16 January 2024: Update to staff at BioNut and MedH

Failure to refill liquid nitrogen tanks in Neo

The meeting started with a summary to all staff on the effects of the failure to refill liquid nitrogen tanks in Neo on 22-23 December. On 27 December 16 of 19 tanks were found with too high temperatures and a devastating amount of research samples were lost. This incident is handled outside of the project to integrate BioNut and MedH but is of great concern to the research at both departments. The cause of the refill failure is so far unknown and there are no indications of deliberate actions. The incident is being investigated and more robust routines have already been put into place. 

Programme presented for the retreat for group and team leaders on 1-2 February

Positive news are that a majority of the research groups at BioNut and MedH will be represented at the retreat for group leaders and team leaders on 1-2 February. The aim of the retreat is to get to know each other and together start to build a robust, creative and inspiring research environment into the future. Petter Höglund, head of MedH, and Janne Johansson, head of BioNut, are in charge of the programme which will include:

• Speed dating and sharing of expectations for the future
• Inspirational talk by Gunnar von Heijne, Professor in Biochemistry at Stockholm University, member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences since 1997, member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry 2001­–2009, as well as chairman of the Committee 2007-2009, followed by a panel discussion about how to build and maintain a successful scientific environment
• Creative session on possible new and innovative projects at MedH after the merge
• Social interactions to get-to-know each other better. 

BioNut's historical debt settled

In December 2023 BioNut's historical debt of 27,2 MSEK was settled by central funds at KI.

Update on the decision on INDI for 2024

As was shared at the last meeting in December, MedH's research INDI (21,53%) will be used for both BioNut and MedH from 1 January 2024. The actual costs for lower research INDI for BioNut of circa 3% will be covered by central funds (omställningskostnader) and settled at the end of 2024. 

MedH's education INDI (53,43%) will be used for both BioNut and MedH. The costs for lower education INDI for BioNut of circa 1% will also be covered by central funds (omställningskostnader).

The basis for these decisions by the KI leadership has been prepared by the project's task force group for finance.

Allocation of government funding

The allocation of government funding (statsanslaget) will be separate for BioNut and MedH in 2024. Starting 2025, one common budget for the government funding will be used. 

Developments in the task force groups

The project manager Agneta Wallin Levinovitz summarised the work done so far and the current plans ahead within the project's task force groups:

• A new organisational unit "Avdelning BioNut” has been added to the MedH organisational tree in Primula
• A plan for the adjusted education organisation at MedH will be proposed by the GUA:s at BioNut and MedH in February 
• Transfer of courses from BioNut to MedH in the education database Selma starts in January 
• Transfer of the PhD-students' Individual Study Plans (40) from BioNut to MedH will take place in Q2
• A webpage with questions and answers about the project is being prepared and presented at the next information meeting. 

Many technical preparations underway - but yet not affecting daily work 

Agneta Wallin Levinovitz underlined that much of the practical work being done in the project still does not affect most of the staff at BioNut and MedH. The integration of the two departments is dependent on many technical preparations which should not interfere with the affected staff's daily work. Examples of IT-system related tasks to be performed:

• Create 300 projects in the IT-system UBW
• Update of 220 projects in the contract ledger (avtalsdatabasen i UBW)
• Move research projects for 20 research groups at BioNut
• Move ca 550 fixed assets and inventories from BioNut to MedH
• Transfer the wage accounts for each BioNut employee to MedH
• Transfer 54 affiliations in the IT-systems from BioNut to MedH
• Update of 186 project numbers in Companion, the billing system for telephony, IT services, licenses and computer services 
• Transfer ca 40 courses (basic/adv education, research courses) from BioNut to MedH
• Handle delegations 

As soon as we have a detailed timeline it will be shared with all staff so that you know what technical changes to expect and can plan your work accordingly. There will of course be no transfers in the IT-systems for the current MedH staff, current MedH project numbers and ZZ-references will be maintained as is today. 

Finally, there was an opportunity for dialogue and questions answered by the dean, the two heads and project manager.

Regular information meetings

Everyone at BioNut and MedH is invited to regular information meetings in Zoom during the course of the project (see the calendar or Outlook). There will be time to ask questions and hear more about what steps are being taken to integrate BioNut with MedH. This was the fifth information meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for 6 February. 

Dates have been set for information meetings in 2024 on the following Tuesdays at 12:15-12:45:

• February 6
• March 5
• March 26
• April 16
• May 7
• May 28
• June 18