The archaeologist Clara Alfsdotter works for the police, locating and examining skeletons and decomposed bodies. This makes her an example of how today’s archaeologists can contribute to new professional fields.
Clara is one of nine doctoral students trained at the GRASCA Graduate School at Linnaeus University – a doctoral programme in archaeology with a focus on societal benefits, conducted in collaboration with businesses in the archaeology sector. Today, she works as a forensic archaeologist at The Swedish National Forensic Centre.
“We PhDs came from different businesses and had a lot of practical fieldwork experience that we could bring into academia. Having research time to explore these issues was a pure luxury!” says Clara.
Benefits for society
GRASCA stands for The Graduate School in Contract Archaeology. The graduate school started in 2015 when eight doctoral students – later nine – began their doctoral studies. The aim of GRASCA was to find new applications for archaeology, to make it more relevant to society, and to discover new markets.
“We’re talking about applied cultural heritage, meaning something that has concrete benefits for societal development and isn’t just a symbol from a different time”, says Cornelius Holtorf, director of GRASCA and professor of archaeology.
Industrial graduate schools uncommon in the humanities
GRASCA is an industrial graduate school, which means that it is conducted in collaboration with businesses, where the doctoral students are employed and continue working 20% during their doctoral studies. The businesses participating in GRASCA belong to the archaeology sector and work with excavations and conservation, most of them being affiliated with county museums. These businesses also finance the graduate school, together with the Knowledge Foundation and Linnaeus University.
GRASCA: The Graduate School in Contract Archaeology. It is about contract archaeology: investigations and excavations conducted in preparation for land development – for instance, when a new road is to be built.
Funders: the Knowledge Foundation, Linnaeus University, and the five participating businesses.
Time period: 2015–2024
Participating businesses: Bohusläns Museum, Jamtli, Kalmar County Museum/Museum Archaeology Southeast, Stiftelsen Kulturmiljövård, Västarvet Studio Västsvensk Konservering
What is unusual about GRASCA is that it is an industrial graduate school in the humanities; usually, these are found in fields such as industry or technology. For the funder, the Knowledge Foundation, this was the first industrial graduate school in the humanities they funded. Cornelius Holtorf believes that although it is difficult for many humanities researchers to find businesses to collaborate with, GRASCA proves that it is possible.
“We’ve shown that close collaborations with businesses can be productive and successful even in the humanities, and even in innovative research areas like ours. This opens up for new ways to conduct doctoral education and view the role of the humanities in society”, says Cornelius Holtorf.
A new way to fund humanities research
As mentioned above, the project was funded by the Knowledge Foundation and Linnaeus University, along with the participating businesses. This model meant that only eligible employees at the businesses could apply for the doctoral positions. It also meant that the businesses were involved in discussing the direction of the doctoral students’ research projects. They also contributed with industry mentors.
“This funding meant that the nine doctoral students cost Linnaeus University about the same as one regular doctoral position”, says Cornelius Holtorf.
During the nine years that have passed, the doctoral students’ research projects have taken shape and demonstrated the diverse applications of archaeology – for instance, that police investigations can be improved with archaeological analyses of skeletons and human decomposition; that digital information from archaeological excavations can be better utilised; and that the involvement of the Sami in their own cultural heritage is lacking.
GRASCA concludes in 2024, what have you learned from the project?
“We’ve seen that it’s possible to build strong partnerships with businesses in the archaeology sector. And that we perhaps need to think more about benefits for society and connections to the labour market within all archaeology education, at all levels. We’ve also learnt that there’s a future for archaeological research, even if government funding were to be withdrawn”, says Cornelius Holtorf.
What advice would you give to humanities researchers when it comes to finding opportunities for collaboration?
“Build connections with funders and key players in sectors of society that are relevant to you. And consider how you and your field can contribute to helping them achieve their goals”, says Cornelius Holtorf.
Doctoral students and businesses in GRASCA
- Clara Alfsdotter, Bohusläns Museum
- Delia Ní Chíobhaín Enqvist, Bohusläns Museum
- Charina Knutson, Jamtli
- Ulrika Söderström, Kalmar County Museum/Museum Archaeology Southeast
- Ivonne Dutra Leivas, Kalmar County Museum/Museum Archaeology Southeast
- Fredrik Gunnarsson, Kalmar County Museum/Museum Archaeology Southeast
- Matthew Nelson, Stiftelsen Kulturmiljövård
- Ellinor Sabel, Stiftelsen Kulturmiljövård
- Vivian Smits, Västarvet Studio Västsvensk Konservering
Better research expertise at museums
One of the participating businesses is Bohusläns Museum, represented by Mikael Eboskog. He believes that there is much to gain from collaborations between humanities researchers and businesses.
“We’ve developed our research expertise, meaning we have a better infrastructure for research projects – going from an idea, to applying for funding, executing the project, and communicating the results. And then we’ve also been inspired by the doctoral students’ various research topics, carrying out projects within the same sphere. Our expertise has increased”, says Mikael Eboskog, head of the Department of Archaeology at Bohusläns Museum.
Susanne Thedéen, temporary director general at the Swedish National Heritage Board, thinks the GRASCA initiative has contributed to the up-skilling of cultural workers.
"GRASCA has been significant in that it’s given employees at museums and cultural heritage organisations the chance to pursue doctoral studies, increasing competence for further research in sectors that otherwise have limited ability to do research. A graduate school is also, in itself, a system where doctoral students from different backgrounds are brought together by a common theme, creating added value and networks that contribute to the development of the cultural heritage sector”, says Susanne Thedéen.
More voices on GRASCA
Peter Aronsson, vice-chancellor at Linnaeus University:
“GRASCA is a flagship project for Linnaeus University. On the one hand, we’ve contributed to professionalising and creating new knowledge regarding a field that’s highly valuable to society and generates knowledge. On the other hand, we’ve paved the way for cultural scientific research to increase Sweden’s competitiveness, since these are the only types of projects in collaboration with businesses that the Knowledge Foundation supports. I hope we can build on these pioneering efforts and find more such niches to develop in the future.”
Kristian Kristiansen, chairman of the board for GRASCA, professor of archaeology, University of Gothenburg:
“GRASCA has demonstrated the importance of collaboration between archaeological institutions and doctoral education. It creates synergies for all involved. I hope that GRASCA can inspire other initiatives, ideally with the Swedish National Heritage Board in a leading role as coordinator.”
Eva Schelin, CEO, the Knowledge Foundation:
“Based on our having followed the graduate school over these years, we believe it’s been carried out very well and with great dedication. GRASCA seems to have been very successful in involving the businesses, and we also have the impression that the businesses are satisfied. The graduate school has contributed to increased opportunities for market expansion.”
Therése Nordström, programme coordinator, the Knowledge Foundation:
“The graduate school has been an inspiring example of collaboration between businesses and researchers in the humanities and social sciences. It’s been particularly inspiring for the field of contract archaeology, as we understand that several international archaeologists have taken note of GRASCA, which is very exiting."
Susanne Thedéen, temporary Director General, the Swedish National Heritage Board:
“GRASCA’s focus on contract archaeology provides new knowledge in areas such as digitalisation, designed living environments, and policy issues. This is relevant to cultural heritage research and benefits it broadly.”
Clara: Being a doctoral student in GRASCA was incredibly rewarding
Archaeologist Clara Alfsdotter previously worked as an archaeologist and osteologist (osteology is the study of bones) at Bohusläns Museum. She continued that work at 20% when she started as a doctoral student in GRASCA.
Clara’s doctoral project focused on forensic archaeology. She analysed ancient skeletons and the decomposition of bodies in various environments. The aim was to increase knowledge about what happened at and after the time of death.
After her doctoral defence, she got a job as a forensic archaeologist and osteologist at the Swedish National Forensic Centre (NFC) with the police, where they conduct forensic examinations of evidence believed to be connected to crimes.
What do you do in your job?
“My work includes training crime scene technicians and investigators and developing protocols for how certain types of police investigations should be conducted. I’m also present for on-site investigations, as a specialist. This can involve buried or hidden individuals who need to be located and excavated, or identifying bones and fragmentary remains from incidents such as fires, for instance.”
“Besides my position with the police, I work as a researcher at the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine on a project studying how deceased individuals decompose under the influence of the Swedish climate, both in water and on land.”
What was it like to be a doctoral student in GRASCA?
“It was incredibly stimulating and rewarding. We PhDs came from different businesses and had a lot of practical fieldwork experience that we could bring into academia, which gave us the opportunity to delve deeper into questions that had arisen during our work. Having research time to explore these issues was a pure luxury, as there is rarely time to do so within a contract-funded archaeology position.”
“The setup of having an industrial graduate school has great advantages, as it maintains a close connection to the practical aspects of the workplace.”
What was the biggest challenge in your doctoral work?
“At the beginning, it was difficult to transition from a position with hourly rates and constant time pressure on everything you produced, to finding the peace of mind required for research, with all that that entails in terms of reviewing literature and producing academic texts.”
What aspects of your time as a doctoral student do you find most useful in your work?
“All the knowledge I gained and the network I built. It was very rewarding to meet specialists from different parts of the world and collaborate with so many knowledgeable people who were part of GRASCA and the business network.”
Fredrik: I would never have got this job without the doctoral programme
Fredrik Gunnarsson previously worked as an archaeologist at Museum Archaeology Southeast, a part of Kalmar County Museum and one of the participating businesses in GRASCA. He continued that work when he started as a doctoral student in GRASCA.
His doctoral thesis demonstrates the potential of digitalisation in the archaeology sector. One conclusion was that even though many aspects of the work are digital, with databases, maps, and ground-penetrating radar, the knowledge from archaeological investigations does not always reach the relevant target groups. Today, he works as an IT project manager at the Swedish National Heritage Board.
What do you do in your job?
“I work with building a new digital infrastructure for cultural heritage in Sweden. This will connect digitised materials from museums across the country and make them accessible to researchers and the public. By connecting the materials, we make it easy to see which collections contain, for instance, bronze axes – if someone’s interested in that. So, it’s in the same field as what I wrote about in my thesis.”
What was it like to be a doctoral student in GRASCA?
“It was incredibly fun. The first thing that comes to mind is the sense of community within our doctoral group. We’ve seen and experienced so much together. And on a personal level, it’s given me top-notch professional development, which has led to more job opportunities, in other fields. I would never have got my current job at the Swedish National Heritage Board without the doctoral programme.”
What was it like to continue working while doing research?
“I think it was a good setup, especially because I could keep my salary! That made it very easy to join the doctoral programme. And it was good to be able to test different ideas from my research directly at work and out in the field, during excavations.”
What do you think about humanities researchers collaborating with businesses?
“We researchers need to get better at interacting and finding collaborations with those outside academia. That’s something we learnt in GRASCA. Are there actors in the business or public sector that we can collaborate with? Can we benefit from each other? That’s when your worldview expands, and you find it easier to think outside the box.”