Celebration and joy honouring science and research

The atmosphere was festive as the City Hall filled with guests in white tie, evening gowns, traditional dress and other formal attire. For the occasion, the hall had been decorated with autumn-coloured flowers and giant paper flowers. Mobile phones were in constant use as guests took photos of themselves. However, the state of the world was also reflected in both the President’s speech and the words of advice given by the conferrers to the new doctors.

In his opening speech President Hans Adolfsson highlighted how universities can contribute in these uncertain times, as well as their responsibility to ensure that the work carried out at higher education institutions is scientifically sound and ethically sustainable:

“That we stand for, and stand up for, knowledge and learning, and convey them to our students. That in our relationship with the wider society, we demonstrate that we can maintain the public’s trust in academic research and higher education.”

Coordinating role in four strategic research areas

Looking back on the past academic year, the President highlighted, among other things, the initiative on strategic research areas, where the Swedish Research Council has recommended that the Government give Stockholm University the coordinating role for four new strategic research areas: Health, Life Science and Artificial Intelligence, Polar Research, Climate-related Research, and Quantum Technology.

“As President of Stockholm University, I am proud that Stockholm University is an attractive and successful institution that attracts excellent students and staff from all over the world – something that we can all witness here today at this Inauguration and Conferment Ceremony.”

145 new doctors and 34 new professors participated

During the ceremony in the City Hall, 145 new doctors, who have received their doctoral degrees from the University between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, were conferred. The ceremony also saw the inauguration of 34 new professors who took up their duties during the same period.

Additionally, 13 jubilee doctors were conferred, six of them in absentia. Jubilee doctors are those who received their doctoral degrees from Stockholm University 50 years ago.

Metaphors can create unsolvable subtitling problems

The inauguration lecture was given by Jan Pedersen, Professor of Translation Studies at the Institute for Interpreting and Translation Studies (TÖI), Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism. The topic of his lecture was “Metaphors in life, in science and in subtitles”.

Metaphors make up a large part of our language, although we do not always think about it. Research has shown that roughly one in seven words or expressions in a conversation is metaphorical, Jan Pedersen explained. Moreover, the more complex and abstract a subject is, the greater the proportion of metaphors in a text. Metaphors are also tied to language and culture, which can cause problems in translation, particularly in subtitling, which is Jan Pedersen’s own field of research:

“Metaphors are linguistic images, while film uses actual moving images. This means that a linguistic image can be turned into a literal visual image. For example, you can show a cow on the ice, illustrating the Swedish metaphor meaning ‘there’s no need to panic’. But what does a subtitler do if that metaphor is not used in the target language? Subtitlers can only manipulate the subtitles, not the images, the sound or the dialogue. This means that, on extremely rare occasions, metaphors can cause unsolvable translation problems.”

Jan Pedersen illustrated this with an animated clip showing a person dangling between a large rock and a saloon called “A Hard Place”, a visualisation of the American idiom “stuck between a rock and a hard place”, meaning to be caught between two equally undesirable alternatives. There is no direct equivalent in Swedish, making the visual pun difficult to translate.

“My research has shown that there are wonderfully creative ways of solving these kinds of problems. In rare cases, the metaphor, metaphorically speaking, slips out of the subtitler’s hands. But most of the time, there is indeed no cow on the ice”, Jan Pedersen concluded.

Two teachers received the Award for Good Teaching

During the evening, the President presented the Award for Good Teaching, which recognises particularly skilled and committed teachers nominated by both students and colleagues. The 2026 recipients are Erik Angner, Department of Philosophy, and Lars-Ove Westerberg, Department of Physical Geography.

Six honorary doctors conferred

Six honorary doctors were also conferred in the City Hall. Honorary doctorates are awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the University’s areas of academic activities.

This year’s six honorary doctors are Matti Bye, Marie Ekeland, Karen Evans, Stéphane Horel, Ugo Pagallo and Corinne Péneau.

Large Gold Medal to Mats Melin

The President also presented the University’s Large Gold Medal to Mats Melin. The citation highlights his long legal career as well as his career as a public official, his contribution to legal debate through publications on constitutional issues, and his importance to the University during his years as Chair of the Board of Stockholm University.

The ceremony was followed by a banquet. Entertainment during the evening was provided by the Royal College of Music Brass Ensemble, Stockholm University of the Arts/Opera, and the Stockholm Student Singers.

Watch the ceremony (in Swedish)