As one of Scandinavia’s leading technical universities, KTH’s work in education and research is based on internationalisation, gender equality and sustainable development, as I have previously mentioned. These aspects will, wherever relevant and whenever possible, permeate the way we do business and be a part of everything we do, from the ideas we have to … Continue reading “Working environment crucial in academia”
The new government research bill was presented last week: (http://www.regeringen.se/rattsdokument/proposition/2016/11/prop.-20161750/ – in Swedish) We can see straight away from the title (‘A knowledge coalition – to meet society’s challenges and to become more competitive’) that the bill’s underlying message is of knowledge being acquired by cooperation. That is good; there are a number of societal … Continue reading “The government bill is good, but it´s not enough”
A few days ago, the Minister for Higher Education and Research, Helene Hellmark Knutsson, announced that in 2017 the government will appoint a commission with the mandate of proposing a new system of governance and resource allocation: (http://www.regeringen.se/debattartiklar/2016/11/pengar-till-hogskolorna-ska-ses-over/. This is welcome news. The current system dates back to 1993 and has not kept up with … Continue reading “Long-awaited renewal of resource allocation system”
Is society’s confidence in universities still stable and still high? In some parts of the world we are seeing an increasing mistrust of research and scientific results. There is a tendency to present pseudoscience as the truth and there is also denial of the findings of leading research groups. At the same time, trust is … Continue reading “No freedom without responsibility”
It is very exciting to have the responsibility of being a new president. Is there any difference between leading a young, small university and an old, big one? With six years’ experience as head of the University of Skövde, and now as President of KTH, I am able to make a comparison. All universities in … Continue reading “KTH is an engine of social development”
