Horizon 2031. The University of Granada in Light of its V Centenary. “Reflections on the Future of the University”
around the world. It is not only rewarding both culturally and personally to work and study with different nationalities – this mix of seeing and doing things differently may also lead to whole new insights and perspectives on how to solve some of the societal challenges, we are witnessing across the globe.
Another strategy is to attract high profile researcher from other universities. At DTU, we offer attractive working conditions and research possibilities. But is does not end there. We also help foreign researchers set up their families in Denmark and try to help their spouses with getting a job. We do this because it matters to the people we want to recruit. And we do it because it prolongs the time that high profile researchers stay in Denmark. At the same time, we know that we cannot attract the right people, if we cannot offer them access to state of the art research infrastructure and research environments. It is no secret that one of the competitive advantages that make leading universities stand out in the global landscape is access to state of the art research infrastructure. In my field, i.e. technical sciences, research infrastructure is a continuously and costly expenditure as technologies are changing faster than ever. However, we cannot conduct excellent research without access to advanced equipment, laboratories and experimental plants and pilot plants. Thus, in order for a university – and especially for a technical university - to attract students, researchers and businesses, state of the art research facilities are not nice to have – they are need to have.
There are many opinions on the role of universities and how closely they should be linked to the surrounding society. In my opinion the link is clear: Universities need to create value that benefits society. Of course it differs how different universities are able to create value and their attractiveness for external collaborators. As president for the Technical University of Denmark, we have as our stated mission to develop and create value using the natural sciences and the technical sciences to benefit society. Thus, my focus is to build strong research bases in selected fields and to educate high-quality engineers and researchers with an active participation and close contact with businesses, organisations and other relevant partners. I believe that this close interaction and exchange with the surrounding society is vital for universities and their ability to innovate and adapt to changes. At DTU, some even say that innovation is part of our university’s DNA. In my opinion, universities have an obligation to interact with businesses, organisations and other relevant partners and to give back to society in terms of new discoveries, technologies and insights. For me it is essential that new knowledge and technologies do not stay in the labs or offices. Research must be transferred and shared with relevant partners that hopefully can find a use for the research results to create value. This does not mean that there is no room to basic research. We need basic research, and I fully acknowledge that not all research findings are directly applicable in the short term – and that is fine. But we must ensure that the vast majority of research results find its uses, one way or another.