Academic splendour and celebration

A few minutes after 3 pm, the compère, Rebecka Sanick, steps onto the stage and gives the go-ahead:

“Let the ceremony begin!”

The strains of Joseph Haydn’s Clock Symphony fill the hall and the audience rises to their feet. The student marshals file in with standards and flags, followed by the university leadership and the deans in their dark gowns. Next come the newly qualified doctors, faculty by faculty, in tailcoats, long gowns and the occasional national costume.

Well-choreographed academic spectacle

It is a well-choreographed academic spectacle in which tradition lives on, and where the promoter addresses the new doctors and honorary doctors in Latin, declaring Preaclarissmi doctores! Behind the academic splendour lies a meticulously planned production. A team of three people has spent months preparing the ceremony, in which hundreds of participants are to take their places, receive their degrees and leave the stage in exactly the right order. Everything must be completed within two and a half hours.

This year’s doctoral conferment ceremony is the largest to date at the University of Gothenburg. To make room for all 209 doctoral graduates, an extensive stage change is being carried out for the first time in the middle of the ceremony. To the strains of Haydn’s Processional March, just over a hundred doctoral graduates from the Sahlgrenska Academy make way for an equal number from the university’s other faculties.

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The Vice-Chancellor begins her welcome address by announcing that the University of Gothenburg’s former Vice-Chancellor, Eva Wiberg, has suddenly passed away. The Vice-Chancellor describes this as a great loss for the university and highlights Eva Wiberg as a strong academic leader who was particularly committed to internationalisation and the students. 

The Vice-Chancellor then addresses the new PhD graduates and praises their commitment and curiosity.

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“Despite their widely differing fields of research, they are united by the desire to seek new knowledge and contribute to a better world. It is precisely this belief that free and curious exploration contributes to a brighter future that forms the very foundation of all university activity”.

No straight path

But the path to a doctoral degree is rarely a straight one. The Vice-Chancellor recalls all those who have supported the doctoral candidates through years of hard work – supervisors, colleagues, family and friends.
“Struggling with doctoral studies year after year is no easy task, not least when inevitable setbacks can cause even the most committed to lose heart”.
 

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Afterwards, the Vice-Chancellor presented awards; the university’s highest honour, the Soccii et Amici Prize, goes to Madeleine Olsson Eriksson, who is a gynaecologist, businesswoman, philanthropist and honorary doctorate holder; the Pam Fredman Prize goes to Gregg Bucken-Knapp, a professor of public administration, whilst the Gunnar Svedberg Prize is awarded to Sona Sukyasyan for her work in supporting doctoral students. 

In keeping with tradition, Alva Jonsson, chair of the university’s student unions, extends a warm thank you to the new doctors and urges them to lead the way forward, rather than seeking easy answers in uncertain times.

“In a world that is groping in the darkness of ignorance, you are beacons of light who are passionate about knowledge”.

During the ceremony, students from the Academy of Music and Drama treat the audience to exquisite performances. The Stella Academica choir rounds off the ceremony with a traditional Swedish folk song (ack, ack) and the atmospheric Sing to the Moon. To the strains of Handel’s Royal Fireworks, the academic procession then marches out. Now it’s time for canapés, sparkling wine and a chat with friends and family. But for most, the party has only just begun. The evening continues with a three-course dinner, speeches and, finally, dancing to the student orchestra Tongångerne. That, too, is a long-standing tradition.

Text: Allan Eriksson 
Photo: Anna-Lena Lundqvist