Lunch Lectures

Celebration Weeks with Lunch Lectures
Meet our new professors and honorary doctors

What do our new professors research? Which societal challenges do they want to help solve? And what does the path to a successful career in academia, business or society look like?

In connection with the university’s Academic Ceremony on 4 December, Högskolan Väst is holding its Celebration Weeks. All new professors who will be inaugurated at the ceremony are invited to give an inaugural lecture, as is tradition. They will present their research areas and academic journeys as a way of sharing knowledge with a wider audience. We have also invited our two new honorary doctors to give presentations about their backgrounds, subject areas and collaboration with the university.

Registration and practical information
All lectures are open to anyone interested and will be held in Swedish or English. The university will provide light refreshments during the lectures. Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The deadline to register for lunch and to secure a seat is one week before each lecture.

Register here
Subject to availability, you may also attend without registering in advance to listen to the lecture. You can participate online via Zoom using this link: https://hv-se.zoom.us/j/62490857471

Inaugural lectures by new professors
12:15–12:55

23 Nov – Kristina Eriksson, Professor of Production Systems
Crossing boundaries between research, education and industry: transdisciplinary knowledge creation and collaboration (in English)
Technology alone is not enough to address the challenges facing industry and society today. Developing production systems that are human-centric, resilient and sustainable requires us to cross disciplinary boundaries and bring together diverse perspectives, from e.g., technology and engineering to social sciences, leadership and health. This lecture explores how crossing boundaries between research, education and industry can foster transdisciplinary knowledge creation and collaboration, opening new possibilities for addressing complex challenges and shaping the future of production systems.

24 Nov – Maria Spante, Professor of Informatics with a focus on work-integrated learning
Contradictions are engines of creativity (in English)
My research examines situations where established practices no longer suffice. Using Activity Theory and formative interventions in work-integrated learning, I conduct collaborative research with practitioners on contradictions, collective agency and digitalisation. Theory and methods develop through practice, contributing to knowledge-driven societal development grounded in rigorous critical inquiry.

25 Nov – Amir Haj-Bolouri, Professor of Informatics with a focus on work-integrated learning
Meaning in the making: technology, experience, and the spaces we shape (held in English)
What happens when technology becomes part of how we experience, understand, and a