Newsmail #66, 2023-08-24

Dear all,

I was very happy to see so many MMK/ITRL-people at the ITM Summer Party yesterday, it was really nice to meet again after the summer.

Speaking of parties, if you haven’t signed up for the MMK Fall Party (Kräftskiva, Surströmming) on Sept 6, do so no later than next Monday.

This week has so far been mostly about preparing for the courses that starts on Monday. Our new study director is up and running and in constant discussion with the student office to make sure everything is according to plan. We have also seen a lot of visitors; the entire Degree Program in Vehicle Engineering visited us with 100+ students, to see our prototyping center and our lab facilities.

During the summer, the Department of Learning has moved entirely to our part of campus and are now located in the building opposite us, sharing with Departments of Energy and Production. One of the three units at the Department of Learning, the STEM unit, visited us as well and was given a tour of our premises.

I also have some more formal information. All positions such as rector, head of school, head of department, head of unit are temporary positions. With the new rector, it’s more emphasized and it’s becoming important that the appointments and re-appointments are handled properly. The current contract for the head of school and heads of department expires end of this year. There is now a process to decide if the contract for the head of school should be extended another four years. In this process, key members of the organization are interviewed, for example heads of departments. I will be interviewed in about two weeks in this process.

There is a much less formal process to decide if contracts for heads of department and units should be extended or not. The process for the heads of department basically consists of that the head of school asks if the current person want to continue or not. I got this question last week, and, I responded that I want to continue for another four years (I have been head of the department for about four years now). In this process, no key people are interviewed. On the other hand, the decision has not been made yet, it will be later in the fall, when the appointment of the head of the school is confirmed. Therefore, I wanted to be open about this process. If the MMK organization does not support an extension of the current head (me), then the time is now to consider that, and to approach the head of school with that information, even if there is no formal process. There is nothing strange about that, a university should be an arena for openness and transparency. Discussions can be held in groups, and representatives can approach the head of school to suggest alternatives.  

Thirdly, heads of units, at MMK. I have asked our three heads of units already if they would consider another four years, and, all three have accepted. In this case, the decision is already made, and the contracts for the next four years are written. I have asked them for another four years since I have full confidence in what they do, in their responsibilities and their management. I trust them and am proud of what they do.

With that said, if you read KTH news, you read about the upcoming changes in how issues like this might in the future be better anchored with the faculty, perhaps within the new faculty boards. In the meantime, I want to emphasize that there are lots of opportunities already now to make one’s voice heard.

Best,

Martin