“We have talked about risks and developed project plans”

12 teachers currently work in the Basic Science department at KTH Flemingsberg, which teaches on the Technical preparatory year and Technical preparatory semester. In the fall, they may get five new colleagues, as negotiations are underway on a transfer of teachers from KTH Södertälje.

“A proposal has been submitted to KTH's central collaboration group and through some smart cooperation and exchange during the coming fall, we can prevent redundancies”, says Sebastiaan Meijer, professor of healthcare logistics, deputy head of school at CBH and project manager for the relocation of the foundation year education from Södertälje to Flemingsberg.

With the move, the foundation year education in Flemingsberg will increase its preparatory year volume by 180 places by the fall semester of 2025. Some foundation year education will also be offered in collaboration with municipally funded learning centers in Norrtälje, Södertälje and Nynäshamn.

“The cooperation with learning centers has started and we are pretty much in agreement on what the teaching should look like and are preparing agreements,” says Sebastiaan Meijer.

In April, the teachers from Södertälje visited Flemingsberg to get to know their future colleagues and familiarize themselves with the premises.

A risk assessment was carried out together and individual interviews were also held.

“It was very good. There were some concerns about important things. We have talked about risks and developed project plans based on a workshop,” says Sebastiaan Meijer.

What are the issues at stake?

“There are teachers who also teach at Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Master of Science in Engineering programs, and it is important to be able to continue doing so.

There are questions about the structure and distribution of duties, not just being able to work with one type of teaching, but that there should be a variety.

Then there are some practical issues such as whether there is bicycle storage and how it works with access cards.”

Are there any differences in teaching between the different campuses?

“There are differences in the practicalities of how you teach but they are not that big. The premises are designed differently and that has shaped how people think. You could say that there are slightly different practices and then you need to talk to each other.”

How do you think the move will affect staff and students?

“The students who are left from the foundation year in Södertälje and who have not completed their education, we will simply take care of them in Flemingsberg and make sure they can complete their studies. For the staff, there will be some changes, but we believe it will be good.”

Text: Sabina Fabrizi