SEASON’S GREETINGS. Our dean, Agenta Holmäng, wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, with the hope for 2019 to be as successful as the past year.
I am proud of our supportive academic atmosphere here at Sahlgrenska Academy. We are curious and interested of what others work with, are open for new collaborations and celebrate the successes of our colleagues, qualities visitors often comment on. This attitude makes our work so much more enjoyable and creates a pleasurable workplace. I also think it is the secret behind our long-term and successful partnerships with our external partners, such as Chalmers and Region Västra Göteland (VGR), particularly Sahlgrenska University Hospital (SU).
This spring we were reminded of just how successful our collaboration with SU/VGR is when the Swedish Research Council’s ALF evaluation in clinical research gave us the highest score in the country. The evaluation was commissioned by the government. Being so highly rated means not only that we are able to maintain the high level of ALF funding that we have long enjoyed in our region, but also that we have received an additional SEK 20 million. Sahlgrenska Academy and SU/VGR have agreed that we should invest these additional funds in areas that experts have identified as needing improvement. In this way, we hope that our clinical research will become even stronger in the future. This year, Sahlgrenska Academy’s funding applications resulted in grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Swedish Society for Medical Research (SSMF), and the Formas and Forte research councils.
Our work involves not only research but also education. We have many talented teachers accomplishing wonderful things through their teaching. I would like to send an extra thank you for the knowledge they share with our students, both on clinical and preclinical courses, within all our professional programs that are so highly rated in evaluations.
Christmas holiday gives us a chance to relax and enjoy our successes and the hard work you have all done within teaching, research and even administration.
I would like to wish you all a wonderful holiday. Merry Christmas and may we all have a happy new year.
Agneta Holmäng
