Season's Greetings and reflections from LINXS Director Trevor Forsyth

Trevor Forsyth is LINXS Director. Photo: Kennet Ruona.

The year is drawing to a close, and I have now completed my first year as Director of LINXS. It has been an amazing period for me, with a significant culture shift from my previous working environments in France and the UK; the move has been greatly facilitated by the warm reception we have had in Sweden, both professionally within LINXS and the University, and personally. 

I am immensely grateful for the great work of all our researchers, and excited about continuing the strategic development that we have set in motion during the year. I re-emphasise my gratitude to the previous LINXS Director, Stephen Hall, for the massive and very effective effort he put into LINXS throughout the very difficult pandemic period. I should also acknowledge Peter Schurtenberger, the original LINXS Director, for what he has done in bringing LINXS into existence and setting it up as an advanced study institute closely allied to the large facility investments that have been made in Sweden.

There has been a huge amount of activity at LINXS during 2022 as things have evolved (albeit in a quite frenetic way) into the post-pandemic version of normality. A new Theme on Integrated Pharmacology and Drug Discovery (IPDD) has started, led by Karin Lindkvist, ushering in a remarkable array of activity covering structure based drug design, biomedical imaging in relation to drug delivery, and antibody therapeutics. The involvement of Mikael Dolsten (Chief Scientific Officer at Pfizer) in the Core Group of this Theme is highly significant. The New Materials Theme, led by Elizabeth Blackburn, has continued to develop throughout the year with an innovative set of workshops and other events. The Northern Lights on Food (NLF) Theme, instigated by Selma Maric and Tommy Nylander, continues to flourish and has generated a remarkable base of activity, including funding from FORMAS, Vinnova, Maja och Erik Lindqvist Forskningsstiftelse, EU/Skåne, all modelled around a strong long-term vision to create a food science centre in the Science Village. Congratulations to Selma for her recent appointment to a position in Vetenskapsrådet; her efforts for NLF are  very much appreciated!

There have been many educational events, as well as all the Theme-driven workshops and conferences, and numerous short and long term visitors. During the year, there have been two excellent Science Days involving broad national and international participation, with registrations that were the highest ever recorded at LINXS, as well as a virtual Town Hall meeting that has allowed the discussion of LINXS Theme activities (and interactions between them) with the easy inclusion of international collaborators. Throughout the year, LINXS has hosted several guest lectures – most recently Paul Langan (Director General at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble), and Robert McGreevy (previous Director of ISIS at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in UK); both events have resulted in potential initiatives for the future. Other sections of the Newsletter provide detail on these and other events that have occurred during the year.

The year has also been an extremely important one in terms of LINXS strategic development. One aspect of this is that proposals to support scientific Themes can now come from anywhere in the country or indeed anywhere in the world. The first international Theme call closed in November and the applications are currently under review with the aid of the LINXS international Science Advisory Board (SAB). This will result in considerable growth for LINXS Thematic activity and other scientific engagement. The year has also been an extremely important one in terms of the LINXS arrangements to move into the Science Village during the next 18/24 months - a move that will place us right in the middle of a brand new national and international science environment that will benefit from physical proximity to both the MAX IV and ESS facilities. The LINXS Board is evaluating attractive bids that were made by different companies at its latest meeting – these will be discussed in detail during 2023. In addition, LINXS has, in collaboration with MAX IV and ESS, applied to the Swedish Research Council for the creation of a LINXS Centre of Excellence. A successful outcome to this proposal will provide funding to resource LINXS Themes led by scientists/groups from anywhere in the country (Sweden), extending its mission to develop interdisciplinary science over the country and maximising the exploitation of synchrotron and neutron beam facilities by the Swedish science base. 

There are many people to thank for the successes of the year. Our Board, of course, as our stakeholders, who help us steer our way in line with the mission and statutes of LINXS. We also thank our external international Science Advisory Board (SAB) who provides us with impartial advice as we make choices about our activities and about prioritization of Theme applications. Here we express heartfelt gratitude to Stefan Egelhaaf as the Chair, who has recently taken leave from the SAB for personal reasons. Stefan is an extremely constructive and collegiate Chair of the SAB and we have valued his help and advice immensely. We are very grateful to Christiane Alba-Simionesco who has stepped in as interim Chair, at very short notice. We also offer warm welcomes to Annette Langkilde and Alexandra Pacureanu, as our newest additions to the SAB. Alexandra is leader of the X-ray nano-neuroimaging group at ESRF, the European Synchrotron in Grenoble, France, and Annette Langkilde is Associate Professor at the Department of Drug Design, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Their expertise and knowledge will be a great addition to the SAB’s work, particularly in the area of life science.

I should also thank key LINXS people from management and staff: Marie Skepö, Oxana Klementieva, Jörgen Larsson, Anna Ntinidou, Martin Stankovski, Daniel Sarabi, Sebastian Köhler, Nina Ahlbeck, Noomi Egan, and Marianne Loor. A big thank you to Åsa Grunning who stepped down during 2022. We are immensely grateful for all her amazing work throughout the existence of LINXS.  Last week, we had our first Christmas Open House and glögg-mingle. It was a lovely start of the holiday season to see so many of you that have been involved in LINXS over the years. 

I want to close by wishing you all a lovely holiday from me, and from all of the LINXS staff and management. I hope you can spend it with your near and dear ones, and take some time to relax and recuperate. See you in the new year!