Newsmail #72, 2023-10-30

Dear all,

Today is the first day of teaching for the second teaching period of this semester. It also is a week when primary schools in Sweden are closed (Höstlov / autumn holiday week), so several colleagues are on holiday as well, even though many are quite busy with the start of the courses for this period and exam corrections from the last period.

The salary revision process is now where KTH is negotiating with the unions based on the new salaries that the unit managers have proposed for their staff. If there are no further delays, the new salaries will be decided and paid in December.

Last week I spent mainly on working on the new faculty organization, how that affects the organization for the school, to figure out who’s deciding what after the end of this year. This included a meeting with the rector on Wednesday where he gave his view on the new organization. The members that we elect to the faculty board will have an important role and we need members that can understand and cover the breadth of our school. On Friday, I spent the entire day on a JML-workshop with the schools JML-responsibles and the FFA (future faculty responsibles) to discuss how we ensure that we move in the right direction also in relation to gender equality, diversity and equal rights. The rector also joined these discussions, and it is apparent that there is a huge trust on the members of our organization to do the right thing.

This week we move into budget discussions. It is probably more difficult than ever, due to higher rents, high inflation and many uncertainties. The budget process will result in us having an idea of what we can afford next year, and what not, which makes it more important than ever.

Finally, on a very sad note, I want to inform you that the previous President of KTH, Sigbritt Karlsson, passed away on Saturday. She left her role as President of KTH in November last year and has since then been active as a professor in Chemistry at KTH. She passed away after a time of illness. I know many people at MMK worked closely with her during her tenure as President. She was also the President during one of the most expansive periods of KTH:s history, with many changes and challenges.

Best,

Martin