I have now returned to Sweden after a very rewarding month at the Loughborough University, the Institute of Advanced Studies, and the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences. After having been invited by Professor Alan Bairner as a Visiting Fellow in 2023, I was encouraged to apply for the Residential Fellowship in 2024. I am forever grateful to Professor Bairner for introducing me to the great opportunities afforded by the IAS and for bringing me to Loughborough. I am also very grateful to Professor Paul Downward for supporting my application to the Residential Fellowship programme and for being the most gracious host during my stay. With fond memories of my stay as a Visiting Fellow, it was fantastic to get invited anew.

Apart from numerous morning coffees at The Grind with Professor Downward, discussing everything from international politics to exchanging experiences of our respective workplaces, I have also had many intense discussions with Dr. Minhyeok Tak. More than being wonderful people and great discussion partners, both Professor Downward and Dr. Tak also made my visit a great experience socially with Professor Downward taking me for a lovely hike in the Peak District and Dr. Tak bringing me along to Netball games and excursions to the neighbouring cities. Making sure to keep my schedule busy, Professor Bairner always invited me to join his group on Tuesdays at the Wheel Tapper and Professor Barrie Houlihan, Professor Richard Giulianotti, Dr. Joe Piggin and Dr. Matthew Dowling followed suit always making sure that I had lunch dates, dinner reservations and more coffee. Dr. Piggin was also a fantastic resource when planning for bringing my family over for the Easter holidays.

During my stay I gave a few talks at the IAS and the Sport, business and society research theme. I also gave a workshop to the PGR community and met individually with postgraduate researchers. Besides being very fruitful as academic conversations, these meetings also provided me with great insights into ongoing research, and the everyday life of working as an academic in the UK context. Hopefully, some of these discussions can be continued sometime in the future as I have made sure to extend invitations to Sweden and Umeå University to everyone interested in getting to know a little bit more about Scandinavian sport and the Swedish context. I would really like to get an opportunity to return at least some of the hospitality I have experienced during my stay.

Being set up in the IAS flat right at the heart of campus made everything very convenient and I loved taking walks into town, watching the always ongoing sport practices and games on campus and popping in at the IAS for tea with the great IAS team that made all practical arrangements so smooth. Ksenia, Connor, Kieran, Laura, and Yajie took so good care of me in every possible way which made me feel so welcome and appreciated.

I hope I will get further opportunities to return to Loughborough University in the future. My stay was so enjoyable and very productive in so many ways. Existing collaborations have been developed, and new ones have been established. I want to thank all involved for making my visit possible. 

Professor Josef Fahlén