Ingrid Ljungvall's declaration of intent

Internal/external assignments: I teach at the veterinary program and, to a lesser extent, at the veterinary nursing program. I also work as a clinician at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, SLU. My research includes a variety of areas within veterinary medicine, but my primary focus in research concerns cardiovascular disease processes, diagnostic tests of these and their treatments, in dogs and cats. I supervise and teach Master and doctoral students in a wide range of subject areas, and I also supervise and teach Swedish and foreign veterinarians undergoing post-graduate national and international clinical specialization programs.

In recent years, I have participated in different working groups concerning teaching and clinical activities at SLU and in different collaborative projects together with representatives from the private and public sectors. An example is a Swedish project that I am currently leading, which is aimed at establishing guidelines for writing veterinary case records that can be used in the university teaching environment at SLU as well as by veterinarians working in the public or private sectors. I am comparably regularly invited to write book chapters in internationally distributed textbooks for veterinary students and veterinarians.

Important challenges in the future for the faculty: It is my sincere wish that SLU shall be a first-class university in the world. Because of this, it is my opinion that it is vital that we have a solid and practically possible plan for grooming new generations of teachers and researchers at the faculty in different subject areas.

Currently, there is a significant shortage of veterinarians and veterinary nurses in Sweden and the government has plans to allocate additional economical funding to these programs. It is important that these means are used in a wise manner and that current and future structures and practices for teaching and funding at the faculty are actively discussed as the university must align with the public development and needs.

To establish a working environment that is characterized by trust and sustainability, it is my opinion that it is important that staff working at different levels in the organization can make their voices heard higher up in the organization. To achieve this goal, it is important that different forums are established where meetings can occur in a natural and relaxed way and where different opinions can be brought forward, discussed and ventilated.

Although SLU has actively prioritized certain research area over specified time periods, it is of great importance to maintain the diversity at the university and highlight areas that might not have been traditionally fronted by the university.

What I can offer the new Faculty Board: I have an extensive national and international network of contacts with people working at other universities. I like to find positive solutions from activities outside SLU and would very much like to see some of these implemented at our university in the future. As a person, I am committed and want to work towards stable and transparent structures for research, education, and clinical activity at our university. I wish to stimulate an increased collaboration between closely related educational programs at the university and try to maintain a “helicopter” perspective on how we, with joined forces, can work towards an improved quality of these programs.

A few personal notes: I come originally from Norway and I am still a Norwegian citizen (but now there is a possibility of dual citizenship and I will, hopefully, also become a Swedish citizen). I live with husband, child and dogs in Uppsala, and I very much appreciate to live in vicinity of a beautiful protected recreational area. I also try to get some mountain air in my lungs a few times a year