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.
Interview with Knut Deppert, Faculty Coordinator at the Science Village office with a focus on LTH. Knut gives an update related to Lund University’s establishment in Science Village while reflecting on his role in the ongoing work.
What’s going on right now in the establishment process, Knut?
In September the Faculty Boards at both the Faculty of Science and LTH jointly submitted a request to the Vice-Chancellor to continue investigating “Stage 2” of the University’s establishment in Science Village while looking specifically at “Scenario 5”.
Scenario 5, would you mind explaining what that is?
Charlotta Turner, Faculty Coordinator with a focus on the Faculty of Science, and I, together with the rest of the Science Village office, drew up different scenarios regarding how much of the organization could be established in Science Village, and at what pace the establishment should be done. At the same time, we have also looked at the pros and cons of the various scenarios.
We initially produced four different scenarios. These proposals were then reworked and reduced to two – Scenario 5 and 6 – after workshops and dialogues with LTH, the Faculty of Science, student unions, and other supporting-institutions within the University organization.
Scenario 5 means that Nanolab Science Village will be established during Stage 1, without waiting for Stage 2. The next step will be, as part of Stage 2, to get the current Department of Physics and almost all of Chemistry jointly established on an approximate area of 40,000 square meters in Science Village.
Activities proposed to continue to be developed at the current Department of Chemistry are Chemical Engineering, Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition, Division of Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology. Part of the basic higher education, which is conducted by Chemical Engineering and Food Technology, will thus stay at the Department of Chemistry for possible later establishment at Stage 3.
An answer from the Vice-Chancellor is expected at the end of November and then we can go from “if and when” we will establish ourselves in Science Village, to discussing HOW we will do it. That will be exciting!
What else is happening right now?
Apart from waiting on that, LU Byggnad have started working on volume studies, meaning different alternatives on how to place buildings in Science Village where LU could be placed as per Detail Plan 4. The work is therefore progressing and it is interesting to explore how high or wide the University could look on site.
Nanolab Science Village will be located on the land included in Detailed Plan 2 (DP2), and we are currently looking at Detailed Plan 4 (DP4) as the future location for LU’s operations. See picture below. A detailed plan is the municipality’s governing document and governs how the land in a given location may be used.
How has your and Charlotta Turner’s role been during this process?
Us Faculty Coordinators have worked intensively on developing the different scenarios for establishment and then revised these based on dialogues and workshops with those concerned. The work has led to increased discussions within the faculties, which I see as positive.
What has been the most fun but also the most challenging about your work?
Being a pioneer in a work that is not always clear nor simple, and trying to understand the process and get everyone involved, have been challenging but also interesting!
The hardest part has been that there are so many different parties in the process. There have sometimes been different ideas and visions for the establishment. So, the most challenging about this has been getting everyone on the same track towards a common goal.
Interview by Cecilia Schubert, Communications Officer at the Science Village office