The Staff’s Column
A few words on what’s happening at SUND
My name is Henrik Dimke. I am a professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine at the Faculty of Health Sciences – or SUND, as it is colloquially known. Here I work to understand how the kidneys work, while at the same time contributing to educating students in medicine, clinical biomechanics and biomedicine. I am also the elected representative of the Academic Council at SUND and a member of the University Council.
I have been invited to write a column about what is happening at SDU. Many things based on this theme spring to mind, but due to space restrictions, I have chosen two of the things that are taking up a lot of my time at the moment.
SDU gets connected
The move to New SUND is one of the things that is monopolising my time and everyone else's at SUND. While parts of SUND have been located on campus together with the other faculties, large parts of SUND have been located some distance from campus, together with Odense University Hospital (OUH). The plan is for us to move into the New SUND building, which will connect the rest of the campus with New OUH. A large part of the SUND staff has already moved in, while those of us who conduct ‘wet’ research in laboratories are still waiting to be allowed to move into the new faculty building. This is expected to happen in January.
A unified geographical location provides great opportunities for increased interaction between all the University’s faculties and with OUH. We at SUND have enjoyed this advantage for many years thanks to our close proximity to OUH, and this has contributed to strengthened interactions for the benefit of translational research. I am therefore also looking forward to us getting connected to the other faculties at SDU and re-connected with OUH when they move to New OUH in 2026. Geographical proximity can facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations, but is not in itself sufficient to establish strong ones. It requires willingness and, not least, a desire to tackle difficult problems in new ways. An appetite for solving complex cross-cutting issues like this is characteristic of many researchers at SDU, so I anticipate a further strengthening of interdisciplinary research at SDU in the coming years.
Where did the time go?
Another thing that is very important to me is how we as researchers and lecturers can find more time to support our core tasks, namely carrying out research and research-based teaching. I consider this undertaking to be one of the noblest tasks at a university, but these core tasks are constantly under pressure by external as well as internal tasks of an administrative nature. How do we make it easier for us researchers on the shop floor to find the necessary time? Are there any things that can be made simpler or disburdened from the researcher? I hope this is something we can solve together in the near future.
Henrik Dimke
Professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine, Department of Cardiovascular and Renal Research at the Faculty of Health Sciences. Visiting researcher at Department Y of Medical Nephrology at OUH. Head of the Academic Council at the Faculty of Health Sciences and member of the University Council.