Foto: Eivind Senneset, UiB
Dear all,
It is full speed ahead on all fronts these day, especially with master’s exams and dissertations. It’s fantastic to see how much is happening, and everyone is involved and contributing. Of course the master’s and PhD students themselves, but also supervisors, research groups, technicians, the administration, and certainly also friends and family, in their own way. Many thanks to everyone for their efforts and congratulations to the students who, after many years of study, can finally provide the final proof that they are highly competent biologists or molecular biologists.
As previously announced, there is a department council meeting on Wednesday next week, and we will follow up with a general meeting on Thursday, where we will present the budget for 2024 and not least the long-term budget for the coming five years. I can already announce that we still have financial challenges, but I think we are all doing a very good job of reversing the negative trend in the economy and there are signs that may indicate that we are also seeing a positive development in the longer term. You can see I’m being vague here. The reason for that is of course the many unknown factors going forward, not least at the national level.
The summer holidays are approaching for many of us, and this will be the last BIO-news this semester. I take the opportunity to thank you all for your fantastic efforts this semester and wish you all a really good and well-deserved summer holiday. I’m looking forward to that one too. As many of you will know, I will be stepping down as head of department on 1 September 2024. This means that after the summer I have only one year left of my term and the “hunt” for a new head of department who will take BIO to new heights should begin in earnest. For my own part, I have to admit that it is challenging to lead BIO, but at the same time it is a great privilege and almost always very rewarding. The main reasons why it is very rewarding, despite the challenges, are that you are all such good colleagues and all the exciting science – whether it be teaching or research, going on BIO. So many people should feel tempted by this opportunity! The question is: who wouldn’t want such a wonderful job?
Have a nice summer,
Hilsen Ørjan