New guest professor, the future of doctoral programmes, and broadened recruitment
The faculty board's December meeting
This year's final faculty board meeting took place on 11 December and focused on appointments –including a new guest professor, the future of doctoral programmes, freestanding courses in summer and autumn, as well as broadened recruitment and participation.
The faculty board decided on new appointments at the departments of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Architecture to replace staff who are retiring or have chosen to leave. The board also made a decision regarding the next appointment in the school's special initiative for female guest professors. Rebecca Herzig, based at Bates College in Maine, USA, will spend a year at KTH as a guest professor in technology and gender. Rebecca Herzig has written several acclaimed books, including “Plucked – A History of Hair Removal,” which was named one of the best books of the year by The Economist in 2015. The board hopes it will be possible to organise seminars during Rebecca Herzig's time at the ABE School so that more people can engage with her research.
Focus evaluations are part of KTH's systematic quality work conducted at the decision of the faculty council. In 2025, KTH's doctoral programmes have been evaluated, and the report proposes, among other things, that they be eliminated entirely. Inger Wikström Öbrand, quality coordinator at KTH's central administration, participated in the board's meeting to present the evaluation and receive feedback. The board's third-cycle education committee had prepared the issue and noted that it is not straightforward for ABE School – they are not opposed to eliminating the programs but do not see major advantages either. The ABE School's problem is that it has several small research environments with large distances to neighboring environments, which would not be affected by the proposal. The board saw a risk of increased administrative needs rather than problems being solved. The faculty board will supplement the meeting discussion with a written referral response, which will form part of the basis for a possible president's decision.
The president has made a decision on course offerings and preliminary planning figures for freestanding courses during the summer and autumn semesters of 2026, based on the schools' proposals. The board discussed the problem of the relatively low completion rate for courses for professionals. The issue of programme students choosing freestanding courses instead of programme courses was also discussed.
The faculty board also discussed broadened recruitment and broadened participation. The ambition is to increase the proportion of students from groups that are underrepresented at KTH. Karin Ekdahl Wästberg, the board's external member from the City of Stockholm, received KTH's prize for industry collaboration earlier this year and chose to donate the prize money to Vetenskapens Hus so that more young people realise that higher education is possible. Collaboration with Vetenskapens Hus is therefore seen as a natural part of the ABE School's work to achieve broadened recruitment and participation.
During the autumn semester of 2025, Johan Spross has been temporary vice-chair during Pernilla Hagbert's parental leave. After the turn of the year, she will return to her role, and the faculty board thanked Johan Spross for an excellent contribution.
The next faculty board meeting will be on 22 January 2026.
As told by Per Wikman Svahn to Johan C Thorburn.
