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More than your usual variety of academics have applied for a professorship in parapsychology being offered by Lund University, the first in Sweden and the subject of some dispute in the Nordic country's academic circles.
According to Jitka Lind�n, head of the Department of Psychology at the university, just a third of the 30 or so applicants are scientifically qualified for the position.
�Some people had misunderstood what it means to be a professor. I had to answer all kinds of questions on the telephone before the applications were due,� Lind�n told The Scientist. �For example, one person asked if it was enough to be a medium to apply for the position.�
The story of the post goes back some 40 years, to the will of a Danish margarine manufacturer who died in 1962. Funds to set up such a post were first offered to universities in Copenhagen and Stockholm, none of which accepted the donation.
Gudmund Smith, professor emeritus in psychology at Lund University, was involved at that time. �I knew the people who said no. They were afraid of hurting their reputation. The spontaneous reaction was that these subjects could not be worked on,� says Smith, who is a self-described skeptic.
But he's now been convinced that serious research could be done on the subject, although he thinks it may be fruitless. �I can't see at all that this could hurt us in Lund. But I was hesitant in the beginning, thinking it an odd bird to place at our institution.�
�It was my principal that made me change my mind,� he adds. �He said the money may come in handy.�