NEWS This year’s Annual Celebration kicks off on Friday 21 October with lots of exciting events. Listen to Nobel Peace Prize candidate Denis Mukwege on Friday and choose between an interesting Saturday programme of popular science lectures. Festivities continue with the Annual Celebration Ceremony that shines the light on honorary doctors, new professors, award and medal recipients. In addition, the University’s eighth Vice-Chancellor Hans Adolfsson will be officially installed. All is open to the public.
“Visiting the University during our days of celebration is like being offered a loaded smorgasbord of fun and knowledge – the only difficulty is to decide what to choose and what to miss out on. Everyone is welcome to the lectures and the ceremony. Everything is free of charge and no prior registration is needed. Umeå has a reputation to hold a particularly pleasant ceremony, so I’m hoping that many people will join in on Saturday,” says Master of Ceremonies Charlotte Wiberg.
However, celebrations start already on Friday at 10:00 when chief librarian Mikael Sjögren inaugurates an exhibition of the 2017 honorary doctors, new professors, award and medal recipients at the University Library. Shortly afterwards, food writer and honorary doctor Ella Nilsson will hold the lecture Min resa i matriket (A Travel Through the Culinary Heritage) in Swedish.
At 10:30 the doors to Aula Nordica will be opened where highly praised Nobel peace prize nominee Dr. Denis Mukwege, who is also honorary doctor at Umeå University, will hold a lecture. The topic is his fight for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and his work against sexual violence in a country that through history has been called both “The heart of darkness” and “The rape capital of the world”. This event will be held in English.
More information about the lecture “A road to peace”
On Saturday 22 October, a full smorgasbord programme of popular science lectures takes place starting at 9:00 in the Social Sciences Building and the Humanities Building. You can choose between 7 lectures in English and 25 lectures in Swedish on themes such as income and health, filming electrons, suicide prevention, polycentric information commons, health checks, art in the aftermath of 9/11, and the immune system, only to name a few. The lectures are held by honorary doctors, new professors and award recipients.
See programme on English events
This year’s Annual Celebration Ceremony takes place in Aula Nordica on Saturday 22 October, from 17:00-19:00. During this event, 7 honorary doctors will be conferred, 16 new professors installed, and 10 scientific award recipients and 2 medals of honour will be celebrated. In addition, newly appointed Vice-Chancellor Hans Adolfsson will receive the golden Vice-Chancellor’s chain from the chairperson of the University Board, Lennart Evrell.
Everyone interested can come to the Annual Celebration Ceremony in Aula Nordica. No dresscode applies to the audience and no prior registration is needed.
Charlotte Wiberg,Master of Ceremonies, Umeå UniversityPhone: +46 70-201 15 40
Email: arshogtid@umu.se
Petra KäckCommunications Officer at Umeå UniversityPhone: +46 72-531 70 53
Email: petra.kack@umu.se
Mattias Grundström MitzPress Officer at Umeå University,Phone: +46 90-786 50 89, +46 70-610 08 05
Email: mattias.mitz@umu.se
Portrait photos of this year’s honorary doctors, new professors, award and medal recipients
Editor: Anna Lawrence