I will act as Head of Department for the next 6 months in Pål Njølstad’s absence. Emmet McCormack will be my deputy, while Silke Appel and Jone Trovik continue in their roles as Vice Heads for research and teaching, respectively. The administrative team and I will do our best to solve the tasks ahead of us in a good way.

One of the issues we are working with is the strategy plan. The existing plan expires at the end of the year, but we have now extended it for one year to get more time to work out a new one. In March we will invite to whole institute to a retreat at Solstrand as a substitute for next year’s strategy seminar and institute day. The new strategic plan will be a central theme at the retreat. External funding will be a key issue for discussions. Another point is the allocation of positions. The legislative changes that reduce our opportunity to hire persons temporary will give the department challenges over time, but I am confident that we will manage to solve these issues in a good way together.

Finally, I wish all our talented employees good luck with the applications to Helse-Vest.

Eystein