This blog post was originally published on the Science Village-office blog. The Science Village-office has been closed and thus this post is now being published on the LU in Science Village-blog.
Hello Knut Deppert and “Lotta” Charlotta Turner, Faculty Coordinators assigned to support the Faculty of Engineering (LTH) and the Faculty of Science with the establishment in Science Village. How is it going?
Lotta: Right now we are out and presenting various proposals on how to divide the establishment into phases.
Exciting! What does that mean?
Knut: We started by thinking about what a division into phases could look like. We came up with these clusters to start from and now we have some scenarios that we want feedback on. Do people understand our proposals? Are they relevant to this context? Will questions arise that suggest that one scenario would not work, or that one scenario would be better or worse than others?
Lotta: You have to remember that it’s a very complex job with a complex organization. There are several institutions involved – and many departments. There are so many facets that need to be considered.
Knut: We have a vision of a full-scale academic environment. And that means research environments, but also students and undergraduate education. We have support from the Group for Learning Environment, which has representatives from both physics and chemistry, including students.
How will you achieve that vision?
Lotta: We think we have to talk and listen to people, prioritizing communication. This is not something that one or two people can just decide on, we have to work on this together. And it’s an ongoing process. What we discuss now may make our vision for the next few years clearer, but the further ahead we think the more blurry it is. At the same time, it’s probably the process that is important. How we meet and communicate and where it takes us.
In the scenarios you present, you have started from a cluster division with departments. How did you come up with that?
Knut: We had to start somewhere and we started with what we know today. The current situation is the situation we start with. At the same time, we must try to see into the future. It’s hard to know “what would this mean in 30 years?” but we do our best.
Lotta: We have looked at scenarios as potential ways forward. One perspective was to take today’s departments and look at how they can fit together in clusters. For example, the Division of Atomic Physics, the Division of Combustion Physics and the Division of Chemical Physics make a possible clust They want to build a Lund Laser Center in Science Village. But, it is absolutely possible that we have imagined clusters that aren’t very good. That is why we must go out and listen to what researchers, teachers and students say.
Why use clusters at all?
Lotta: It’s not likely that everyone within in chemistry and physics could be established in Science Village at the same time. It may be better to do it step by step using phases. Then it’s important that we have clusters that describe who could enjoy sitting together and who could enjoy staying and be established in Science Village a little later. In the end, it may not be today’s research topics, departments and groupings that determines the scopes of the establishment, but it’s a proposal to work on with.
Knut: New ideas about using other perspectives may come up along the way and Lotta and I must be responsive and flexible.
Can you briefly describe the scope proposals, the different scenarios with phases of establishment?
Knut: We are proposing four different scenarios. The difference is how big they are in size, and who would be established in Science Village in which phase.
Lotta: It so happened that we call the scenarios “bites”. Reasonably big “bite sizes” of the university should be established in the various stages. In part, it has to do with costs. Moving everyone at once would, for example, mean an expensive and complicated construction process. But we include it as scenario 4, called “the Giga bite”.
Knut: The first scenario is called “Small bites”, after that is “Medium-sized bites” and the fourth scenario is called “the Giga bite”. The third scenario that no one really believes in would mean establishing first physics and then chemistry.
Lotta: But you never know! So we include that proposal as well.
So, what do you think? Are any of these scenarios more likely?
Knut: I think there will be some mixing in the end. A modification of one of our proposals.
Lotta: I think so too. If I should guess, I think the result will be something between “Small bites” and “Medium-sized bites”. But we don’t yet have figures on what everything means financially, why we shouldn’t guess too much. There are so many parameters! For example, it’s not certain it’s cheaper to stay in existing premises if they need to be renovated.
Knut: A complicated construction could also be what makes the result fantastic. Creating good synergy effects. We are not ruling anything out right now.
Lotta: It all depends on what we come up with during the process. We try to look at all possibilities and be like sponges that absorb all the information we receive.
What happens next? I understand you have a pretty ambitious schedule?
Knut: We have many meetings and conversations ahead of us. With the pandemic, we have had to switch to digital meetings. But the dialogues we’ve had so far have gone well and been constructive. Our thoughts don’t seem to be completely wrong. I’m optimistic!
Lotta: It will go at a furious pace, but I think that’s good. I think we are ready to move on to the next step. Let’s do this.
Thank you so much for the interview and good luck!
Linnea Mörth, Communications Officer at the Science Village office
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The Science Village office welcomes newly appointed Faculty Coordinators 2021-10-19
Phases?
The picture below is a slide from Knut’s and Lotta’s PowerPoint, illustrating the approximate time frame for the different phases.
Time plan
To prepare for decisions needed in 2022, the following activities need to be implemented. The time plan may need to be adjusted as we now reset from physical meetings to digital.
January-February
Dialogue and interviews with the organization, students included
February
Risk assessments – Workshop
February-March
Referral Round
March
Report to the faculties before a decision
March
Faculty Presiding Committee
April
Approval by the boards of the Faculty of Science and LTH of the proposed phases, risk assessments, and a plan for financing increased local costs
May
Vice-Chancellor assesses the proposal in relation to the overall campus development
June
The 9-step construction process starts for phase 2