Sweden's communication researchers towards the same goal
Lars Rasmussen saw that there was a need for a meeting place for new doctoral students and post-docs where they could share information and discuss research in the field of communication technology. But he had not thought that as many as 120 researchers from all over Sweden would be interested in attending the workshop IEEE Communication Technologies. He has based the workshop on an Australian model.
"We thought perhaps as many as 40 participants would attend but applications just kept on coming. Now we have almost 120 participants from all over the country. This is a great result and shows that there is considerable interest in our field in meeting each other," states Lars Rasmussen, Professor of Communication Theory.
The initiative for the IEEE Swedish Communication Technologies Workshop was taken by Lars Rasmussen as a new Board Member of IEEE's local division for vehicle engineering, communication and IT. He identified an activity gap in Sweden as concerns doctoral students and post-docs and proposed a workshop that would collect together all these researchers within the communication technology field.
"It is vital that post-docs and doctoral students know what is going on in the Swedish research community. I feel that very few of us up here know what is happening in Lund. This will be a place to meet where new doctoral students and post-docs can get to know each other and discuss research and where knowledge gaps can be identified."
He was inspired by a similar workshop in Australia that began as early as 1994. Initially this workshop was for doctoral students and post-docs only but the concept was so successful that senior researchers also wanted to join. Now all the researchers in the field meet regularly," says Lars Rasmussen.
"When someone researches in a field they approach it from a certain angle. This type of workshop provides the opportunity to observe your own research from a broader perspective. A lot has happened in Australia since the first conference. They have gained a much greater understanding of what is going on outside their own narrower fields," asserts Professor Rasmussen who has worked at the University of South Australia for a total of eight years.
Why is it important to gather Swedish researchers in this field?
“All the teams have to play towards the same goal if modern, complex communications systems, such as traffic systems for example, are to function in an optimal fashion. As a consequence more research areas need to get together and this workshop is a method of stimulating cross-disciplinary cooperation. By working together, operational areas can be identified that Swedish researchers can develop and excel in. In addition, being well-briefed on what is happening at home makes researchers more professional in their international activities.”
At the workshop, researchers will present and discuss scientific articles within communication technology and adjacent areas of study. The IEEE Swedish Communication Technologies Workshop will be held 19-21 October on the KTH Campus and will be attended by 92 researchers from Swedish universities and another 40 researchers from universities in Denmark, Finland and UK.
Read more on the SWE-CTW website
The workshop is sponsored by KTH ACCESS Linnaeus Centre, Ericsson, WISENET, Wireless@KTH, KTH, IEEE Information Theory Society and IEEE Sverige.
For more information, please contact Lars Rasmussen, +46-70 382 8981, lkra@kth.se.