Another year has come and gone. Again it's time for Nobel Prize laureates to be rewarded for the work they have done. It's also time for beautiful dresses, carefully rehearsed performances, and (what looks like) wonderful food.

On a far more personal level it is also time to celebrate. This afternoon we received an e-mail stating that there will be an official enquiry into the work situation/environment at the department where I work. I'm so happy that this has finally become official... that the problems are really being acknowledged and, in time, hopefully also addressed properly. This makes it so much easier to talk about things that have happened, and hopefully it will make more and more people step forward as well. But all this lies in the future...

It's time to watch the 2009 laureates — it's great to see that five out of twelve are women! — receive their prizes in the beautifully decorated concert hall in Konserthuset. I think I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride...

The photo from 2005 of the decorated "Blue hall" in Stadshuset (the City hall) was borrowed from Wikipedia.