Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The year is rapidly approaching its end, and what a special year it has been for LTH! With no exaggeration, I can say we are concluding a tremendously successful 2023.

First and foremost, we have been able to congratulate Anne L’Huillier, Professor of Atomic Physics, for being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Pierre Agostini and Ferenc Krausz. To be honest, we were not that surprised that it was Anne L’Huillier who became Lund University’s first researcher to receive a Nobel Prize, thereby joining the ranks of Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, to name a few previous Nobel laureates in Physics. But we were surely very proud and happy!

During the year, LTH has seen an increase in applications to our courses and programmes – whereas applications to other higher education institutions and the national average have fallen. It is very gratifying that prospective students choose Faculty of Engineering at Lund University when they decide to educate themselves for the future.

Together with the business community, we are pleased to welcome more new doctoral students in the Wallenberg initiatives WASP and WISE, to the benefit of digitalisation and industry.

Within our research, LTH has been able to add four new LTH-coordinated Vinnova Competence Centres to the portfolio of broad competence centres, all in collaboration with other universities, industry, institutes and the public sector.

LTH's Management has also established two new profile areas: "Food and Bio" and "Water". Thus, LTH now has nine profile areas that bring together the Faculty's cutting-edge expertise and will provide stronger responses to various societal challenges.

In order to continue to be able to conduct research and education in our full-scale laboratories and process halls, collaboration is required. It is therefore very gratifying that, together with Tetra Pak, we can make collaborative efforts, such as Biotech Heights. The latter is an open innovation environment with access to world-leading laboratories and equipment for research and innovation in the food of the future. 

During Almedalen Week in Visby, LTH organised four events – on clean air, circular construction, electromobility and cybersecurity. The well-attended panel discussions were a way to build knowledge in society and also make new contacts for research collaborations.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank every LTH student, co-worker, collaboration partner, donor and alumni for this year and all the important work we have done together to explore and create for the benefit of society.

The world is in urgent need of our knowledge, research breakthroughs and innovations. In 2024, we will carry on our work to benefit the climate, digitalisation, industry, the built environment and life.

I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Annika Olsson

Dean of LTH