3. July 2024

Further Achievements

We are often reminded of how much talent the Danish research world possesses when scientists win prizes, publish in prestigious journals, or in other ways are acknowledged for their research. And we are immensely proud and happy when the excellent academics derive from one of our centers. This has occurred several times in the past months, and we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them all.

The birth of a galaxy

For the first time in the history of astronomy, researchers from the Cosmic Dawn Center at the Niels Bohr Institute have witnessed the birth of three of the universe’s earliest galaxies, somewhere between 13.3 and 13.4 billion years ago. 

The discovery was made using the James Webb Space Telescope and was published in May in the scientific journal Science.

A catalogue of prehistoric human genetics

“Prof. Willerslev has produced a rich, diverse catalogue of prehistoric human genetics. His work has broad scientific impact, forcing us to rethink the origins and evolution of human groups, languages, and behaviour, while causing ripples in fields as diverse as medicine, ecology, archaeology, and climate science,” said  the World Cultural Council when it announced Eske Willerslev as the winner of the Albert Einstein World Award of Science, 2024.

Willerslev, who is head of the Center for Ancient Environmental Genomics, will receive the award in Montreal, Canada, in October.

Young top climbers

Each year, Forbes magazine highlights 30 notable individuals under the age of 30 in various fields such as technology and science. The annual list is called the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe. This year, we were very glad to learn that Andy Sode Anker from CAPeX Pioneer Center for Accelerating P2X Materials Discovery is on the list. Sode is 29 years old and conducts research in the interface of materials chemistry, machine learning, and robotics

Mobility law

“Why do our beetroot-colored passports allow us to travel almost freely around the world, while others’ passports restrict their mobility? What makes illegal immigrants pay a fortune for a risky Mediterranean crossing when they could travel much cheaper on charter flights? And can the many Danish tightening measures in the immigration area limit the number of asylum seekers coming to Denmark?

”These are some of the complex and highly charged questions that center leader Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, MOBILE seeks coherent and data-driven answers to with his groundbreaking research in mobility law.”

The quote is a part of an article (In Danish) congratulating Gammeltoft-Hansen when he
won the Elite Research Award that focuses on cutting-edge Danish research, raising awareness about the quality of Danish research.

Groundbreaking international research

In March, Professor Tine Jess, head of the DNRF Center of Excellence PREDICT, received the prestigious Joanna and David B. Sachar M.D. International Award in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at a ceremony at the Icahn School of Medicine.
Jess was selected because of her research in inflammatory bowel diseases.

An excellent science communicator

Nathalie Eiris Henriksen from the Center for Microbial Secondary Metabolites won the prize for the best communication of her Ph.D. work at Forskerfesten 2024.

At Forskerfesten researchers compete to communicate their research in front of an audience, judges, and viewers. Each researcher has three minutes on stage, and the winner of the Researcher Festival wins DKK 50,000. Watch the program on DR – Danmarks Radio.

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