The student perspective must not be forgotten!
The student perspective must not be forgotten when the Department of Applied Information Technology moves to Natrium!
In June 2025, the newly merged faculty board decided to assign the dean (head of the faculty of natural sciences and engineering) to realize the development of Natrium and a relocation of the Department of Applied Information Technology.
This means that the Department of Applied Information Technology (abbreviated ITIT) will move its operations for the academic year 2026/2027. The department, which currently operates in "Hus Patricia" on the Lindholmen campus, will therefore move these operations to Natrium and the Medicinareberget campus.
What does this mean in practice?
Well, this means that additional staff, doctoral students and over 550 full-time students will be accommodated in Natrium and the Medicinareberget campus.
During the fall semester of 2025, section chair Nora Mellqvist Carlén and Samuel Andersson, together with other student representatives, have participated in meetings to plan the development of Natrium.
The board of the Science and Technology Section has also, together with the Sahlgrenska Academy student union, conducted a survey to get the students' opinions on what needs to be developed on the Medicinareberget campus. This is to be able to influence the steering group in its decisions. One result we thought stood out a little was the question "How often do you go home to study after you have been to a lecture/lab instead of staying on campus because you experience a shortage of study places?" where 42.5% (125 out of 294) answered the option sometimes and 40.5% (119 out of 294) answered the option most of the time.
In February, decisions will be made about renovations in Natrium, but already now, study spaces on Medicinareberget have begun to be furnished with furniture from "Hus Svea" on Campus Lindholmen.
We believe that the move will be able to take place in a good way with developed routines, study spaces and lunch rooms, but it will take time and the students' voices must be heard. The concern about not being able to find a study place, the concern about not being able to heat your lunch in order to lose your study place, and the concern about having to study more at home are real fears that the University of Gothenburg must take seriously and work to increase confidence that Natrium and the Medicinareberget campus are and will remain a good campus. The University of Gothenburg has many good thoughts and ideas regarding development, but the students must be informed of these thoughts and visions in order to create trust and security.
Students simply need to be informed that this is happening, and this information must also be accurate and detailed.