Yours truly proudly placed between head of the ITU, Mads Tofte (left) and Leif Hede Nielsen, head of Familien Hede Nielsens Foundation (right)

This wednesday, the 18th of May, was a very special day for me. Since the beginning of January I had known that on this day, I and two other pricewinners would be awarded the Familien Hede Nielsen's Foundation annual special price - given by appointment, not application. We had been sworn to secrecy since the foundation did not want the press or colleagues to know in advance. It's been a bit like being a member of a secret society, getting special snailmail with "Confidential" stamped on it and communicating off-hours with the secretary who organised it all. It's also been somewhat of a pressure; knowing that I would get the price, I have felt obliged to also do something serious about my research, on top of doing the head of department thing. Not conductive to the workload, and a bit frustrating because I couldn't tell people why I was working like mad. Nevertheless, it has been nice to have this day to work towards, an incentive to make me think about and develop my research continously and not just letting it rest, while I did the admin stuff.

This wednesday The Day finally arose, we were invited to a posh place in town and was allowed to bring close family and friends in for the event. Motivations and pricewinner speaks were given, the price handed over, music played and then a big lunch for us all. A quite festive event, which continued unofficially with family and friends at home.

Today the press release has been sent out, including this photo. So here goes: I'm the official recipient of Familien Hede Nielsen's Fond special price of dkk 200.000 (equivalent to 26.856 Euro) to use to develop my research. I can use them for all sorts of purposes (like research assistants or travels), as long as they are used for scientific work. It is an extreme privilege and an amazing opportunity, and - as one of the other pricewinners said in her speak, also an obligation. It is naturally expected of us that we use the money well and do good in our academic careers.

So far I'll "advance" my career by hopefully spending 3-4 months at Georgia Tech in the fall, focusing on article writing and development of my research in collaboration with all the great people staying there. It's a big relief to know that I don't have to worry about the expenses but can focus on "content", an amazing perspective. Yeah!

I should also note, that my ITU colleague Rune Møller Jensen in the department of Innovation got the other price, so we were actually two ITU price winners. The third price winner (who got dkk 400.000) is a female research doctor at the National Hospital. Congrats to them :)
# posted by Lisbeth at: 16:43