Local Research Support is getting closer
A new, specialised department that will support researchers at Health in applying for external funding has moved a step closer. The deadline for applications for the position of head of the department is Friday, 6 September.
After months of preparation and negotiations on finances, a department with a head and five employees dedicated to helping researchers from Health with funding applications is now taking shape.
“If everything goes according to plan, Health Research Support will be in operation from the turn of the year. But before we get there, it’s about finding the right manager, who will recruit employees to the department. We hope that the leader will be in place on 1 November,” says Lasse Munk Madsen, who, as administrative centre manager at Health, will have overall responsibility for the department.
The department at Health is being established because the senior management team decided last year that AU’s central research support unit should, in the future, only focus on applications for 19 named instruments, including EU funds and selected programmes under Innovation Fund Denmark and the Danish National Research Foundation.
Application support for all other foundations, e.g., the Lundbeck Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation, must therefore take place at faculty level.
“These foundations contribute a very large proportion of the total external grants at Health. Therefore, we need a robust department with qualified employees who can help researchers write clear, targeted, and well-founded applications,” says Lasse Munk Madsen.
Each department will have an affiliated staff member
The department will be structured on the basis of a partner model, so that each department has one or more permanent persons affiliated with it. These will gradually gain knowledge of the researchers and their academic strengths and may also be physically present at the department when relevant.
The core task of Health Research Support is advice and practical help for ‘the good application,’ but the department must also be responsible for workshops for researchers and ensuring the right match between researcher and instrument.
Health Research Support will support both the research environments at Health and hospitals in the Central Denmark Region. Therefore, the region also contributes to the financing.
Until the department is fully staffed and in operation, researchers at Health will still be able to get help for their applications from AU’s central research support unit.
See the job advertisement Division Manager for Research Support at Health (Danish only)
Contact
Administrative Centre Manager Lasse Munk Madsen
Aarhus University, Health
Phone: 21 60 28 46
Email: lamma@au.dk