"We need to promote research in public health and dare to set the agenda"

"I’ve lost my voice," wrote Vivi Schlünssen in an email less than half an hour before our interview. But even though her voice let her down a few times, the messages from the deputy head of department at the Department of Public Health were clear. Vivi Schlünssen is looking forward to her new role at the department, and she has great ambitions for both research and talent development.

Vivi Schlünssen is a professor of occupational and environmental medicine epidemiology, and she is interested in how our environment and work environment affect public health and diseases.

"My particular focus is on respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD, and I examine how parents’ and grandparents’ lifestyles and work affect the health of their children and grandchildren," says Vivi Schlünssen, who recently published a study showing that teenage boys who smoke risk affecting the genes of their future children. 

The research conditions are a key issue

Vivi Schlünssen has a lot to say about why she wants to be the deputy head of department for research and talent. She doesn’t have just one good reason for getting involved in strategy and management work.

"Since I started my PhD degree in 1997, the research framework has shifted, from limited and primarily national research projects with Danish partners, to international and interdisciplinary research projects with several research groups from many countries, and with very different academic backgrounds and core competences. This is an exciting development, and I’m in no doubt that it’s the way forward if we want to contribute to improving public health nationally and globally," she says and continues:

"But the new reality places specific and weightier demands on the research framework, and I’m very keen to help optimise these. We need to establish even more professional support functions for the core task of research: in particular support for funding applications, financial support and administrative and legal assistance. These tasks and functions were previously outside the department, but they increasingly have to be dealt with locally."

We must make space for offbeat ideas

According to Vivi Schlünssen, the department's breadth and growing research profile is both a strength and a challenge. She believes that the department's mission and vision have to set a common direction that all employees at the department know about and can navigate by, so that everyone can together provide research and education that matches the requirements and expectations of the healthcare sector, municipalities and other institutions working with public health in a broader sense.

"We must have a clear common goal to improve public health together, both nationally and globally. Furthermore, we must support a culture with space for the big, offbeat ideas that can potentially make breakthroughs in the way we think about and conduct public-health research. This means that the good work at the department, with initiatives whereby we offer each other constructive criticism, must continue and intensify. We need an open and safe culture in which we help and challenge each other, so that we become better researchers with more success in the competition for external funding," she says and continues:

"If we are to attract and retain the most promising research talents, we also have to make room for our employees to enjoy their families and leisure, while at the same time setting the bar high. This is possible because making sure that work is not the most important thing in life is basically a strength: not a weakness. And the work-life balance is a high priority for young, resourceful fledgling researchers.

There are so many incredibly talented researchers at our department, and the public health issue is so important. In reality, public health research has probably never been more important than it is right now. So, I want to help ensure that, as researchers, we have the best possible framework for conducting the research that we are so good at and so passionate about. As the deputy head of department, I’ll do my utmost to ensure that we work together even more and support each other across disciplines. I'm convinced that we can become even better than we already are."

And the newly appointed deputy head of department already knows what to do first.

"We’re working on an exciting and important research evaluation project at both faculty and department levels. So far, Head of Department Ole Bækgaard has headed the process here, and I'm looking forward to getting involved in the project at management level," says Vivi Schlünssen.

I’ll still be active in research

"Taking on the role of deputy head of department is, if not a gift, at least a good opportunity for the younger research colleagues in my research group. Now, they’ll have more responsibility because they’ll have to take over some of my functions. Talented researchers are well on the way, so everything is in good hands," replies Vivi Schlünssen when I ask what the new role as deputy head of department will mean for her own research.

"Obviously, resources and time are an issue. But I hope – perhaps a little naively – that my new role can also have a positive influence on my research. I can potentially collaborate more and perform better if, and when, the framework for research is optimised. I have no immediate plans to scale down or put my research career on hold while I'm the deputy head of department, but I'm also fully aware that the role of deputy head will have to take precedence – at least for the next three years," she admits.

There must be a meaning to the madness

Vivi Schlünssen enjoys collaborating with talented people for a common purpose.

"As the deputy head of department, I want to be clear and have the courage to set a direction and make decisions. But not without being attentive and open to the opinions of others. My door is always open," she says and adds:

"I hope I'll be able to make a difference; that I become a resource. I don't want to be a deputy head of department who just allocates work that no one considers meaningful. Setting up strategies and frameworks can quickly generate paper tigers. That's probably my only fear of going into management work. I don't want to impose more administrative burden on my colleagues that doesn't immediately make sense.

The department has a lot to offer in research collaboration with the four other departments at Health. Therefore, it’s deeply meaningful to represent the department in the faculty research forum, and to advise the vice-dean for research and talent on the cross-disciplinary initiatives at the faculty when we find a replacement for Hans Erik Bøtker. We also have a lot to contribute at AU: even more than national foundations, patient organisations and other research environments are probably aware of. So I'm looking forward to representing the department in a research context, both inside and outside the university's yellow walls." 

Contact

Deputy Head of Department, Professor, MD Vivi Schlünssen
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health
Mobile: (+45) 2899 2499
Mail: vs@ph.au.dk