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Time for new doctors and professors to celebrate!

On November 17 KTH held its annual celebration with respect to the conferment of new doctors and inauguration of new professors. All PhD students that had defended their thesis during the period of October 1, 2016 to September 29, 2017 were invited to the celebration. In total, 198! persons defended their theses at KTH during that time period, whereof 42 were from the ITM school. This is an impressive number of PhD students. As many of you, KTH is among the top three universities in Western Europe when it comes to the number of students receiving a PhD. Thus, KTH and ITM truly have an impact on the higher education in our nearest region. For those of you that currently are studying for a PhD you should look forward to this celebration. When I have talk to doctors throughout the years they often mention this celebration. I have heard words such as “I was happy when I defended my thesis but it did not sink in to me that I actually had become a doctor until I stepped up to the stage to receive a diploma. I was nervous to enter in front of the audience at that moment, but standing there to receive applauses from the audience made me feel warm and proud inside”.  I think that most former PhD students finishing a PhD can recognize themselves in those words.

History was also made at KTH and ITM during this ceremony. KTH inaugurated the first to professors at the Department of Sustainable Production Development. Monica Bellgran has obtained the position The Leif Östling professorship in Industrial Production Management and Magnus

Wiktorsson has become a professor in Production Logistics. We welcome both of these new professors to ITM and we are looking forward to follow your future progress.

The formal part of the celebration started at the concert hall in Stockholm. Thereafter, buses took the participants to the city hall. Here, more than 900 people enjoyed a fantastic dinner in the blue hall. Afterwards, a live band played in the golden hall. It was both traditional waltz as well as more modern dance music.  Overall, I am convinced that the new doctors and professors will remember this evening for the rest of their lives!

Those of you that are interested in reading more about this and former year’s celebrations can read more here.

As I write this blog the snow is falling outside the window. This is a sign that the fall has left and that we have entered the last season of the year, namely the winter. During this period people like us living close to the “north pole” enters a calmer stage of our lives. It feels so nice to light candles at home and snuggle up in your favorite sofa to read a book. Of course, those of you with young children will be chased outside to enjoy winter activities. Myself, I enjoy to light a fire in my stove and then sit and try to solve a cross word puzzle.

/Pär Jönsson, Vice Dean