New unit to be established in the new year
Before the summer break, the Executive Board announced that from now on SDU's research and industry supporting activities are to be organised in a joint unit: the Research and Innovation Office (RIO). In this context, a RI council was established with Dean Henrik Bindslev as chairman.
By Tina Ellehuus Larsen, tila@sdu.dk
Marianne Holmer, head of the Department of Hiology, has been appointed as representative of the Faculty of Science on the RI council:
"The establishment of RIO will support SDU's strategic targets in engaging with society in the coming years. This will include areas such as entrepreneurship, contact with businesses, employability and research grants: all things we have great strategic focus on at the Faculty of Science. I am looking forward to helping secure the interplay between SDU and NAT in these important areas, and I hope that RIO will come to support the university's core tasks in education and research in the best possible way," says Marianne Holmer.
In the coming months, a number of work groups will help specify the tasks of RIO. The work groups will cover: entrepreneurship, contact with businesses, employability, research grants, policy, knowledge sharing system, engaging with society and communication, and two groups will deal with the organisation and start-up of RIO. From the Faculty of Science, the participants in these work groups are Christina Dahl and Hanne Dahl Mortensen from Support Office, Science and the two heads of department Peder Thusgaard Ruhoff (BMB) and Marianne Holmer (BI).
The unit will finally be ready on 1 January 2017, but staff and management will work on organising the unit and other tasks during the autumn.
The next major step is to appoint a new head of the unit, who is expected to take up the post on 1 November 2016.
Read more about RIO on SDUnet.
Top illustration: Colourbox