Strategic developments and new initiatives - Faculty Board ABE is looking ahead
During the last meeting of the Faculty Board ABE, several important strategic issues were discussed, including the quality system for courses, KTH's new investment in strategic research initiatives and the new structure for employment and docent matters.
Teacher member Per Wikman Svahn shares the ongoing work of the board and the strategic priorities on the agenda for the future.
How was the last meeting of the board?
It was both interesting and inspiring! We had many fruitful discussions. This time we were visited by the KTH200 project group, which is working on the celebration of KTH's 200th anniversary in 2027. The group shared its visions for the anniversary year and invited us to contribute ideas on how ABE can be an active part of the celebration, for example through conferences and other activities linked to the anniversary. The anniversary is a good opportunity to both reflect on KTH's history, and at the same time look ahead to shape our future role in society.
What other issues were in focus during the meeting?
The meeting contained a lot of decisions - a total of 15 decision points, mainly regarding updates to course and programme syllabuses. However, the structure and timeframes were clearly set, and for the first time we actually finished ahead of time. Since we introduced committees to prepare the decision points before the meeting, we have had more time for strategic discussions. We started a discussion on the processes for creating new courses and updating syllabuses. The aim is to improve the processes to ensure high quality in the school's course offerings, and our first step is to review current procedures to identify opportunities for improvement.
We were also informed of ongoing work at the school to develop indicators for the First and Second Cycle programmes. These will help us monitor the progress of the programmes and further strengthen our quality assurance.
New KTH initiative on strategic research initiatives
The meeting also discussed KTH's research committee's new investment in strategic research initiatives. Strategic Research Initiatives are a new way for KTH to gather strength in areas where new collaborations are needed that are important based on KTH's vision and goals. Approved initiatives receive a certain amount of central funding for three to five years with the aim of generating significant external grants in addition.
- This new initiative feels very exciting, and there is great potential for collaboration within the school in promising areas. Two meetings are planned for the spring for the school's faculty, where we can work together to develop proposals for areas for strategic initiatives. It feels very fun and creative to brainstorm together about potential investments in the hundred million SEK range! We hope that many will join us and contribute.
Preparations for new recruitment committee
Another important point during the meeting was the upcoming change in the management of the hiring and promotion of teachers, affiliations and the admission of docents, for which the faculty boards will take over the decisions from the turn of the year. The decision has not yet been formally taken, but the proposal is that each school's faculty board will appoint a recruitment committee to streamline and standardise the handling of these matters.
- It is an important task that we are now taking on in the faculty boards, to actually work with KTH's faculty renewal. Preparations are underway both locally and centrally at KTH, including the recruitment of people to the committees, which will begin shortly. We talked a bit at the meeting about criteria for that task, e.g. the need for experience in recruitment matters. It is likely that we will begin with enquiries in the near future.
Do you have anything else coming up?
- Wednesday 27 November is the next school meeting for the ABE school's faculty and doctoral students, this time on the theme Career system at KTH. Vice Dean of Faculty Nina Wormbs will come and present the study she has done together with Ann Fust on the career system at KTH. They have reviewed the current system and proposes partly new career paths, especially for researchers and lecturers. We hope that as many colleagues as possible will be able to attend to listen to the presentation and participate in the subsequent collegial discussion.