Newsmail #1, 2021-08-19

Dear all,

Before the summer, we discussed intensively how to handle the requirement of being present on campus at least three days per week. The KTH official web pages have been updated during the summer. Now the text specifies that this requirement is for technical and admin staff only, and not academic staff. This means that we will have the same rules regarding distance work as before the pandemic, that each individual can decide with the nearest manager regarding distance work or campus work. I believe that this gives us the freedom we need to design our future work processes, meeting policies, office setups etc and I very much look forward to kicking off the work on designing how we want to use the MMK buildings and our offices post-pandemic. In this work, we will invite everyone at MMK to participate.

No one is required to be on campus unless his or her assignments require physical presence. If uncertain, always consult with your manager.

This week it has been very nice to meet people again in our buildings. We have eaten Persian cookies, fighted over the last lunch boxes in the Convini fridge, and seen more people than usual in the coffee areas. I really need to emphasize though that we still require social distancing. All people should always keep distance – in the coffee rooms, in meeting rooms etc. And – therefore – remote work is still encouraged. But – we need to be even more careful now that we have more people in our buildings than before the summer.

Next week the RAE evaluation goes into full speed. On Tuesday (Aug 24), 15 faculty members from MMK will be interviewed by the external expert committee. I believe we are well prepared and am confident that our faculty will give an impressive performance for the experts. The last time we were evaluated was in 2012 and we still often refer to the recommendations given by the experts then - so this is an important milestone for us.

Today and tomorrow I’m joining an on-site internal conference for Mechatronics senior staff led by our new unit manager Björn Möller. I don’t think I have realized until now how much I have missed these physical meetings.  

Best,

Martin