Cross-disciplinary research to benefit the world
In short, the idea of LTH’s Profile Areas is to gather our researchers from different disciplines within areas where LTH has a particular standing and where we can deliver benefits to the world around us, writes Dean of LTH, Annika Olsson.
– Published 3 October 2022
The vision of the Faculty of Engineering (LTH), “Together we explore and create – to benefit the world” was substantiated in several ways at the end of September, as we inaugurated the Centre for Sustainable Enterprising and launched LTH’s Profile Areas, an initiative essentially aimed at gathering and highlighting particularly strong research environments, in the hope of increasing collaborations and contributing to the solutions to major societal challenges.
The great interest in these initiatives from LTH’s external partners, industry and wider society is encouraging. I feel strengthened in my conviction that by investing in these interdisciplinary research environments, LTH will be better equipped to meet the complex issues and challenges that must be addressed if the Agenda 2030 goals are to be met.
On 22 September, along with the School of Economics and Management and Sparbanken Skåne, I had the pleasure of inaugurating the Centre for Sustainable Enterprising, which aims to support progress towards sustainable trade. Here, Sparbanken Skåne have made a generous donation to Lund University.
We are now gathering talent from both LTH and the School of Economics and Management in order to best make use of our respective strengths and research perspectives. Alongside industry, we wish to contribute to the important transition facing us if we are to reach various sustainability goals. This initiative is likely to provide benefits to both the climate and to industry.
LTH recently invited researchers, external partners and funding bodies to a meeting on campus intended to create engagement around LTH’s Profile Areas.
To sum it up briefly, the idea of LTH’s Profile Areas is to gather our researchers from different disciplines within areas where LTH has a particular standing and where we can deliver benefits to the world around us, for life, digitalisation, the climate and the built environment.
As well as a series of “internal” benefits, these interdisciplinary environments stimulate collaboration between academia, industry and society. Investment in LTH’s strong, up-and-coming research environments is also expected to make LTH a more attractive place for both domestic and international students and researchers.
An important goal for me is for LTH to achieve greater equality and diversity – that we create environments in which we have different experiences and backgrounds, where we treat each other with respect and endeavour to think constructively, albeit differently.
I hope that this investment in the profile areas will give LTH more world-leading, cutting-edge environments – which in turn can attract a diverse group of creative outstanding talents. In so doing we strengthen our attractiveness and our research environments, enabling us to make even more of a difference.
Annika Olsson
Dean of LTH
Today there are seven – LTH’s Profile Areas
LTH’s Profile Areas are the faculty’s strong and interdisciplinary research activities that have been grouped into thematic areas – in order to contribute to solutions for the good of society.
LTH’s seven areas work closely with industry and society, using pooled resources and knowledge in order to improve people’s quality of life and find solutions to global problems.
- Aerosols
- Pillars of AI and Digitalisation
- Photon Science and Technology
- Circular Building Sector
- The Energy Transition
- Nanoscience and Semiconductor Technology
- Engineering Health