An international Faculty of Engineering (LTH)!

The period leading up to the summer is always a hectic time with many celebrations; graduation ceremonies, doctoral degree conferment ceremonies, farewell parties and so on. It is very enjoyable, but also takes up time needed for doing other things, leaving little time for reflection and blog writing. But now, with some time to spare, there is a moment for reflection.

Today, I received very positive admission statistics for our international Master’s programmes. Many of LTH’s programmes are very popular, and the number of paying students is increasing. This strengthens our internationalisation, and I consider it very positive when we mix our Swedish students with students from other countries and cultures. This type of interaction has been natural in research contexts for many years. When I think back to my time as a student, it was unusual for international and Swedish students to study together, but today it is a self-evident part of the experience. It enriches LTH!

Another element in internationalisation is our China orientation for the CDE programmes, in which a number of students will spend a semester studying in China. We have just switched the university in this collaboration to Beihang University in Peking, where I signed an agreement in April. We are convinced that this will be a fantastic experience for our students!

After the spring trip to China, I continued on to Japan, where together with Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Eva Wiberg, and the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Olov Sterner, I visited Keio University, with which Lund University has an agreement. One of the main events was a visit to an interdisciplinary graduate school for the broad area: "the super mature society". It was truly interdisciplinary. Students from different faculties were mixed and received double Master’s degrees in, for example, Science & Technology and Economics. It sounds unusual perhaps, but it seemed to work and I believe it could be something to try at Lund University.

Later in the spring there was a trip to Indonesia in conjunction with the state visit made by Sweden’s King and Queen that also included a large trade delegation. During the hectic visit, Lund University hosted a seminar on the Triple Helix modelat the Bandung Institute of Technology. It was exciting to be a part of a state visit where it was possible to see things from another perspective. Indonesia is a fascinating country that has an expansive economy, but also many challenges. It is in this area that LTH can provide assistance, and I hope that the visit will lead to many interesting exchanges.

Have a good summer and thank you for a semester in which we at LTH have made new discoveries and created benefits for society!

Viktor Öwall
Dean of LTH