Research at the University of Gothenburg

In the field of medicine, researchers at the University of Gothenburg have worked together with the pharmaceutical industry and contributed towards producing medicines such as Losec (for gastric ulcers) and Seloken (used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease). There has also been success in developing an oral cholera vaccine which will have a wide field of application in the developing countries. Areas of special distinction in medical research include those of cell and tissue surfaces, cardiovascular research, neuroscience research, endocrinology and metabolism, structural biology, the musculoskeletal system, and epidemiology.

Pioneers in organic chemistry

Brånemark’s titanium screw for dental implants is internationally known and will come to have several areas of application, including orthopaedics and bio-material research. Pioneering work in the Department of Organic Chemistry has succeeded in initiating catalytic activity in an artificially produced molecule which imitates nature’s own enzymes.

Nobel Prize

Professor Arvid Carlsson is the University’s first Nobel Prize winner (2001). He has devoted more than half a century to research on the human brain. His work has led to the development of L-dopa, a medicine used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, and to antidepressant like Zimeldin and Prozac.
Arvid Carlsson has also collaborated with the Swedish pharmaceutical industry and contributed to the launch of several successful medicines, among them Seloken.

Marine science

Since Gothenburg is situated on the western seaboard it is natural that the University is prominent in marine science, and also in the environmental and life sciences. In the humanities there have been contributions to problems, for example, in lexicology and computer linguistics, which have attracted international attention. Mention should also be made of work done on the interpretation of rock carvings and rock paintings, in mediaeval studies, organ research, humanities studies, and investigations into working-class culture.

Media and behavioural studies

The University is prominent in Sweden in the field of media studies and investigations are published every year on Swedish attitudes on a wide range of matters. Research on topics related to the behavioural sciences has received both national and international recognition. In recent years financial economics, historical trade-branch analysis, international business, environmental economics, accounting and auditing, and transport economics are areas in which the School of Economics and Commercial Law has been prominent.

A unit trust fond

Together with Handelsbanken Göteborg University is the only university in Sweden to have set up a unit trust fund, Göteborgs Universitets Forskningsfond, from which two per cent of the annual yield is allocated to research projects at the University.