Three prominent SDU researchers receive Fyens Stiftstidende’s Research Award

Extra chairs had to be found for an already packed auditorium at the time-honoured presentation of Fyens Stiftstidende’s Research Award in Fyens Stiftstidende’s media house in the centre of Odense on 4 November.

Susan Nørgaard, vice chair of the Board of den Fynske Bladfond, opened the award ceremony by expressing her appreciation for the always fruitful collaboration between the University of Southern Denmark and the Funen media group. She also emphasised that good relations are more important than ever at a time when free speech and free thought are under pressure from many sides.

This year, Fyens Stiftstidende’s Research Award was granted to three SDU researchers: Professors Anton Pottegård, Klaus Petersen and Morten Birkved from the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences/the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Engineering, respectively.

The three researchers are making a crucial difference in society and in their respective fields – pharmaceuticals, the welfare state and the green transition – in which they have distinguished themselves internationally.

Focus on the side effects of drugs

Dean Ole Skøtt from the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences presented the award to Anton Pottegård from the Department of Public Health:

- Professor Anton Pottegård conducts research in the use of drugs and occupies a prominent role on both the Danish and international scenes in register-based research, he said and elaborated:

- His work has had a significant impact on national and international health practices. Pottegård’s research has contributed to the identification and understanding of the side effects of drugs.

Struck by the Klaus effect

Melike Wulfgramm, acting head of the Department of Political Science, presented the award to Professor Klaus Petersen with a personal account of when she was struck by the Klaus effect at a job interview and moved from Germany to Denmark to become part of the strong international research environment studying the Danish and Nordic welfare model, in which Klaus Petersen is a central figure.

- Klaus Petersen connects research with the society around us. He is methodologically courageous, academically uncompromising and generous as a person, Melike Wulfgramm said.

Sustainable solutions under the microscope

Jens Ejbye Schmidt, head of the Department of Green Technology, presented the award to Professor with Special Responsibilities Morten Birkved with the following words:

- Morten Birkved is an internationally recognised researcher with more than 20 years of experience in developing methods to support the ongoing development of life cycle assessments and quantitative environmental sustainability assessment.

- He is a highly appreciated bridge-builder who is able to move from academic theory and method development to the analysis of specific problems. In this way, he contributes to addressing major environmental and climate-related societal challenges from several perspectives.

- Morten works with researchers from leading universities in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia. Currently, Morten is contributing to an international project that aims to increase the quality of teaching at leading universities in a number of African countries.

From the engine room of research

The annual award ceremony ended with stimulating presentations from the three award-winning researchers, who provided a peek into the engine room of research.

Where chance and cross-disciplinary collaboration can create groundbreaking results. Where 3000 upper secondary school students are helping to write Danish history in a new way, and where ammonia can be seen both as a sustainable gamechanger and as a green fuel that is creating new environmental problems.

The Fyens Stiftstidende Research Award, which is playfully referred to as the Funen Nobel Prize, has been awarded by den Fynske Bladfond, which owns Fyens Stiftstidende, since 1972. The award comes with DKK 25,000 for each researcher.