Have a nice summer

Dear staff

With summer just around the corner, it is a good opportunity to look back on a first half of the year marked by significant activity, strong commitment and many impressive achievements across the Faculty of Science. NAT is doing well, and this is due in no small part to the tremendous effort that is invested every day in our departments, research environments, degree programmes and administration.

One of the major highlights of the summer was the opening of ICCC, which was delivered with great professionalism and a strong sense of teamwork. It has involved an enormous amount of work from Christine Mckenzie and her team, as well as from the Secretariat, and FKF came together admirably to ensure the event's success. It was also great fun to see the conference opened by H.C. Andersen, brought to life by actor Torben Iversen, who spoke about the leading researchers of his time. It was both entertaining and memorable. The many positive posts and reactions on LinkedIn testify to the conference’s success and the international visibility it has generated. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

We also enjoyed a very successful graduation ceremony for our master’s students, with a strong turnout and an inspiring speech from this year’s honorary alumnus. It was both thought-provoking and amusing to see photographs from the time when the university was being built and cars were parked along Campusvej. The speech also reminded me how scientific knowledge can have a very tangible impact on society. During the Covid-19 pandemic, honorary alumnus Professor Per Halkjær Nielsen and his entire laboratory demonstrated an impressive ability to quickly adapt their work and contribute to monitoring the spread of the virus. It is a powerful example of innovation in practice.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are also thriving among our students. Just these past few days, I have been informed that Innovation Fund Denmark has awarded both an InnoBooster grant and an InnoFounder grant to students from NAT. This is a wonderful recognition of the ideas, courage and academic excellence that our students bring to their ventures.

Finally, there is every reason to be pleased with this year’s application figures. We can be very satisfied, not least with the positive development in Vejle. It is encouraging that we can now move forward and pursue the targets we have set for Vejle, while continuing to attract strong application numbers in Odense despite declining youth demographics.

Before many of you head off on your summer holidays, I would like to extend my sincere thanks for your hard work, collaboration and dedication. I hope that all of you will have the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful summer break, with time for rest, family and friends, and renewed energy.

Wishing you all a very happy summer.