Business concept and vision of the Sahlgrenska Academy

The Sahlgrenska Academy’s business concept

The Sahlgrenska Academy will work holistically and via collaboration to conduct excellent accumulation of knowledge in the field of health sciences, in order to promote optimal conditions for preventing, relieving and treating diseases and ill-health.

Core values

The business concept is built around three terms that form the core values of the Academy. These are also central to the Academy’s vision:

EXCELLENCE <--> HOLISTIC APPROACH  <--> COLLABORATION

More key terms have been identified for the core values. The implications of the terms form the basis of the work of the Sahlgrenska Academy in line with its business concept, and will enable the Academy to achieve its vision.

The growth of knowledge at the Sahlgrenska aims at EXCELLENCE. This means not only to be a leader in every field, but also in the area of health sciences in its entirety. This will realize our business concept about excellence in the growth of knowledge. Especially important is the stimulation of innovative activities, characterized by creativity and originality. Excellence assumes a focus so that the specializations are given optimal resources and potential for development, but also to allow the growth and development of a diversity of fields of knowledge, methodological measures and educational strategies. The management is responsible for this, but it is also every employee’s task to ensure that the breadth of the Sahlgrenska Academy is used to enhance the quality in education and research.

Accumulation of knowledge in the Sahlgrenska Academy is to be based on a HOLISTIC APPROACH, both towards the human and her biological, psychological and social dimensions and towards content and organization of the operation. The whole thereby comprises more than just the sum of the parts. Resources, in the form of expertise and other means, are to be utilized optimally in an interdisciplinary method of working in the undergraduate programs, postgraduate programs, and research. An acceptance of differences and innovation in our activities is crucial if we are to turn our business concept into reality.

Finally, accumulation of knowledge in the Sahlgrenska Academy assumes cross-boundary COLLABORATION, both within and beyond the Academy. The organizational coherence of the entire health sciences field, as well as the Sahlgrenska Academy’s well-established collaboration with the public and business sectors in the Västra Götaland region, provides the Academy with a unique foundation on which to work. Our activities will be permeated by a humanistic view of people and a constructive and tolerant dialog. This will lead to a synergy between the fields of knowledge and expertise, where everyone is open to influence and is able to re-evaluate conclusions and conceptions. This creates new openings in research and education, and a greater chance of turning our business concept into reality.

The Sahlgrenska Academy’s vision

THE SAHLGRENSKA ACADEMY –
A LEADER IN HEALTH SCIENCES

Health Sciences consists of medical, odontological and pharmaceutical science, as well as health care and public health, but the whole of this area is greater than the sum of its parts. It is not only the individual disciplines that are of interest, but also the chance of developing a new science characterized by depth and interdisciplinary synergy, which is unique to the Sahlgrenska Academy.

The concept of being a leader embraces at least two aspects. Firstly, the Sahlgrenska Academy will become one of the leading global players in the field of health sciences. This applies to all parts of the Academy’s activities, including research, education, administration, etc. Our constant aim is to conduct the most excellent accumulation of knowledge possible, both within individual disciplines and from a broader health science perspective. Secondly, the Sahlgrenska Academy will shape the development of the field of health sciences. We question and continually test the scientific boundaries in the field, we are bold enough to engage in research and education that transgress the traditional disciplinary boundaries, and we will continue to strengthen one of our biggest success factors – the close collaboration with the wider community beyond the Academy, with its demands for the expansion of knowledge in the health sciences.