A word from the Dean

Dear Staff and Students

In recent months, it has been tremendous being Dean of the Faculty of Science at SDU. On 19 March, the VILLUM Foundation announced that Professor Don Canfield, Department of Biology, was to receive a VILLUM Investigator grant of around DKK 38 million. And exactly one month later, on 19th April, the Danish National Research Foundation announced that Professor Susanne Mandrup, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, will receive DKK 65 million to establish a research centre at SDU. A truly golden month for the Faculty and for SDU.

But probably the most interesting thing for me was to observe the joy with which these two experienced researchers delivered their news to me. Because naturally grants of this type and magnitude are an enormous credit to the quality of their previous research. But what really struck me was the enthusiasm these researchers had for their forthcoming research. Phrases like 'the perfect project' and 'the perfect team' were used to characterise the patent curiosity shown by these two researchers. It says a lot about what drives our researchers - and as a leader, that makes me very pleased.

At the end of May, namely on 31 May, the Faculty's Biannual Advisory Seminar will be held with the theme of how the Faculty can attract large research grants in the future. One thing we do know is that we can attract research funding - we have shown this time after time. But I can also see a lot of untapped potential for the Faculty to participate in and to coordinate larger collaboration projects with public and private companies. We have the professional skills to do it, and in the future, we need to keep our eyes open for alternative sources of income if we are to maintain the quality and volume of our current research.

Martin Zachariasen, Dean