Naser found a world-class research team at Campus Skellefteå

At Campus Skellefteå, electrical engineer Naser Nakhodchi found a research team with cutting-edge expertise and the opportunity to combine family life with a demanding PhD position at LTU. Now he will soon finish his PhD, take the step into Northvolt and after four intense years, the whole family has put down roots in Skellefteå.

- For a family with children, it is a fantastic city - quiet and beautiful. It's easy to feel comfortable," says Naser Nakhodchi.

This spring, Naser Nakhodchi starts his new position at Northvolt in Skellefteå. He comes most recently from a PhD position at LTU where he researched harmonics in low voltage networks. For example, it can be about how new connections affect the existing network, how the connection of electric cars and solar cells affects a 50-year-old electricity network that is built for completely different stresses.

- "I didn't really have any plans to go back to school. We were living in Malmö and I was looking for work in southern Sweden. To be honest, I didn't even know about Skellefteå at that point," says Naser Nakhodchi.

For a family with children, it is a fantastic city - quiet and beautiful.

But then a well-known name appeared in his LinkedIn inbox. It was Professor Math Bollen from LTU who recommended a PhD position in Skellefteå - an exciting research area with an internationally recognized research team.

So now the move took place, 140 km from Malmö to Skellefteå. Initially, the family lived in an apartment that the university helped with, but after a year they broke ground on the plot on Morö Backe where they have now built their house. And there is no doubt that the family likes the area.

- "People here are very open and kind and we have great neighbors. In bigger cities it can be difficult to get in, but here it's easier. Her daughter quickly found friends at school and plays every day with the other children in the area.

Overall, the move has gone very smoothly. His wife Maryam Mottahedin found a job within a month - first as a teacher and then with the organization Save the Children. Her eldest daughter has settled in at the English school and her younger sister will start preschool in May.

- Of course, living this far north has its drawbacks: a little too dark and cold in the winter, a little too light in the summer. But for a family with children it is a fantastic city - quiet and beautiful.

Naser sees the fact that Campus Skellefteå is relatively small compared to other university areas as an advantage. Not least that adult education is located in the same area.

- "I could take a Swedish course in the building next to my office. It's also easy to feel comfortable, you know everyone who works on the campus and people are incredibly kind and inviting to everyone who comes there. Of all the places I have lived, studied and worked, I like Skellefteå best.