The university supports 14 carefully selected research initiatives, each of which contributes to addressing a major societal challenge. The money comes from previous years’ profits.
What impact will our longer life spans have on society and ourselves? How can green energy become competitive? What changes will the welfare state undergo in future?
The University of Southern Denmark wants to help answer these questions. To this end, 14 carefully selected research initiatives have been allocated money from SDU2020, a fund the university created last year to strengthen its research in areas that will present societal challenges in future, such as energy, health, the climate and innovation.
The 14 researchers will each receive between DKK 6 and 10.5 million, so the total funding will amount to 111 million.
Very high quality
The board received 86 applications. The 14 projects were selected because they meet the assessment criteria exceptionally well. The criteria include a high academic level, a convincing project plan, a clear plan for seeking external funding both in Denmark and abroad, and a strong interdisciplinary approach. The projects were also assessed by international experts.
“This round of applications shows that our researchers are highly committed to contributing knowledge and solutions to a number of current societal challenges. After the first round we had 24 projects, all of which were of very high quality and worthy of support. However, the total cost of the projects exceeded the funds we’ve set aside for SDU2020, so we had to make a further selection,” says Professor Jens Oddershede.
The University of Southern Denmark has set up SDU2020 to support the fields of research highlighted by the research policies of the EU and the Danish government. Researchers who receive money from SDU2020 are also expected to seek external funding, for example from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.
The money in the SDU2020 fund comes from the university’s own equity. Thus, profits from previous years are used for an extraordinary research initiative in areas that are vital to our future wellbeing and growth.
The recipients of the SDU2020 funding are:
- Professor Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi, Department of Technology and Innovation
- Professor James Vaupel, Institute of Public Health
- Professor Jan Stentoft Arlbjørn, Department of Entrepreneurship and Relationship Management
- Professor Erik Albæk, Centre for Journalism
- Professor Anne-Marie Mai, Department for the Study of Culture
- Professor Lars Bo Andersen, Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics
- Professor Trond Ulven, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy
- Professor Bente Finsen, Institute of Molecular Medicine
- Professor John Hallam, The Maersk McKinney Moller Institute
- Professor Jan Mollenhauer, Institute of Molecular Medicine '
- Associate Professor Charlotte Kroløkke, Department for the Study of Culture
- Professor Susanne Mandrup, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Professor Lars Peter Østerdal, Department of Business and Economics
- Associate Professor Jakob Kjelstrup-Hansen, Mads Clausen Institute
22.07.2013
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