Now it has already been 6 months since I took over as head of department at K2. Time has flown by and Christmas is already next week! I’m almost done with my performance appraisals (all associate professors and professors with 50%-100% position), only a few remain. It has been very useful to get to know the people who make up our academic backbone better, and I have received a lot of good input. Here again a reminder to the research group leaders to ensure that all our employees have the opportunity for an employee interview, and at the same time those who have not yet been offered can request it as well.

As we know, the economy is very tough, and we must continue to reduce our expenses and at the same time increase revenues in 2025. This is what we are working on! Again, an invitation to actively use our core facilities (https://www.uib.no/klin2/63499/kjernefasiliteter), use buy-out of your own time or a technician in applications and consider opportunities to offer continuing and further education (EVU; https://www.uib.no/utdanning/evu).

Despite all the challenges, 2024 has been a successful year for K2 with many awards from external financiers as well as many awards to researchers and teachers associated with K2 (including “Søren Falch and Øienlæge Sigurd Falch’s Foundation’s Junior Prize for Young Researchers” to Marc Vaudel and “Søren Falch and Øienlæge Sigurd Falch’s Award for Outstanding Leadership in Medical Research” to Eva Gerdts, to name a few). Thank you so much for your efforts, everyone!

I wish you all a peaceful and Merry Christmas!

Silke