Letter from the Dean

Relaxing, recharging and reflecting – three things that are so important, for ourselves, and our creativity. Many of us are now looking forward to the summer holidays, an opportunity to slow down and enjoy this beautiful season. And perhaps this will be the time when a new idea on how to cooperate with your colleagues will take root?

This spring, the faculty board spent two days at Krusenberg manor. We held a faculty board meeting, but also learnt more about how the faculty functions. One of the items on the agenda was support for IDA (Interdisciplinary Academy), a joint effort between the NJ Faculty and the SLU Future Food platform. The IDA concept is to have a group of researchers with different academic backgrounds cooperate on an issue they want to research from an interdisciplinary perspective. Anyone at SLU can take part in IDA. One or more themes will be selected for IDA, and the researchers working on those themes will set aside one day a week for 8 months for this task. The aim is to increase knowledge about interdisciplinary research cooperation. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about interdisciplinarity; apply for IDA before 24 August.

But before then, enjoy the summer with its slower rhythm, and take the opportunity to relax, recharge and reflect, so important for cracking new, exciting research questions. It’s striking how often funny, creative ideas or solutions to problems you’ve had on your mind suddenly pop up in the most unexpected situations. Relaxing, recharging and reflecting – three things that are so important, for ourselves, and our creativity. And who knows, perhaps it’ll be during a walk through a summer forest, or during an early morning swim in a cool lake, with the morning mist still rising, that the seed of a new idea will start to grow? If that happens, don’t forget to apply for IDA when you return to work: Cross-disciplinary thematic groups at SLU’s Interdisciplinary Academy.

Last but not least, I wish you all a pleasant summer,

/Helena Hansson, professor and vice dean responsible for developing multi- and transdisciplinarity