Closer to you: Visits from the Dean and the Vice-deans
The Dean and the two Vice-deans will be touring the departments in March and April. They want to meet people at the departments face-to-face, introduce themselves to the employees after two years of COVID-19, and let people know that their door is always open.
45 pairs of eyes were following Dean Kristian Pedersen when he clapped three times, and the buzzing auditorium under iNANO fell quiet. Then he took the floor to introduce himself and the two Vice-deans, Kristine Kilså and David Egholm.
“We’re the DeanTeam,” he said, smiling, before they started their presentations.
It's important to meet people where they are
The visit and the presentation of the Dean and the two Vice-deans has been in the making for two years. Kristian Pedersen took office as Dean on April 1st 2020, and the Vice-deans David Egholm and Kristine Kilså became part of Natural Sciences in November and December respectively. Back then, Covid-19 paralysed Denmark, and it wasn't possible to succeed in arranging the series of visits to the departments before now.
"I'm very delighted that we can come out and say hello, and introduce ourselves at the departments. We want to meet staff where they are, and hear what’s going on at their departments. They’re the faculty," explains Kristian Pedersen, and he continues:
“On the other hand, we’d also like to share our thoughts and let people now what we're focusing on right now, and this is an excellent way to do it.”
Openness and a good discussion
The visit is not just about introducing the management team. It is also about knowledge sharing, and the faculty's new strategy and actions planned for the year are also on the agenda. Collaboration, development potentials, recruitment and internationalisation. That was some of the focus areas that were explained, while the audience in the auditorium was listening with great interest.
But there was also time for dialogue, suggestions and comments. Among the many people who shared their thoughts and questions with the Dean and the Vice-deans were postdoc Emil Laust Kristoffersen. He proposed at new way of financing research, and after the visit, he was happy that he had attended the event.
“The Dean and the Vice-deans are not really part of my daily life, so it was nice to put a face to the names and to hear about the Deans’ strategy and focus. I also think it was great that we had the opportunity to ask questions and share our own thoughts. It led to some good discussions,” he explained.
More department visits
The Dean and the two Vice-deans will continue their visits to the departments over the next few weeks. See below when they will visit your department:
Wednesday 23 March
Department of Mathematics: from 12:30-13:30.
Department of Physics and Astronomy: from 14:00-15:00.
Thursday 31 March
Department of Geoscience: from 9:00-10:00.
Department of Chemistry: from 11:00-12:00.
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics: from 12:30-13:30.
Department of Computer Science: from 14:00-15:00.
Tuesday 5 April
Department of Biology: from 12:30-13:30