A word from the dean
Dear staff
Last week was a festive week for five of the faculty's highly skilled employees, as the faculty's annual prizes were awarded after a long nomination and appointment process. You can see more about the five recipients in this newsletter. I think, we managed to surprise all five regardless of whether it was an online or a physical meeting, not least due to colleagues' creative suggestions for such "important meetings."
It was great to see such great support for the presentations and the positive comments from colleagues to the award recipients. I'm pretty sure these comments are highly appreciated, maybe even more than the diploma and the cash prize. This year, we saw a high level of support for most of the prizes, which means that there was a lot of competition for the prizes. We have chosen to give notice to everyone who was nominated, as being nominated in itself is a great recognition. I would like to thank all the award recipients, all the nominees and all of you who have recognized and collaborated and contributed to the whole process. We all need recognition every so often and not least in these times when our work communities are not functioning optimally and the daily contact with colleagues is limited.
SDU will need a new rector, as Henrik Dam leaves SDU for a position in the private sector by the end of July. Henrik has been at SDU for more than seven years, and he has been a part of many different initiatives at SDU. At our faculty, the two most significant initiatives are probably DIAS and RIO, but also the focus on the Sustainable Development Goals has had an impact on our faculty's activities. Especially the latter of the two initiatives has been significant to us. We are now working with the SDGs in our education programmes, where the focus has initially been on the 1st year, new educations and individual courses during the educations. We have worked with the SDGs across SDU Science via the SUSTAIN committee and in three live sessions where researchers have presented their exciting research. External relationships have facilitated a wide range of applications within global challenges and ensured participation in external working groups within the area. There is no doubt that the SDGs are a trend in time, and the extra focus that SDU has already had, has meant that we have come a long way in a short time.
New initiatives from top management provide discussions in the organization. On the basis of discussions in the University Council and the Board, Henrik has over the past year worked with the Executive Board at SDU to find methods to increase the timely involvement of employees and major decisions. There is now a plan for this, which we are in the process of implementing at the faculty. This means, among other things, that chairmen and secretaries from councils and committees must ensure that relevant information reaches the relevant colleagues. It may feel like an extra task, and it probably will be at first, but the goal is to increase transparency in decision-making processes and reduce misunderstandings and frustration - thus creating a better work environment. I hope we succeed, and I am very happy to receive concrete suggestions for action.
It is always exciting to get a new leader at a university. What visions and ideas does a new leader have? And not least, what changes does the new leader want to implement? It is my opinion at SDU Science is in the midst of a positive development with new educations and new opportunities for funding research, a development that I am sure a new leader will appreciate and support.
Marianne Holmer, dean