Sapere Aude: DFF-Starting Grant 2016 with help from SOS
Two researchers from the Faculty of Science have received Sapere Aude: DFF- Starting Grants worth a combined total of DKK 14 million. They both agree that assistance from Support Office, Science (SOS) was an important part of the application procedure.
Associate Professor Mads Toudal Frandsen from the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy and Associate Professor Johan Petter Dahlgren from the Department of Biology have each just received a Sapere Aude: DFF-Starting Grant grant of around DKK 7 million for research projects.
Physicist Mads Toudal Frandsen receives the grant for a research project about the origin of mass and the characteristics of dark matter particles, and biologist Johan Petter Dahlgren's project is concerned with the ageing of plants. In the process leading up to being awarded the grant, both researchers collaborated with SDU's research support, which included helping Johan and Mads with the application and interview training.
Johan Petter Dahlgren is very pleased with the assistance and preparation he received from SDU's research support.
"They were a great help, both in relation to finances and in sorting out the budget in the application itself. I also had interview training, which was really good preparation for my interview with the Danish Council for Independent Research back in May, says Johan Petter Dahlgren, and continues:
"I was prepared for the different types of questions that I could potentially face in the interview, which were also of a more philosophical nature that didn't have that much to do with my project. The training gave me confidence," says the biologist, who is normally to be found at the Max-Planck Odense Centre.
When a researcher at SDU receives interview training leading up to a meeting with the Sapere Aude panel, it can be conducted before a panel of researchers from SDU, who make themselves available for the training interview.
"It's incredibly important, and it works well to experience a situation similar to the one at the Danish Council for Independent Research," says particle physicist Mads Toudal Frandsen and continues:
"Training is necessary because even though you of course prepare in your research group, and ask other people who have been through it themselves and so on, it's about being as well-prepared as possible," says Mads Toudal Frandsen, who would also like to extend his thanks to his research colleagues:
"I really want to say thank you to the researchers who attend the training panel and give up their time for it because it makes the interview training a very useful tool," concludes Mads Toudal Frandsen.
The programme by SDU's research support is an offer; therefore, it is possible for researchers to opt in or out, according to what suits them best. There is also naturally enthusiasm among those who offer their assistance when their efforts have a positive result.
"The way in which the two researchers have used the research support during the process has been a little bit different, but of course we are glad that the interview training in particular has been shown to make a difference. SDU Grants Office, which is SDU's interdisciplinary forum for research support, has focused on elite funding in the past couple of years, and there is a great deal of satisfaction when things work out for our researchers," says Head of Section Christina Dahl from Support Office, Science.
At the Faculty of Science, the dean is also very satisfied.
"First and foremost, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Mads and Johan. It is a great achievement to receive a Sapere Aude Starting Grant, and both researchers very much deserve it. As well as that, it is good to see that the efforts by researcher support at SDU and our own Support Office, Science also have had the desired effect. It is very satisfying," says Dean Martin Zachariasen.
The Sapere Aude course at SDU includes the following elements:
- Masterclass, with particular focus on the content of the Sapere Aude programme and how CV, application and budget should be built up.
- Continuous review of CV, application and budget by own research support.
- Interview training, where a panel of researchers from across the faculties conducts a test interview with the researcher who has been invited to interview by the Danish Council for Independent Research. The test interview is designed to resemble as much as possible the interview with the Council.