levels.

Economy

1. We will work for predictable and good framework conditions for the continuous work of preserving and further developing the academic disciplines at the Faculty of Social Sciences as strong research and teaching environments.
2. The recruitment model and budget model are intended to ensure transparency and predictability in the distribution of resources between departments and between the Faculty of Social Sciences and departments. We recognize that both models are ripe for review and updating to be appropriate with current conditions and the diversity of needs for conducting teaching and research. We follow the work that the Faculty Board has already initiated in this area and advocate for a thorough and balanced process, ensuring that the core activities of the Faculty of Social Sciences and good anchoring in the academic environments are in focus.
3. Increased income is very important for the Faculty of Social Sciences’ continued existence and quality development. Therefore, it should be rewarding to engage in activities that increase income, whether in teaching, research, or dissemination. Incentives to obtain external research funding and to increase the production of credit points should be in line with this.
4. A continued hiring freeze will affect the departments differently and randomly and risks impacting core activities. We believe it is important to have a dialogue with the university leadership to find solutions around this. We will work to have gradual hiring as soon as possible and in a responsible manner. In the prioritization processes, we are concerned that the core activities of the departments should not be too severely affected.
5. In the short term, the Faculty of Social Sciences also needs to contribute with measures that solve more acute problems with teaching capacity. In close cooperation with each department, we will look at tailored solutions and possible cross-departmental collaborations to solve pressing capacity challenges.
6. We will take the initiative to discuss with the university leadership for a review of the financing of the seminar model for ex.phil. In close cooperation with the departments, we will review the current ex.phil. arrangement and consider various models and possible changes.

A good working environmentÌý

We aim to build an environment that is open to constructive exchange of opinions on challenging issues and promote academic freedom. We see this as fundamental conditions for the Faculty of Social Sciences to develop academically, organizationally, and socially. There should be ample room for good academic discussions for everyone in their daily work at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

At the Faculty of Social Sciences, we have many valuable employees with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We particularly want to look at how international employees can be even better included in the departments' and faculty's activities and in the academic community.

Administrative and technical staff should feel that they have meaningful tasks and that they are an important part of the faculty community. Good cooperation between administrative and academic staff increases both well-being and contributes to solving the university’s core tasks. In changing economic and organizational times, it is crucial that we continue to have a competent and well-integrated administration. In this context, we recognize that competence development, predictable career paths, and good working conditions are also important for administrative and technical staff.

It is especially important to take good care of students and staff in an economic downturn that brings about change. In our work, we will follow the principles of transparency, predictability, cooperation, and continuous dialogue, which we believe are essential for creating trust and belonging and for motivating us to contribute together to building a Faculty of Social Sciences where all employees have good working conditions.
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