Susanne Odung, Head of Finance.(Foto: Mikael Sjöberg)
Inflation has an impact on KTH’s finances, particularly when it comes to our premises, as our rental agreements are index linked and increase annually. The higher costs remain in place also after inflation comes down again. In the run-up to 2023, rent costs for premises increased by around SEK 80 million due to inflation, and we expect further increases ahead of 2024.
KTH’s opportunities and continued development as a leading technical university depend on good, stable long-term finances. In February, the university’s President decided on measures for balanced finances. Some of the results of this were the campus review, a cost-cutting requirement of SEK 50 million for the University Administration in 2024, and a request for heads of school to identify opportunities to increase income in education, and to consider possible ways of reducing costs or increasing earnings in operational planning for 2024.
This is the time of year when operational planning for the next year is under way. As well as measures for balanced finances, the process is influenced by a new internal price model for premises, as well as plans for revised allocation of GRU (first-cycle) funding. KTH will now see what challenges lie ahead as regards a balanced budget, and how we can find solutions together. Here at the Finance Office, we are contributing to the ongoing process in various ways like for instance calculations and documentations.
Meanwhile, efforts continue to streamline and coordinate financial administration in order to free up resources for education and research. The University Director therefore recently made a decision to coordinate the sub-ledger function (which works with KTH’s flow of payments) within the Finance Office.
Development of KTH’s financial control is under way, as are efforts to ensure efficient project management. The key here is to harmonize processes and utilize system support. Procurement of system support for operational planning and financial control is awaiting the green light.
Sandra Falck, Head of Division, SciLifeLab Administration.
SciLifeLab has been around for 13 years, so it’s now a teenager. And I think a very socially engaged, ambitious teenager, with the flexibility and fresh perspectives its youth allows. In terms of organisation and scientific focus, a lot has happened since 2010, but SciLifeLab’s main offering persists: a national research infrastructure that makes spearhead technologies available for exploring life. The data-led research of today brings with it new demands, and SciLifeLab helps to lay the foundation for the research of tomorrow.
By ascertaining how molecules, cells and ecosystems interact, we can understand how life works. This enables us to meet and resolve societal challenges in areas such as health, climate and the environment. SciLifeLab is a setting where researchers come together across department, faculty and university boundaries, and it is an initiative that benefits a lot of people.
And just like all teenagers, SciLifeLab is undergoing a real growth spurt. KTH is the principal for SciLifeLab, which is run in a collaboration between the four founding universities: KTH, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm University and Uppsala University. Today SciLifeLab is represented at all Swedish universities, and has local sites in Gothenburg, Linköping, Lund and Umeå. KTH, KI and SU have, within the framework of SciLifeLab, a meeting-point for activities at Campus Solna, which is SciLifeLab’s biggest site.
As Head of Division in SciLifeLab’s Administration – part of the University Administration at KTH – I have the privilege, alongside the rest of VS and the other parts of SciLifeLab, to work to support and develop the operation to ensure the greatest possible leverage for this shared resource in the academic, healthcare and industrial spheres.
Sandra Falck, Head of Division, SciLifeLab Administration
Here at KTH, there is a rich stream of data flowing through a great many exciting fields of research. This volume of data – from carefully compiled figures and statistical analyses, to texts with interviews or survey responses, photographs, drawings, video clips and software code – is at the very heart of our research.
Since research data is the basis on which research results are founded, it needs to be able to be reviewed and reused. By sharing and reusing the results, we build a stronger foundation for future findings. But of course this requires a structured, meticulous approach to managing research data, and this is not always simple. Research is a dynamic world, and researchers move between institutions and projects, which can mean that valuable data gets lost when a person leaves or a project comes to an end.
This is why the KTH Library, the IT department, the Research Support Office (RSO) and the PDC Center for High Performance Computing are joining forces to create services that make it easier for researchers to work more smartly with research data. It relates to the entire process, from project start-up and active research, to project close and publication. We advise on regulations and recommend data depositories for sharing project data during ongoing research, and also promote discussion on how we can store data and make it available once the project comes to an end.
By collaborating across multiple departments with different areas of expertise, we can establish a support structure that no department could have built up individually. Read more on the Research data page, or contact researchdata@kth.se to find out more.
Katarina Jonsson Berglund, Head of Education Office.
You might think that KTH closes down for the summer, but certain departments remain extremely busy throughout. The Education Office is one of them, with selection and admission for our major autumn term intake in July and August.
There is a far-reaching collaboration between Sweden’s universities and higher education institutions and the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) in assessment of grades and other qualifications.
This is a good example of what I like to call ‘together work’: we deal with the task efficiently, alongside all admissions staff in Sweden, and draw benefit from the collective overall expertise, wherever in the country we live and work.
This was an important part of our risk management during the pandemic: when Stockholm was under severe pressure from the coronavirus, colleagues from across Sweden got in touch to help out. This was certainly reassuring at the time, but it is also something we carry with us into our new support services organisation. How can we work more together, while still retaining our local connection to students and faculty?
Another good example of together work at KTH is when we welcome our new students in the autumn. On Monday, the 14th of August, over 3,500 students were taken in at Borggården by university admin staff, in collaboration with THS – the student union at KTH, and the chapters. Together we perform a huge task in an efficient manner, under pleasant collaborative conditions. The following weekend, we welcomed our international students. And in the autumn, we are taking new steps for further positive together work!
I hope that, like me, you are enjoying the students’ arrival on campus. We’re up and running again!
In May, the University Alliance Stockholm Trio – comprising KTH, Karolinska Institute (KI) and Stockholm University (SU) – was four years old. The Steering Committee of presidents and university directors met on 7 June at SU, and one of the points on the agenda was the agreement reached by the presidents on a joint master’s programme in biostatistics and computer science.
Three Presidents at KI, SU and KTH signing an agreement on a joint master,s programme.
Last week, the heads of the three universities’ support services also met up at KI to discuss shared development issues. There’s a lot to be gained by supporting the collective scientific strengths of the trio and striving for joint efficiencies in support services. It is clear that by introducing a shared master’s programme, we have remedied quite a few administrative obstacles and challenges, and that in itself is worth celebrating. If we’ve done it once, we can do it again.
Development is under way at the three trio universities, and indeed at virtually all Swedish universities, so it is a real benefit to be able to discuss joint issue with colleagues in different contexts. Many people are curious about what we do at KTH, and I am proud to doff my summer hat and thank everyone at the University Administration for their efforts and commitment.
One success factor is the fact that we can work in a structured, systematic way with our prioritised development activities. As part of our efforts to build the necessary organisational capability, we have produced project manager training, specially designed to drive the operational development of the University Administration. All course participants have a real-life development assignment to work on during the training, and on completion everyone is invited to join a network of project managers who can carry on supporting each other. A new round of training is now open for applications. More information can be found at Basic practical project management (In Swedish).
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