1. You have had a strong relationship with Brazilian partners for over ten years. What would you say have been the main takeaways from this collaboration?

There are many talented people in Brazil, and there is a very positive attitude towards collaboration with Sweden. Over the years a number of stable collaborations have been established and maintained that have resulted in much more result than could have been achieved separately without the collaboration. I feel that the weight of the professor chairs have been important to open doors and also give inspiration and attention to the researchers in Brazil that we have collaborated with.

2. This is your third Chair extension, what are you looking forward to in this new cycle?

In my third term as Chair, I aim to facilitate more of my department’s involvement in collaborations with Brazilian institutions, building on established relationships and exploring new ones. Organizing our anual SARC-BARINET workshop, and biannual WIEFP workshop, and bianual IDEAS conference, continues to be a priority, as these event fosters knowledge exchange and collaboration. I’m also looking forward to being an active participant in research projects at several universities in Brazil.

Additionally, I plan to provide short courses at the postgraduate level, enabling further learning and development within our field. Also I plan to more actively involve my collegues at LiU to secure a continuity in the collaboration.

3. What are your expectations in regards to the impact of this new extension, as well as the collaboration between Sweden and Brazil?

I hope to secure a lasting continuity of the collaboration.

4. You have been linked to a UFABC project about AI and health applications, which is a different field than your current Chair. How did that interest come to be?

I have a longstanding collaboration with the program in Engineering and Innovation Management at UFABC which is an interdisciplinary program. This interest was triggered from a VINNOVA-GLOBALSTAR call for international collaboration between Sweden and Brazil regarding digital health, and it happened that I developed a very good relation with the CEO of a very Strong Swedish company in this field. At the same time I knew that Prof. Dan Henningsson also had an interest in this, and thought there might be some synergies. I also feel that we are now in a situation where research into applications of AI in different fields is needed, and that we can learn from each other.