News from the management

It is with great pleasure that we can note the strong admission numbers for our programmes. We are now eagerly awaiting the students’ acceptance of their places so that we can welcome all the new and enthusiastic students this autumn. I would like to extend a big THANK YOU to all teachers, students, programme study directors, course coordinators, administrative staff within undergraduate and master’s education, communicators, and everyone else who has been engaged and worked hard to promote our programmes – you should rightfully be proud.

New deputy dean

Our deputy dean, Aakash Chawade, will be leaving us on 31 May to take up a professorship at Göttingen University in Germany. Aakash has done a fantastic job at the faculty as a researcher, and not least as vice dean and deputy dean with responsibility for our research infrastructures. I would like to wish Aakash the very best of luck in his new position – we will miss you.

Our new deputy dean will be Senior Lecturer and current vice dean, Caroline Dahl. Caroline will take up the position on 1 June and will retain the same area of responsibility as today – namely first- and second-cycle education. I very much look forward to working with Caroline, and she will do an excellent job as deputy dean.

Calls for Educational Initiatives and Innovations

I would like to highlight that there are two calls for funding for educational initiatives with a deadline of 15 May: Best Practice and Sparbanken Skåne’s Centre for Sustainable Primary Production.

There is also another interesting call for researchers and students who have an idea with the potential to transform the green sector or the food supply chain: the SLU Alnarp and Sparbanken Skåne Innovation Awards 2026, offering grants of up to SEK 150,000. The application deadline is 30 September 2026.

Later this year, the faculty will also offer the opportunity to apply for funding for small-scale equipment. The purpose of the call is to promote high-quality research and education, encourage increased use of advanced research equipment in education, and foster collaboration to improve the quality and use of our infrastructures – more information will be sent out soon.

Success in the Formas Call

A great deal is happening at the faculty. We were successful in the latest Formas call, receiving three grants of SEK 6 million each (Helena Persson Hovmalm, Anna Karin Rosberg and Beatrix Alsanius), and on Monday a five-year continuation grant was awarded to the Biogas Solutions Research Center (Thomas Prade and colleagues) – congratulations to all of you and to the faculty.

A new webpage for research calls and scholarships for researchers, teachers, doctoral students, postdocs, and students is currently being developed, and we hope this will make it easier to find relevant funding opportunities.

Coordination Grants

In April, the faculty decided to introduce coordination grants for major research applications. The funding is awarded to researchers preparing larger applications where the LTV Faculty is the coordinating party (SEK 50,000), and if a professional grant-writing consultant is engaged, up to SEK 100,000 may be granted. The coordination grant is applied for by the Head of Department, so please contact your Head of Department for guidance if you wish to apply and coordinate a larger research proposal.

Networking Forum

The faculty has initiated a networking forum for our subject area coordinators. The idea behind the forum is for coordinators to meet, get to know one another, increase and facilitate collaboration between subject areas and departments, and exchange experiences, ideas, opportunities, and challenges.

New Project Manager for Västra Noden

Regarding our campus development project – Västra Noden – we have appointed a new project manager, Henrik Nyström, who is an experienced project manager in construction and planning. He is based in Vegetum. We now also have the responsible project group from Akademiska Hus physically present in Lund and Alnarp, the architects have become more closely connected to the laboratory group, we have established a new laboratory group, and a greenhouse group will soon be appointed. Things are now really beginning to take shape.

Faculty Day this Autumn and NOR

I would also like to remind you about Faculty Day in Alnarp on 27 August from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., as well as the Long and Faithful Service Award Ceremony (NOR) on 4 December.

Finally, I would like to wish you all a wonderful spring semester 2026 – and do not forget to enjoy the beautiful spring in Alnarp Park.

Best regards

Christina