Regarding IT security, we have introduced multi-factor authentication (MFA), using Freja+. Even though some accused us of totalitarianism and restricting academic freedom, it was a necessary step for strengthening our security.
Security sometimes means that work becomes a little more cumbersome when I must open Freja and my mobile phone is not within reach. But it is here to stay.
Everyone must move over to Windows 11 for security reasons
Security is never stronger than the weakest link, and right now a weak point is that we are still using Windows 10 on a large number of computers, even though the system has documented security risks.
We keep track of the computers that use LU-wide clients and pc.lu.se and through this we can manage the situation.
But there are also many computers that are outside these solutions, where the user takes responsibility for support and agreements. We have very little or no oversight concerning these. We therefore urge all those who are using Windows 10 to update to Windows 11 as soon as possible.
I am well aware that computers with LU-wide clients have not always been adapted to many researchers’ needs, and therefore many have chosen to manage the computer themselves in order to carry out their work – freedom with responsibility. There is now a client that is more adapted to more researchers’ needs. But we need more researchers to use it and help us to develop it in order to increase security at LU. As mentioned above, it may be more complicated sometimes, but I promise you that if we are hit by a major attack it will NOT be fun. It is a threatening world out there and we must all help out.
The research data journey
Last week was Love Data Week – an international theme week that always falls around Valentine’s Day. The aim is to highlight something that is easy to take for granted but whose management is absolutely critical for the quality of research: data. This year’s theme, “Where’s the Data?”, focused on the entire journey research data takes – from the initial planning stage to collection, storage, publication and long-term preservation.
It is a theme that is particularly appropriate for Lund University right now. At the start of this year, a new university-wide unit was launched: the Research Data Office (RDO). The unit started on a small scale in 2025, but is now fully established and shares premises with LUNARC in the E Building at LTH.
The RDO is tasked with making the research data journey as smooth and secure as possible for researchers and faculties. An important aspect is that each faculty has its own data steward – a function that helps researchers to find the right support, right system and right way forward in the management of research data. The idea is also for the data stewards to identify the needs of the researchers and faculties regarding research data and help the RDO to develop new solutions where these are lacking.
Over the last six months, the University’s researchers have also had the opportunity to create centrally-stored research data folders free of charge. These folders have extensive backup, full encryption and can be easily shared with colleagues within LU. For the researchers, this means both security and time-savings – and the University establishes management routines that follow legal requirements and make archiving easier when projects end.
The RDO has also initiated an extensive project to chart which research programs are used within the University – everything from advanced special tools to more general programs. The aim is to create a joint knowledge base and find smart coordination benefits, for example in procurements. Programs that the RDO has already coordinated include Overleaf (software for writing, editing and publishing scientific and technical documents) and Sunet Scribe (speech-to-text transcription software).
We cannot yet fully answer the question “Where’s the data?”, but over the past two years the University has taken major steps towards more cohesive and future-proof management of research data – for the benefit of both researchers and society.
These are two examples where we must cooperate to find solutions that fulfil legal and security requirements, while also making it easier for researchers to get things right regarding these often quite complex issues. If we work together, I am convinced that we can develop our fantastic University so that it also becomes a role model for addressing these issues.
/ Viktor Öwall, pro vice-chancellor
