Work to establish the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Coordination Group's First Meeting

The coordination group has had its first meeting. The group initially includes Vice Dean Karin Hall (convener), Head of Department Anders Scherstén, Head of Department Petter Pilesjö, Director Katarina Hedlund, Deputy Head of Department Raimund Muscheler, Deputy Head of Department Anna Maria Jönsson, Deputy Director Yann Clough, Project Manager Daniel Kåreda, student representative Pontus Rabe, and administrative support Karin Hofvendahl.

Project Plan and Subprojects

Project leader Daniel Kåreda went through the project plan for the Establishment of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (STYR 2024/3287), as well as the five subprojects involved. Daniel and the subproject leaders will develop subproject plans in January and subproject groups will be appointed.

Advisory Group's Role and Composition

The dean is the client for the project, and there is an advisory group whose function is to contribute with operational knowledge regarding the direction of the project and to advise and act as a sounding board regarding the project. The group consists of heads of department, director, incoming head of department, vice dean, project manager, head of faculty office and student representatives for both undergraduate and PhD studies. The group will meet every week during the spring.

Project Information and Communication

Further information about the project will be provided in due course. 
The project plan (in Swedish) can be found on the Swedish version of this webpage under the 'Projektplan' section (naturvetenskap.lu.se)

The coordination group meets every two weeks. Meeting notes from the coordination group meetings will be sent out to the staff on a regular basis. The coordination group is the project group in one of the sub-projects, Organisation and Governance, where Karin Hall is the project manager.

Working Group – A Preparatory Function

A working group consisting of the vice-dean, project manager, heads of department/director, and administrative support meets weekly. It is a preparatory group for the coordination group. The working group also discusses ongoing issues that need to be handled jointly by the three heads of department.

Collaboration with Safety Representatives and Risk Analysis Follow-Up

The coordination group meets the safety representatives for the departments/centre at least three times during the spring, and the follow-up of the risk and impact analysis linked to the co-organisation will be done on at least two occasions.

At the meeting of the Coordination Group on 29 January, convenor Karin Hall reviewed the function of the group and the sub-project plan Organisation & Governance, for which the group is responsible.

The Coordination Group

• The Coordination Group is a sub-project group but also serves as an interface between the MGeo Project and existing activities.
• The Coordination Group is advisory and makes proposals but does not take formal decisions.
• The Coordination Group has a preparatory group, the Working Group, which consists of the heads of INES and Geology and the director of CEC. They make decisions on ongoing activities in 2025, but not for 2026 and beyond.

Sub-project Plans

Decisions on sub-project plans for all sub-projects, including Organisation & Governance, have been taken by Project Manager Daniel Kåreda on Friday, 31 January. 
The plans are available on this site in Swedish (naturvetenskap.lu.se/internt)

Communication to Staff

A new email address, mgeo [at] science [dot] lu [dot] se (mgeo[at]science[dot]lu[dot]se), has been set up to distribute information with all members of staff at CEC, Geology, and INES regarding the Project and its progress. Links to the minutes on the Faculty website will be sent from this address after each meeting of the Coordination Group. Please note that this email address cannot be used for queries. 

Questions about the project should be addressed to Project Manager Daniel Kåreda or your closest line manager.

Furniture Management

In the context of the Geocentre II co-location, some office furniture will be replaced due to business needs. Questions have arisen regarding how to manage this process. The aim is to be as circular as possible. Furniture that is no longer needed should be reused whenever possible. The principle for handling surplus furniture is as follows:

1. Reuse in the first instance.
2. Recycle if reuse is not possible.
3. Disposal if recycling is not an option.

Questions regarding this can be directed to Project Manager Daniel Kåreda.

House Forum

The decision to establish a House Forum at the Geocentre was taken on 22 January 2025. The House Forum is an advisory group to the House Superintendent, who was appointed in August, and will deal with ongoing and practical issues related to the management and operation of the building. The House Superintendent is the convener of the House Forum and reports regularly to the Heads of Geology and INES and the Director of CEC.

Initial members of the House Forum are House Superintendent Mathias Svensson, administrative managers Gisela Cesar and Anna Ekberg, and premises coordinator Hanieh Heidarabadi.

The decision regarding the House Forum can be read on this site in Swedish (naturvetenskap.lu.se/internt)

Meetings with the Directors of Studies

Next week, on 5 February, the Coordination Group is invited to participate in a meeting with the directors of studies for the doctoral programmes, where discussions on the future assignments of the directors of studies will commence. The following week, the Directors of Undergraduate Studies will attend the Coordination Group meeting to provide a report on their ongoing work.

Postgraduate studies

On Wednesday, 5 February, the Coordination group was invited to a meeting where the Directors of studies for the PhD programmes (Tobias Ambjörnsson at CEC, Martin Berggren at Ines, and Mats Eriksson at Geology) presented their thoughts on the existing doctoral programmes and the way forward as MGeo is established. This meeting was a follow-up on a task assigned to the Directors of studies last autumn.

With the establishment of the Project for creating the new institution, several deliverables have been introduced that affect the ongoing work of the Directors of studies. As a result, they have received a revised assignment and are expected to submit a report to the Coordination Group no later than 11 April. They are also required to consult with the subproject on Support functions.

Read more on the page Beslut, planer och månadsrapporter (naturvetenskap.lu.se) 

Undergraduate studies

On Wednesday, 12 February 2025, the Directors of studies for undergraduate studies (Johanna Alkan Olsson at CEC, Ulrik Mårtensson at Ines, and Karl Ljung at Geology, who was absent) were invited to the Coordination group meeting. The Directors of studies presented their progress so far regarding undergraduate education in preparation for the formation of the new MGeo institution.
In December, the Directors of studies were tasked with submitting proposals for the future organisation of undergraduate education within MGeo. Following the establishment of the Project, their assignment has now been expanded. The Directors of studies will report back to the Coordination group by 4 April and will also consult with the subproject on Support Functions.

Read more on the page Beslut, planer och månadsrapporter (naturvetenskap.lu.se) 

House Forum

The composition of the House Forum – the group that will handle practical matters concerning Geocentrum II – has now been finalised. The Forum will include property manager Mathias Svensson, Gisela Caesar, administrative manager at CGB’s Office, and Anna Ekberg, administrative manager at CEC. The subproject manager, Hanieh Heidarabadi from Kansli N, will also participate in the House Forum meetings. Both the mandate and composition of the Forum may change over time.

Read more on the page Beslut, planer och månadsrapporter (naturvetenskap.lu.se) 

Ongoing work of administrative managers within the subproject Support functions

The administrative managers, Anna Ekberg and Gisela Caesar, have delivered an oral interim report to the Heads of Departments at the Working group meeting regarding the development of a future joint administration. Their work continues within the subproject on Support functions, with ongoing contributions from the KIA consultant.

Monthly Report

The first monthly report from the Project, prepared by Project manager Daniel Kåreda, is available in Swedish on the page Beslut, planer och månadsrapporter (naturvetenskap.lu.se)

Safety representatives were informed

On 26 February, the safety representatives at CEC, Geology and INES were invited to the Coordination Group meeting and were informed about the progress of the work.

Karin Hall, who is the convener, went through the work on the delivery targets within the sub-project Organisation and Governance (see sub-project plans on the page Beslut, planer och månadsrapporter). She emphasised that no decisions have been made yet regarding delivery targets, but that everything is still work in progress. The coordination group also handles ongoing matters, with communication taking place as decisions are made.

Ms Hall's presentation is available on the Beslut, planer och månadsrapporter (in Swedish).

Criteria for categorisation

One of the delivery goals is to produce a proposal and basis for the organisational structure and division of the new MGEO section by 31 May 2025 at the latest. Here, the Working Group (the heads of departments and Karin Hall) has started to discuss which aspects are important to consider in order to achieve a good MGEO identity when creating ‘section’. (The discussions have just started and it has not been decided that the term ‘sections’ should be used). The aim when creating a division is not to build organisational or scientific barriers and to create a good common identity. Criteria to be used in this work will be discussed further.

Roles

Another delivery target is to define roles, a work that is ongoing and where several other sub-projects (e.g. undergraduate and postgraduate education) are involved. This, too, as well as proposals for rules of procedure and rules of delegation, must be completed by 31 May 2025. It is already clear that heads of department should also be line managers with personnel responsibility.

When it comes to the operational dialogue, the Coordination Group is awaiting instructions from the Faculty. 

Relocation plans

Project manager Daniel Kåreda informed the safety representatives about the status of the co-location in Geocentrum II. The main moves (but not all) will take place this summer but exact dates are not yet available. The project is waiting for answers from the developer, as soon as these are available, they will be communicated to all affected employees.

Risk and impact assessment

The risk and impact assessment was reviewed and updated together with the safety representatives. The safety representatives will visit the Coordination Group again in six weeks.

The safety representatives:

• Wilhelm May (CEC)
• Rebecca Malmström (CEC)
• Patrik Vestin (INES, absent)
• Martin Jarenmark (Geology)
• Anton Hansson (Geology)

Nomination committee work and general meeting

During week 10, an invitation to a general meeting and information about the work of the nomination committee will be emailed to employees at INES, CEC and Geology.

The Nomination Committee is on schedule and is now in an intensive phase of interviewing candidates from CEC, INES and Geology. In January, the Selection Committee reviewed the nominations (until 12 January) and held workshops with HR representatives to analyse the University's policy on academic leadership and to develop a profile of requirements for the future Head of Department.

The selection is based on the profile and the policy, with all nominees being considered. The number of nominations does not influence the decision. As the department will be established on 1 January 2026, the Faculty is responsible for the selection of the Head of Department. The policy is available on the HR website.

In April, the electronic voting is planned to take place where the proposals of the nomination committee will be presented. It will be possible to vote for your own candidates. The Dean will make the final decision to appoint the Head of Department and Deputy Head of Department.

The result, including the number of votes per candidate, is presented at a public meeting. The process follows Lund University's election regulations.

• Timetable for the election process
• Policy for academic leadership in Swedish (hr-webben.lu.se)
• Lund University Election Regulations in Swedish (lu.se)

At the Coordination Group meeting on 12 March, it was noted that the report on CEC’s network activities has been submitted to the faculty. The Dean will now prepare a proposal for a decision and inform the Faculty Board in April. The Faculty Board will then make a decision at its meeting in June. During the spring, the Dean will continue working on the proposal, engage with additional stakeholders, and gather further supporting material.
The report and proposal focus on how the networks and other special activities within CEC can be organised, continued, and developed after the new Department of Environmental and Earth Sciences is established on 1 January 2026.
Read more on the page Beslut, planer och månadsrapporter (naturvetenskap.lu.se) 

Unit Discussions

Discussions on proposals for units and the organisational structure of the new department are ongoing within the Working Group (Heads of Department/Director and Karin Hall). The first step is to establish the criteria to be used as a basis. More information about the process, timeline, and opportunities for feedback will be provided soon. If you have any questions or thoughts about the new organisation, please contact your line manager. If you have any concerns, you can also reach out to your health and safety representative.

The safety representatives:

• Wilhelm May (CEC)
• Rebecca Malmström (CEC)
• Patrik Vestin (INES)
• Martin Jarenmark (Geology)
• Anton Hansson (Geology)

Promoting a Good Scientific Environment

Last year, the former department representatives Yann Clough, Raimund Muscheler, and Martin Berggren were tasked with developing a proposal on how to promote a good scientific environment across the entire MGeo. Their task was to address five key areas: research groups, seminar activities, PhD student activities, social activities, and research webpages.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Yann Clough presented insights gathered from discussions with researchers, as well as proposals for the way forward. The Coordination Group will take these proposals into account in their ongoing work.

Relocation, Information Meeting, and New MGeo Team

The deadline to register for the general meeting on co-location at Geocentrum is 21 March. It will also be possible to participate digitally.
Starting after 27 March, updates on the construction process and Akademiska Hus will be sent out every other week in conjunction with the regular MGeo Newsletter.
An email has been sent to employees with workspaces, labs, and/or storage at Geocentrum 2, asking them to specify their needs for access to the facilities over the summer. Based on this, a new Teams group called “Staff at CEC, INES and Geology” has been created. This group will for now only be used for managing documents related to Geocentrum access and is not a communication channel for the project.
Last day to sign up for the general meeting for the co-organisation is 21 March (forms.office.com)

Save the Date – Barbecue Party on 15 May!

A joint barbecue party will take place on 15 May from 16:00 outside Geocentrum. More information will follow.