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Interview - Gunnar Gouras about his time as the coordinator

Professor Gunnar Gouras in the lab.

On the last of December, Professor Gunnar Gouras left his position as a coordinator for MultiPark after five years. Here is how he sums up his time and mission for our environment.

Can you describe your time as a coordinator for Multipark?

To lead Multipark has been very interesting as well as challenging. To have the support from the Swedish government to invest in excellent research is fantastic. Multipark has great potential with its broad organization spanning over all the departments and even including members outside of our faculty.

We have to see Multipark as a tool to bring us together. I admired Susanne Iwarsson’s efforts in lifting all the different layers in our environment and tried to continue this.

Coordinating a strategic research network unfortunately involves a lot of administration and I often had the feeling of trying to keep my head above the water. This lack of time and inability to really do what one wants to do for the network certainly at times was frustrating.

What were the main achievements for Multipark during this time?

I believe in peace. My goal was to build an environment where everybody could benefit. Instead of spending all money on funding for the largest projects, we invested in infrastructures with technical platforms and personnel offering practical help to all our members. At Lund University, this support is especially needed for smaller research groups since we lack available core facilities at the faculty level. MultiPark offers 20 different platforms, ranging from statistical support and viral vector production to neuroimaging and biobanks.

Which are the main challenges left for the new coordinator to handle?

The major challenges are to keep a peaceful atmosphere while also promoting the best possible research. It can be difficult to tell successful groups to share in a fair way together with smaller groups. My impression is that Angela Cenci Nilsson wants to promote collaborative projects.

MultiPark could also focus on connecting more with companies. This would facilitate our researchers to find partners for developing innovative ideas. We already have an innovation group and office, and I believe there is room for using these even more.

Another challenge is to strengthen MultiPark’s identity. A few years ago, I met a PhD student in our lunchroom who was not aware of our organization and how it could help one’s development as a young scientist. We need to increase our visibility and to give younger researchers in our environment an added value from being a Multipark member. Particularly, now during the Corona pandemic, we need to try innovative virtual means of bringing our PhDs and postdocs together.

An obstacle to this may be our physical distance as our members are spread over all departments and therefore situated in different buildings in Malmö and Lund. Physical nearness should not be underestimated for the cross-seeding of ideas. Internationally, the trend is to gather all researchers within an organization together in one building with common rooms for meetings and seminars. One example is our Wednesday lunch seminars, which are held in a room to which some of our members lack access. Such barriers need to be taken away.

Ending on a positive note, I wish Angela and Oskar, and our whole MultiPark environment, continued success at promoting top-level research, education, innovation, and outreach on neurodegenerative diseases in Lund.


Gunnar Gouras is Professor of Experimental Neurology and research leader of Experimental Dementia Research.