How is the State of our Biology Union doing 2024? The Blue hall was packed to the very last seat as many of our curious colleagues wanted to get updated on the status and plans for the coming year.
– The union is doing well! Our research is highly cited, we have a record high in grants, we have highly qualified and satisfied students. On the other hand we have financial challenges due to inflation, said Jessica Abbot, head of the department.
As a result of the recent reorganization, our new units we will soon see relocations. As a result of the financial deficit, there are plans to move out of parts of the biology building. A final decision is expected to be signed by the faculty dean on 1 October.
But we’re not the only department with financial struggles. A trend at the faculty is to merge departments. The next in line is Geology, CEC and INES that will form the department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
– Since Astronomy moved to Fysicum, there are plans for the partly empty Astronomy building to host i a study centre and a centralized faculty library – much like that of Forum Medicum, said Joakim Nilsson, our administrative head.
– I’m really exited about our new graduate research school in Integrative Biology (IBIO), said Klas Flärd, who will join forces with Dennis Hasselqvist as directors of studies for postgraduate education.
– We are really good at getting ERC funding, said Marie Dacke. She also talked about the grant writing support and ERC advisory board.
The Q and A-session at the end had several interesting questions covering economy, strategic recruitment and the moving plans. As usual, the State of the Union meeting was followed by fika and a chance to mingle with new and old colleagues.
Text and photo: Anders Örtegren
