Professional Services' staff meeting 29 January 2025
On 29 January, KI's Professional Services gathered for a first staff meeting in the new organisation. All offices were introduced and researcher Ylva Trolle Lagerros described how Professional Services and research are linked at KI. Below is a summary of the information shared at the meeting.
KI's University Director Veronika Sundström and Vice President Martin Bergö welcomed everyone to the Erling Persson Hall in Aula Medica, where the staff meeting was held for the first time. There was a good turnout with over 400 employees. There are currently around 540 employees in the Professional Services and around 110 employees at KIB (including temporary staff).
How Professional Services and research at KI are linked
Professional Services is important for the core activities (education, research and collaboration) to function at KI. To illustrate this, Professor Ylva Trolle Lagerros was invited to talk about her research and how important the Professional Services at KI is for her and her colleagues. She was asked many questions about what can be improved and how her research on prevention and obesity works.
New management team and new offices
On 1 January, the new GVS organisation came into force with seven offices. GVS-Staff is a support function to the University Director and the Professional Services, but not a separate office. The heads of office and the head of the university library, KIB, are part of the Professional Services’ management team, which introduced itself at the meeting:
- Veronika Sundström: University Director
- Björn Kull: Office of Research Support and External Relations
- Åsa Nandorf: Education Support Office
- Gunnar Gustafsson Wiss: Office of Legal, Planning and Economics Affairs
- Rikard Becker: Property and Facilities Office
- Johanna Bäckström (represented by Peter Gustafsson, Head of Unit at the meeting): HR Office
- Mattias Nordström: Information Technology Office
- Peter Andréasson: Communications and Public Relations Office
- Over the coming year, the offices will continue to evolve - what we have done now is akin to a skeleton. Now we're going to dress it up with muscles, joints and strength! said Veronika Sundström.
The review of KI’s all operational support will continue in the spring within focus area F1. Marie-Louice Isacson is leading the work of reviewing how we can work even better between the different levels of operational support – from Professional Services to campuses and departments.
Much work is being done in all of KI's nine prioritised focus areas, which will be highlighted during upcoming staff meetings. Read more about them on the Staff Portal.
Current issues and information points
KI in general:
In December the government presented its research and innovation bill, which will shape Swedish research over the next four years. It has a strong focus on technological development, which is positive for KI.
The government's appropriation directions for KI 2025 contained no particular surprises. KI continues to do well and our financial situation is stable.
KI’s financial statements for 2024 are almost finalised and show a larger surplus than last year, which means that our regulatory capital continues to increase. A large part of the surplus is due to interest income on the capital at KI's disposal and is likely to decrease now that interest rates are falling. However, more of KI’s regulatory capital needs to be used for research and education.
At the last meeting of the University Board in December, KI's risk analysis for 2025 was presented, in which security issues are prioritised. All employees are encouraged to complete the mini training programmes sent out by the information security function via Outlook.
GVS in general:
The GVS operational plan for 2025 is almost finalised and will soon be updated on the staff portal. This year, the operational plan also includes information on how each office integrates the environmental and sustainability perspective into its activities.
“Environment and sustainability is one of many issues where we can and must all contribute. Please join us at the Sustainability Day on 2 April and contact our environmental coordinators if you have ideas or questions," said Veronika Sundström.
Developments within the project to Modernise the Way of Working and the Workplace will be shared with managers in February. After that, more information will be shared with all staff. The project is planning to visit all offices to inform and get input in the further work.
On 3 March, Sven Carlsson will take up the post of Head of the Office of Legal, Planning and Economic Affairs. He comes from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and succeeds Gunnar Gustafsson Wiss, who will retire in the summer.
Upcoming GVS forums
More information will be provided in Outlook invitations. If the need arises, additional meetings will be booked.
| 13 February | GVS management forum | |||
| 18 February 16-18 pm | GVS-pub - everyone at KIB and UoL are welcome! | |||
| 25 March 13-14:30 pm | Digital staff meeting | |||
| 29 April | GVS management forum | |||
| TBA | GVS-pub - everyone at KIB and UoL are welcome! | |||
| 3 June 13-14:30 pm | Digital staff meeting |
Presentations from the meeting
Presentations from Professional Services' staff meetings are shared with all heads of office and summarised in a news item on the Staff Portal that can be viewed by logged-in staff.
Please contact Matilda Pearson, Communications Officer focusing on internal communications and PS, if you have ideas or comments regarding the staff meetings.