Guest Researcher in the Field of Auditing

Before coming to CER and Sundsvall, he had also visited colleagues in the USA, England, and Stockholm. A nearly two-month excursion that has left a lasting impact and provided numerous research insights.

"It's truly invigorating for research and my work to have the opportunity to travel and meet fellow researchers in this way. And I've been very well taken care of here at Mid Sweden University," says Tarek Rana.

He mentions that he has been given the opportunity to give lectures, hold individual discussions with doctoral students, participate in internal seminars and external meetings and events with partners in the CER network, as well as attend Mid Sweden University's yearly academic celebration in Östersund.

"However, the main purpose of the visit has been to have time to develop joint projects I have with Professor Peter Öhman. Among other things, we are currently working on a couple of scientific articles and planning anthologies in the fields of accounting, risk management, and public sector auditing."

Peter and Tarek first met in 2020 through their mutual research colleague, Jan Svanberg, who works at CER. Jan was on a research exchange at RMIT in Australia at the time. Contacts were established through Jan, and since then, the three have worked on several research projects.

Tarek Rana completed his doctoral degree in 2016 in the area of accounting and financial reporting requirements in the public sector. He now divides his time between teaching and research, in addition to supervising a group of doctoral students.

Before embarking on his doctoral studies, Tarek, who has a background in business economics, worked as an auditor at a small auditing firm and as an accounting consultant at KPMG. A few years into his career, he realized he wanted to influence the industry and society. His curiosity and desire for further studies brought him back to academia, a decision he doesn't regret.

"If you ask my wife, she can sometimes question my choice considering that the salary was higher as an accounting consultant than as a researcher," he says with a laugh. "At the same time, she understands my need to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and development."

Tarek mentions that his stay in Sundsvall was very productive in terms of developing future research collaborations, and he also gained a better understanding of the research topics that both senior researchers and doctoral students associated with CER are working on.

"Of particular interest was seeing how closely CER is connected to the surrounding community."

Hopefully, the visit to Sweden can lead to stronger ties between RMIT and Mid Sweden University, even in areas beyond those that CER operates within. Tarek Rana noted strong points of intersection in areas such as digitalization and sustainability.