We are in the beginning of an exciting year
With a new campus in Vejle and a record setting grant for a research academy, our faculty is going to have a big year.
Dear staff
Happy New Year, and thank you for the large turnout at the faculty's New Year's celebration. It was so great to see so many and feel the support for our faculty.
At the same time, it was a great pleasure to have the opportunity to talk about the new donation from the Novo Nordisk Foundation of DKK 500 million to the Danish Advanced Research Academy (DARA).
DARA is an academy which will annually award 40 PhD scholarships in open competition for all universities in Denmark.
The Faculty of Science will house the secretariat, which will handle PhD applications and arrange courses, workshops and facilitate contact with international research environments, as well as build an environment and community for the PhD students.
It is a great recognition that this donation is being placed here. I have heard that this is because we handle our PhD programme and students well. That is to say, with regard to both the administrative processes and the PhD students' progress with courses, supervision and career guidance.
If all goes according to plan, the first positions for the secretariat will be posted soon and PhD scholarships will follow before summer. More information about DARA will be available on an ongoing basis.
Many exciting tasks await in 2025 with our new campus in Vejle, recruitment of researchers and pre-qualification of the programmes.
There will be a start-up of the MedTech Odense venture between SDU and OUH. In addition, there are plans for a new research building on the west side by BMB and Biology, which is expected to be ready for occupancy in five years. Until then, a number of pavilions will be set up to relieve pressure on the offices.
Finally, we hope to receive clarifications regarding the Master's degree reform soon. We now have a plan for restructuring our programmes, but there are still many uncertainties that need to be clarified before we can really move forward with the restructuring.
Fortunately, the new Master's programmes are still a few years away from being ready, as they will not start until 2028 at the earliest.
An exciting year lies ahead of us, but I would also like to mention the chaotic times we find ourselves in. There are completely new political agendas around the world and climate change is pressing.
It can be difficult to be optimistic and positive with the constant negative news in the media. I hope that we at our faculty can continue to maintain our motivation and contribute with relevant results and high-quality education that can lead to a more sustainable world.
Marianne Holmer, dean