COLUMN. Agneta Holmäng and Henrik Hagberg are about to leave their positions as Dean and Pro-Dean respectively following six years of excellent cooperation. In their final Christmas greeting, they look forward with confidence to the next chapter in the tale of Sahlgrenska Academy.
Christmas is just around the corner, which hopefully means we will all be able to have some much-needed time off. Take the opportunity to slow down a bit and recharge your batteries in time for next year. Many thanks for your outstanding efforts throughout the year! We hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
We are now finishing off the last of our jobs as Dean and Pro-Dean before handing over to Jenny Nyström and Magnus Simrén. Two experienced leaders are taking over, and we are confident they will do an excellent job in their new roles. We are currently involved in a joint dialogue on the major issues facing the faculty so that we can help make the transition as smooth as possible.
Opportunity to talk to one another and build a common understanding
Our years as Dean and Pro-Dean have been both rewarding and enjoyable. It has been a privilege to get to know the various parts of the faculty, both those that unite us and those that are unique to different parts of the organisation.
We have worked with faculty members and our partners over the years on policy and strategy documents that have clarified our vision for the development of life sciences. In this regard, the process behind the documents has been useful, stimulating and extremely important. Our work has given us the opportunity to talk to and build a common understanding with the Faculty of Science, Chalmers University of Technology, AstraZeneca, Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Region Västra Götaland, as well as other key partners on a range of issues. These efforts have also been of great help in the Swedish Research Council’s ALF evaluation, where – under a great deal of pressure – we managed to achieve a national top ranking in clinical research for the second time, together with Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Region Västra Götaland. It goes without saying that we are immensely pleased and proud! It also meant we were able to maintain our large allocation of ALF funding, and that we were able to make investments – in young researchers in particular.
We have held lots of good meetings and discussions
In particular, we have very much appreciated our internal and external collaborations on various issues important to the faculty, helping to identify good solutions and involving talented and committed people and colleagues. The group of pro-deans has worked very well, with everyone taking on a great deal of responsibility for their respective fields. Members of the Faculty Board have pulled together too, setting aside their departmental affiliation and tackling issues in the best interests of the Faculties. Discussions held by the Senior Management Council have been responsive and constructive, too. These discussions have always involved elements of humour, which has added a positive and pleasant touch to our work.
We feel the Faculties have really been able to come together to tackle the major challenges we have faced during the period. We have gained experience and learned lessons from what have generally been instructive “crises”. How the pandemic was handled opened the door to development of new types of instruction and more flexible working, and has also lowered the threshold for digital meetings that do not involve travelling. The problems with email and the attention focused on animal experiments involving dogs are other crises that have affected our activities, but we have also learned useful lessons and gained handy experience for our future activities.
We will be returning to our research in the New Year – this will also be satisfying, but in a different way. Henrik will reach retirement age in the spring, but will continue to maintain active links with the university as a senior researcher.
Merry Christmas, and thank you for all the years! We hope to see you at the farewell celebrations for the faculty management on 21 December!
Agneta Holmäng, Dean
Henrik Hagberg, Pro-Dean
