Five researchers honoured with EliteForsk awards

• Programme overview and read more about the recipients of awards, scholarships and grants at eliteforsk.dk (in Danish)

Five of Denmark’s most talented researchers will receive the EliteForsk Award 2015, totalling DKK 1.2 million. DKK 200,000 of this is a personal award, while DKK 1 million is for research activities.

The awards will be presented on 26 February by H.R.H. Crown Princess Mary at a ceremony at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Copenhagen. Minister for Higher Education and Science Sofie Carsten Nielsen will present the winners.

- The EliteForsk awards are not just a recognition of the country’s most talented researchers, it is also an investment in the future. Research will expand our knowledge of the world and help provide some answers to the great challenges we face. From the treatment of life-threatening illnesses to better insight into our cultural legacy to new forms of sustainable energy, says Sofie Carsten Nielsen.

Recipients of EliteForsk Award 2015

• Lars Birkedal, Professor in computer science and Head of the Department of Computer Science, Aarhus University
• Lasse Heje Pedersen, Professor in finance and economics at the Department of Finance, Center for Financial Frictions, Copenhagen Business School
• Lene Broeng Oddershede, Professor in biophysics, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
• Niels Mailand, Professor in molecular biology, Group Leader, The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen
• Rubina Raja, Professor with Special Responsibilities in classical archaeology at the Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus University

In addition to the five EliteForsk Awards, the minister will be presenting 20 EliteForsk travel scholarships worth DKK 200,000 to talented young PhD students who can supplement their studies with a short or longer stay at some of the best international universities within their respective research fields.

- We have a large talent pool of young researchers in Denmark. We must challenge them and give them the opportunity to utilise their talents. EliteForsk travel scholarships are both a great honour and a unique opportunity for young researchers to visit international research environments and become even more knowledgeable about their research fields, says Sofie Carsten Nielsen.

The 12 new leaders of the Danish National Research Foundation’s Centres of Excellence and recipients of the Danish Council for Independent Research’s Sapere Aude grants will also be honoured at the ceremony at the Glyptotek museum.

Follow the EliteForsk award ceremony on Twitter via the hashtag #eliteforsk

For further information please contact:

Projekt leader Line Svenningsen, tel. +45 7231 8212, e-mail lines@fi.dk

Press and communication adviser Steen Bruun Jensen, tel. +45 4132 6030, e-mail sbj@fi.dk