The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Head of Department Letter September 2024

På svenska

Collaboration

Welcome back after the summer! I hope you have had the opportunity to have a proper break from everyday life. The corridors are once again teeming with teachers and students old and new, turning the wheels of knowledge with new insights and discoveries along the way. Even my many series of meetings have started in earnest again...

Research and education are always at the center of our conversations, inside and outside the department. But that third task, collaboration, is also there, albeit slightly under the radar. This September, The public event Kulturnatten (Culture Night) is taking place again and we are participating. The enthusiasts Adam Burke, Ruth Pöttgen, Johan Zetterberg, and Anna Arnadottir, among others, coordinate the many contributions from the department's staff. All in all, this means that we can offer our visitors an exciting and multifaceted program!

Like many other collaborations,  Kulturnatten is about giving back to society. Collaboration with industry and business is a good way to ensure that the knowledge we develop actually benefits the rest of society, and also provides an opportunity to attract new resources for our research. Engaging with schools and the public instills enthusiasm for engineering and physics so that there will continue to be curious people who want to work on these issues (and help pay for them to be explored). 

But collaboration is good for us too. It gives us information on how we are being perceived by future students, staff and partners.  What is a physicist and what does he or she do? What would we answer ourselves? Does our self-image match how we are perceived by high school students and the general public, or are the images different? 

I hope that many of you will take part in Kulturnatten and other collaborative events and also think about the impression you want to give to others. Are there things we should be doing but are not doing today, or that should be done differently? Do we need to strengthen ties with our alumni working in education and business?

Collaboration is one of the goals we will talk more about in the autumn. Mainly about how we can highlight and improve the conditions for the many small and large efforts we make in the area - and inspire new efforts, with new partners!

Welcome back to the autumn term!

Else Lytken
Head of Department

3 Sep 2024