UCGS was founded January 1, 2008. The department is a merger of The Graduate Shool of Gender studies and the Centre for Women’s Studies.
Umeå Centre for Gender Studies (UCGS) was appointed Centre of Gender Excellence by the Swedish Research Council in 2007. It is a rapidly growing physical milieu as well as a centre for broad academic interaction including future-oriented, international and multidisciplinary development.
With its overarching organization covering gender studies at Umeå University, the unit´s particular strength lies in this essential emphasis on interdisciplinary cooperation providing infrastructural resources such as basic and advanced level education, a huge PhD programme and an important multidisciplinary supply of seminars, workshops and conferences.
Furthermore the unit prioritizes internationalization, research collaborations and knowledge transfer for equality and social change.
- UCGS is in the midst of a substantial expansion and capacity building with about 30 PhD students and a huge interdisciplinary network of supervisors and teachers connected to them. During 2009-2011 there where prominent part-time guest professors from Great Britain and USA visiting the center, after that many guest teachers, and several junior research fellows and post doctors have been a part of the center.
- The gender researchers from Umeå are much sought-after as experts, referees, evaluators, conference chairs, lecturers and have also many national, Nordic and international assignments and mandates. This broadens the possibilities for impact on political decision-making and policy work within the gender research area.
Examples: Chair of Gender Expert Group at Swedish Research Council, Chair of National Secretariat for Gender Studies, Member of Expert Group for European Institute for Gender Equality in Vilnius, panellists and referees at WHO, SIDA, Nordic Council, Norwegian Research Council, Australian Research Council, South African Research Council and more
