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Our yearly safety inspections represent an important event to make the working environment at ITM’s offices and laboratories of highest standard to create a safe and inspiring working environment as well as to meet the Swedish law requirements. As a part of these efforts, it is time for our yearly safety inspections at each department. During the safety inspections an expert from Avanova will also participate. The specific days for the safety inspections are the following:
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering: Wednesday February 21
- Department of Learning: Wednesday March 28
- Department of Industrial Production: Wednesday March 7
- Deans office education office: Thursday March 8
- Deans office Sing Sing: Thursday March 15
- Department of Industrial Economy and Management: Thursday March 22
- Department of Sustainable Production Development: Wednesday March 28
- Department of Energy: Wednesday April 4
- Department of Machine Design Wednesday April 11
The outcome of the safety inspections will be a document that summarizes possible corrections that need to be addressed. It is each Department Head’s task to make a plan to specify how and when these corrections should be completed in order to meet our standards as well as to meet the laws and regulations. Please contact your nearest manager if you need more information regarding the safety inspection at your department.
For those of you with kids an important time of the year is coming up next week, namely “sports week” (sportlov). Most of you will most likely plan some winter activities and I wish you a pleasant time. However, I will take a short break in the desert in Arizona. Shorts and t-shirt, swimming in pools, Mexican food… Sounds good or what do you think?
Pär Jönsson, Vice Head of School
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It’s gotten crowded in Sing Sing. The Education Administration received more employees in connection with the school gaining a new department on 1 January 2018, the Department of Learning. Jan, Pär, Christina have moved into the library building. Jenni, the school’s new Communications Manager, will also be moving in.
We are now on the 4th floor of the southern tower. You are all warmly welcome to join us for coffee if you happen to be in the neighbourhood.
/Christina Carlsson, Head of Administration
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Many supervisors find it hard to know how to admit PhD student and especially if the student comes from a country outside Europe. It can be difficult to find ones way through the governing documents of KTH and the school. It may also be difficult to know how to best advise the student regarding residence permits, housing, etc.
I have just employed a PhD student and have during the process noted what is important to think about in each step, what documents need to be in place and in what order etc. I intend to write a short description of this and post on the ITM website. Hopefully soon 🙂
It is almost time for the annual ITM doctoral conference, it takes place April 18-19, and will again be held at Skogshem and Wijk in Lindingö. This year’s theme is not yet fixed so ideas and suggestions are welcome.
/ Malin Selleby, FA
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Docent is a title, which enables a person to act as a main supervisor for a PhD student. It should be noted that it is only a title and it does not influence the employment of a person. Thus, this enables external people to apply for becoming a Docent. This is a good way for us at ITM and KTH to build strong collaborations with, for example, institutes. We already know that we have many external PhD students today and for example at institutes. If we build up an improved supervision knowledge at the institute the external PhD student can get an improved supervision on the site where they are active, as a complement to the supervision from the KTH supervisor.
The procedure for becoming a Docent has changed from January 1, 2018. Similar to before, the scientific qualifications are judged by an external expert. Thereafter, the Docent Committee’s task is to judge the pedagogical aspects of the person. The committee consists of a chair person, two teacher representatives and one student representative. The latter is selected by the KTH student organization THS, but is most commonly the elective student representative for each doctoral program. Finally, if the Docent title is granted a diploma is presented at a seminar where the candidate gives a lecture.
Currently, we have a dozen of Docent applications that are in progress at ITM. If you wish to learn more about a Docent seminar you have a chance on February 14 at 14.00. Lei Feng will give his Docent lecture and receive his Docent diploma in room B242 at Brinellvägen 83.
I also wish to inform you that Professor Natalia Skorodumova has become a new member of the ITM team this year. She will be the vice chairperson in the recruitment committee for hiring of faculty as well as for the Docent committee.
Finally, I wish to say that it is nice that the days are getting longer week by week. For me the need for day light seems to increase in importance as the year goes by. Is this a sign of that I am getting old or simply a craving for the D vitamin from the sun?
/Pär Jönsson, Vice Head of School
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Now the spring semester of 2018 has begun and hopefully all our courses and education is up and running. Personally I look forward to supervise master thesis projects, meeting all off these creative and engaged students close to their graduation is inspiring 🙂
One important educational issue that is upcoming is that it’s time for us to start working with this years program analysis. The program analysis are governed by the fact that KTH’s programs has to be designed in such a way that they comply with both the university’s learning objectives as well as the Learning Outcome of the Higher Education Ordinance. Also UKÄs mission for the new national quality assurance system for education is based on the fact that the higher education institutions are given increased responsibility for their own quality assurance at all levels of education, and then UKÄ will review that the institutions have taken this responsibility. In order for us at ITM to be able to do reliable and accurate program analysis all course responsible teachers must contribute with course evaluations and course analysis. So, if you have a course that is mandatory for any of our programs, please send the course analysis to the program director!
Lastly I hope that you all have seen the invitation send by the ITM management team regarding Södertälje Science Week (January 31th – February 2nd). The new campus in Södertälje is very important for many of our programs, so if you want to know more about this event you can find more information here.
/ Anna Jerbrant, GA
