{"id":1433,"date":"2025-12-03T08:38:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T07:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/?p=1433"},"modified":"2025-12-03T08:38:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T07:38:53","slug":"insights-from-yokohama-and-a-strong-finish-to-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/2025\/12\/insights-from-yokohama-and-a-strong-finish-to-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Insights from Yokohama and a strong finish to the year"},"content":{"rendered":"

In English further down.<\/p>\n

Nya perspektiv fr\u00e5n Yokohama och en stark avslutning p\u00e5 \u00e5ret<\/h2>\n

Jag befinner mig f\u00f6r tillf\u00e4llet i Yokohama f\u00f6r en konferens och m\u00f6ten med olika samarbetspartners. F\u00f6rutom utm\u00e4rkt mat, v\u00e4lfungerande transporter och ett behagligt h\u00f6stklimat med gyllengula gingkotr\u00e4d sl\u00e5s jag av det \u00f6kade intresset f\u00f6r samarbeten med europeiska forskare och l\u00e4ros\u00e4ten. Jag misst\u00e4nker att den senaste tidens utveckling i USA g\u00f6r att m\u00e5nga h\u00e4r i Asien b\u00f6rjar se sig om efter nya samarbetskonstellationer och det gl\u00e4der mig att vi i Sverige och p\u00e5 KTH uppenbarligen har goda m\u00f6jligheter att skapa nya samarbeten.<\/p>\n

Som innovationsforskare \u00e4r det alltid sp\u00e4nnande att vara i Japan. Inom vissa teknikomr\u00e5den ligger man l\u00e5ngt framme, men mest sl\u00e5s jag av hur fast vi sitter i etablerade s\u00e4tt att l\u00f6sa vardagsproblem. H\u00e4r inser man att m\u00e5nga kan hanteras p\u00e5 helt andra och ofta b\u00e4ttre s\u00e4tt. Det omv\u00e4nda g\u00e4ller s\u00e4kert ocks\u00e5 f\u00f6r japaner i Sverige, vilket understryker hur viktigt det \u00e4r att exponeras f\u00f6r nya milj\u00f6er och tankes\u00e4tt.<\/p>\n

Nu \u00e4r vi inne i december, vilket f\u00f6r m\u00e5nga inneb\u00e4r en slutspurt med undervisning, forskning och administration. F\u00f6r n\u00e5gon vecka sedan firade vi v\u00e5ra nya doktorer p\u00e5 den \u00e5rliga promoveringsh\u00f6gtiden i stadshuset och som forskarutbildningsansvarig kunde jag gl\u00e4djas \u00e5t att inte mindre \u00e4n 37 nya doktorer fr\u00e5n ITM var p\u00e5 plats. Ett stort grattis till dem och deras handledare! Sannolikt blir det n\u00e5got f\u00e4rre disputationer de kommande tv\u00e5 \u00e5ren som en effekt av pandemin och den minskade antagning som skedde d\u00e5, men vi ser ingen avmattning i antalet doktorander, \u00e4ven om vissa finansi\u00e4rer verkar mindre intresserade av att finansiera just doktorander.<\/p>\n

Avslutningsvis n\u00e5gra ord om skolans ekonomi. V\u00e5ra linjechefer och controllers arbetar intensivt med \u00e5rets r\u00e4kenskaper och n\u00e4sta \u00e5rs budget. Det \u00e4r inte alltid enkelt d\u00e5 underlaget fr\u00e5n KTH ofta kommer sent, och med v\u00e5r h\u00f6ga externfinansiering kr\u00e4vs kvalificerade gissningar. I \u00e5r tillkommer os\u00e4kerhet kring n\u00e4sta \u00e5rs takbelopp, vilket p\u00e5verkar flera delar av verksamheten.<\/p>\n

Det f\u00f6rv\u00e4ntade resultatet f\u00f6r \u00e5ret ser d\u00e4remot lovande ut. Jag hade f\u00f6rra veckan f\u00f6rm\u00e5nen att h\u00e5lla i ett undervisningspass om ekonomistyrningen p\u00e5 ITM i ett av v\u00e5ra interna ledarskapsprogram. Det var synnerligen givande att diskutera med potentiella nya chefer och konstatera att vi har m\u00e5nga energiska kollegor som vill ta sig an utmaningen att vara chef i akademin.<\/p>\n

\u00d6vningen gav mig ocks\u00e5 anledning att granska skolans ekonomi \u00f6ver tid. Vi har gjort ett imponerande arbete f\u00f6r att komma i balans och st\u00e5r nu p\u00e5 fast mark. Utmaningar finns, men vi \u00e4r v\u00e4l rustade. Givetvis har alla linjechefer och administrativ personal haft en viktig roll i detta, men i slut\u00e4ndan beror det p\u00e5 varje enskild kollegas anstr\u00e4ngningar i form av mer omfattande ans\u00f6kningsarbete, effektivisering av undervisning och alla andra saker som i slut\u00e4ndan bidrar till att bygga och f\u00f6rb\u00e4ttra v\u00e5r verksamhet. Tack till alla som bidragit! Jag hoppas vi snart kan njuta av julledigheten och m\u00f6ta 2026 med nya och f\u00f6renade krafter.<\/p>\n

\/Mats Magnusson, vice skolchef och forskarutbildningsansvarig p\u00e5 ITM<\/p>\n

Insights from Yokohama and a strong finish to the year<\/h2>\n

I am currently in Yokohama for a conference and meetings with various partners. Beyond excellent food, efficient transportation, and a pleasant autumn climate with golden ginkgo trees, I am struck by the growing interest in collaborations with European researchers and universities. I suspect that recent developments in the U.S. have prompted many here in Asia to look for new partnership constellations, and I am pleased that we in Sweden and at KTH clearly have good opportunities to build them.<\/p>\n

As an innovation researcher, it is always exciting to be in Japan. In some technology areas, they remain far ahead, but what strikes me most is how firmly we cling to established ways of solving everyday problems. Being here makes you realize that many of these challenges can be addressed in completely different and often better ways. The reverse is probably true for Japanese visitors to Sweden, which only underscores how important it is for our creative capacity to be exposed to new environments and ways of thinking.<\/p>\n

We are now in December, which for many means a final sprint with teaching, research, and administration. A few weeks ago, we celebrated our new doctors at the annual graduation ceremony at City Hall, and as Director of Third Cycle Education, I was delighted to see no fewer than 37 new doctors from ITM present. Congratulations to them and their supervisors! We will likely see somewhat fewer dissertations over the next two years as a result of the pandemic and the reduced admissions during that period, but we see no slowdown in the number of doctoral students, even though some funding agencies now seem less interested in financing PhD positions.<\/p>\n

Finally, a few words about the school\u2019s finances. Our line managers and controllers are working intensively on both this year\u2019s accounts and next year\u2019s budget. It is not always easy, as parts of the financial data from KTH tend to arrive rather late, and given our high degree of external funding, a certain amount of qualified guesswork is always required. This year, additional uncertainty regarding next year\u2019s ceiling amount will also affect several parts of our operations.<\/p>\n

The expected result for this year looks promising, however. Last week, I had the privilege of leading a session on financial management at ITM as part of one of our internal leadership programs. It was highly rewarding to discuss these issues with potential future managers and to see that we have many energetic colleagues eager to take on the unique challenges of academic leadership.<\/p>\n

This exercise also gave me a good reason to review the school\u2019s finances over a longer period. We have done an impressive job of restoring balance and now stand on solid ground. Challenges remain, but we are well prepared. Of course, all line managers and administrative staff have played an important role in this, but ultimately, it depends on every colleague\u2019s efforts\u2014through more extensive application work, teaching efficiencies, and all the other things that help build and improve our operations. Thank you to everyone who contributed! I hope we can soon enjoy the Christmas break and then meet 2026 with renewed and united strength.<\/p>\n

\/Mats Magnusson, Deputy Head and Director of Third Cycle Education at the ITM School<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In English further down. Nya perspektiv fr\u00e5n Yokohama och en stark avslutning p\u00e5 \u00e5ret Jag befinner mig f\u00f6r tillf\u00e4llet i Yokohama f\u00f6r en konferens och m\u00f6ten med olika samarbetspartners. F\u00f6rutom utm\u00e4rkt mat, v\u00e4lfungerande transporter och ett behagligt h\u00f6stklimat med gyllengula gingkotr\u00e4d sl\u00e5s jag av det \u00f6kade intresset f\u00f6r samarbeten med europeiska forskare och l\u00e4ros\u00e4ten. Jag […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1520,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28,20,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deputy-head-of-school","category-director-of-third-cycle-education","category-mats-magnusson"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6P3xp-n7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1520"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1433"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1435,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433\/revisions\/1435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}