First ever GOV-Day hugely successful
On 3 May, the Department of Government hosted the first GOV-Day in the University Aula. With approximately 120 registered attendees, both staff members and students participated in a panel debate, speed-dating with research groups, and master-student presentations. Both students and staff concluded that the event was indeed successful!
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Post GOV-Day Student reflections
One of the masters students, John Alexander Alstad shared his experiences: “GOV-Day has been both an informative and fun day for me! I really enjoyed getting more insight into the different research groups beyond day-to-day teaching. Additionally, participating in GOV-Day has been very helpful in thinking about my master thesis. I am already looking forward to joining next year’s event!”.
Elisa Iro Andersen, a second-year masters student in Politics and Governance, also praised the event: “It was very helpful, especially for first-year students, as they got to talk to the different research groups, present their own work, and participate in panel debates and conversations with academics at the Department.”
Ianira Vieira Gomes Fernandes, first-year masters student in Politics and Governance of Global Challenges commented on her participation: “Participating as a master student on the panel 'What does democracy have to deliver to survive' was a tremendous and initially intimidating experience. Realising I was on the same level as distinguished academics helped ease my apprehension. I was grateful for the support from professors and peers, and extremely pleased that the GOV Day format was genuinely and significantly student-led, with positive feedback on our presentations and facilitation”.
Fostering Dialogue: The Impact and Success of GOV-Day on Democratic Challenges
Keynote speaker, Political Science Professor Bo Rothstein from Gothenburg University, commented: "GOV-Day is a great day to gather students and researchers within the same field of research. This creates collective debate and conversations, as well as providing insightful information on each other’s work, from students’ projects to professors’ research. These kinds of manifestations are very important because they foster informal conversations that are as valuable as the official program- and this is a fact that should not be underestimated".
In conclusion, participants agreed that the topic of this year’s GOV-Day has been "spot on": What happens if democratic governments are not able to solve the global and local challenges facing all of us, from climate change to migration? "The event has been a huge success, and we are happy and excited already for the next years of GOV-Day to come", says Professor Siri Gloppen. She adds with a smile: "....We began a new measurement of time in our Department - before and after Gov-Day!"
