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Meeting Notes: August 2026

Place: C3:3031, C3 Corridor, AlbaNova

Time: Monday, 07/09/2026, 15:15– 16:06

Opening formalities (5 min)

  • Meeting opening

  • Choice of meeting chairperson – board suggests: Nils

  • Choice of meeting secretary – board suggests: Ozan

  • Choice of meeting minutes checker – board suggests: Eloi

  • Approval of agenda and meeting procedures. (Approved)

    • The council approved the agenda and meeting procedures.

Reports & updates (25 min)

  1. Update from PADs (15 min)

    • Physics:  Sandra has requested information regarding the recruitment of PhD students.

    • Engineering Mechanics: A meeting was held with the FoA. The discussion regarding how sustainability is incorporated into PhD education was not well received by the FoA. Information is currently being collected from other departments. The situation appears to be similar across most departments, with almost no mandatory sustainability component in the PhD education. Mathematics has a module on sustainability on their mandatory courses, whereas Applied Physics currently does not.

    • Mathematics: No major updates. There are currently some difficulties finding office space for new PhD students.

    • Applied Physics: No major updates. There are currently some difficulties finding office space for new staff members. There are also concerns regarding PhD students not receiving the expected extensions for teaching duties. A major issue is that in some cases, the time spent on teaching is calculated based on course records rather than the information registered in the eISP. Erik is in contact with some of the affected PhD students.

  2. FN Meeting (Nils) (5 min)

    • Faculty members can receive subscriptions to certain tools, such as Claude, whereas PhD students currently cannot. KTH is considering developing or providing an internal AI model in the future.

  3. New format of FF errands (Nils) (5 min)

    • A Google Drive Excel Sheet folder will be used for FF errands. Once a PhD representative has been appointed, the representative will need to be entered into the excel sheet. HR will send FF errands directly to the council.

  4. Chapter meeting (Ozan) (5 min)

    • Ozan not present.

Discussion points (10 min)

  1. Equality at KTH (Nils) (5 min)

    • Sanitary products are available in some toilets at AlbaNova. Faculty workshop: A presentation was given summarizing the outcomes of the recent equality workshops. Department heads presented summaries of the faculty workshops, after which faculty discussed the topics and completed a form concerning leadership and related issues. There was a general view among department heads that these discussions should take place more regularly, as the issues can otherwise easily be forgotten. One suggestion was to organize similar activities once per year, potentially involving different teams or formats.

    • There was discussion in the meeting about what and how information should be communicated as a result from these workshops to the PhD students. PhD representatives will raise this concern to their Prefekt group to clarify which results should be shared and how.

  2. Time Compensation (Nils) (5 min)

    • The time-compensation arrangements are essentially the same as last year. Nils will distribute the relevant information later.

Development of Current Events/Initiatives (5 min)

  1. Next event – Maria

    • No major updates. An introduction for new PhD students was discussed and needed.

Additional issues and information (5 min)

  1. Assistant Professor recruitment in Condensed Matter Physics

    • The recruitment process appears to involve two full days of interviews. Concerns were raised regarding the length of the interview process. The council will ask for further information about the reasoning behind this arrangement.

  2. Next Meeting Location and Date

    • The next meeting will take place on 1 October 2026 at 15:15 in the Mathematics Division.

Actions require

  • Nils to distribute the information regarding time compensation.

  • Erik to continue following up with the affected PhD students regarding teaching-time calculations and extensions.

  • PhD representatives to raise with their respective Prefekt groups how the outcomes of the equality workshops should be communicated to PhD students.

  •  Ensure that we have access to Excel sheet for FF errands and the appointed PhD representative is entered into it.

  • Follow up on organizing an introduction for new PhD students.

  • The council seeks clarification regarding the two-day interview process for the Assistant Professor recruitment in Condensed Matter Physics.

Meeting closed

  • Meeting closed at 16.06.