Other October News in Brief
The Danish National Research Foundation and two other public foundations behind a contribution to Altinget; a big interview with Rita Felski in Politiken; Carsten Rahbek is interviewed in “24 Questions to the Professor”; Troels Skrydstrup is part of a collaboration to recycle plastic; research from UrbNet contributes to an exhibition at Glyptoteket; and two researchers from CEBI are behind a study about wealth taxes that was published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics. All this in Other October News in Brief here.
The DNRF’s Chair Jens Kehlet Nørskov and CEO Søren-Peter Olesen contribute to Altinget
The Danish National Research Foundation’s Chair Jens Kehlet Nørskov and CEO Søren-Peter Olesen, together with Tina Fanø, chair for the Innovation Fund Denmark; David Dreyer Lassen, chair for the Independent Research Fund Denmark and CEO at the Innovation Fund Denmark Tore Duevold have contributed an article to Altinget. The contribution was written on the occasion of the passage of the Danish Finance Act, whereby the research reserve will be negotiated. The contribution is also a call for politicians to make use of the public foundations, which hold important knowledge, that can be useful in advance of political decision-making regarding the continuation of existing research acitvities as well as with the establishment of new research initiatives.
Read the contribution to Altinget (in Danish) here
Big interview with Rita Felski in Politiken
Professor in Literature Rita Felski, who holds one of the DNRF’s Niels Bohr Professorships, was interviewed by the Danish newspaper Politiken about her relationship with literature and her present research on literature’s social role. According to Professor Felski, literature is a social player and underlines the importance of “ordinary” people’s reading experience and use of literature. Therefore, Professor Felski disassociates herself from universities’ distance from popular literature and advocates instead for a new open-mindedness toward the social role of literature and a focus on what it can do, across its many different readers.
Read Politiken’s interview with Rita Felski (in Danish) here
24 Questions to Professor Carsten Rahbek
In the radio program “24 Questions to the Professor” – which had been a part of radio channel Radio24syv since 2016 and now continues under Weekendavisen – research journalist Lone Frank invited top researchers to a talk based on 24 questions. One of the program’s recent guests was Professor Carsten Rahbek, head of the DNRF’s Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the University of Copenhagen. During the program, Professor Rahbek said that it is not in the rain forest but in mountain areas where the largest biodiversity can be found. The broadcast with Rahbek is called “The Humboldt’s Riddle” and was aired on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the explorer and researcher Alexander von Humboldt, who is considered the father of ecology and, in the 19th century, was one of the first to try to solve the mystery of biodiversity.
Listen to the podcast with Professor Rahbek (in Danish) here
Troels Skrydstrup participates in a collaboration with companies and researchers on the recycling of plastics
Some Danish companies will collaborate with researchers from Aarhus University to develop a new method for recycling a specific type of plastic. The plastic is called polyurethane – also known as PUR plastic, which can be found in refrigerators, shoes, and wind turbines. Despite its widespread use, PUR plastic is recycled to a lesser extent than other plastics, and therefore, a large amount of PUR plastic often ends up either at energy recovery plants or directly at a dumpsite. The new method can help reduce oil consumption and CO2 emissions. Troels Skrydstrup, a professor at Aarhus University and center manager at the basic research center CADIAC, is among the researchers who will be part of the collaboration with leading Danish companies connected to the Danish PUR industry, which includes Dan-Foam, ECCO, and the Danish Technological Institute. The collaboration is, among others, funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark with 11 million DKK.
Read more about the collaboration (in Danish) here
UrbNet research contributes to a special exhibition at the Glyptotek
Palmyra is an ancient city in present-day Syria and was the trade center between the east and west of the Roman Empire for 300 years. For the first time, the Glyptotek has a special exhibition, “The Road to Palmyra,” on the cultural aspects of the ancient city. The exhibition on Palmyra is based on, among other things, the research project “Palmyra Portrait Project” under the leadership of Professor Rubina Raja, who is head of center at the Center of Excellence UrbNet at Aarhus University, and also served as a consultant in the creation of the special exhibition at the Glyptotek.
Read more about the exhibition “The Road to Palmyra” at the Glyptotek here
Researchers from CEBI behind a study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics
Two researchers from the DNRF’s Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI) are co-authors of a registry study conducted in Denmark that examined the effect of wealth taxes on wealth accumulation. Ph.D. student Katrine Marie Jakobsen and external Professor Henrik Kleven from CEBI are among the research team behind the article “Wealth taxation and wealth accumulation: Theory and evidence from Denmark” that was published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics.