Press release
The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters admits new members
The more than 280-year-old academy, which has boasted illustrious members such as H.C. Ørsted, Niels Bohr and August Krogh, welcomes 18 new members, who will join the Royal Academy’s efforts to ensure good conditions for research and scientists in Denmark.
Academy members actively endeavour to strengthen the position of science and interdisciplinary understanding in Denmark. The Royal Academy is a collaborative body and meeting place for researchers from all areas of basic scientific research. As a result, it organises member meetings, symposia, presentations and lectures, publishes, and participates in international collaborations and the Academy’s forums and committees on research and climate policy, public service and education, the dissemination of research – and much more.The more than 500 members of the Royal Academy are divided into two main areas, the humanities and the natural sciences. At its most recent general meeting on 16 May 2024 the Academy admitted 18 new members from the natural sciences since this area admits new members in even years.
In addition to the two aforementioned areas, members are also divided into ordinary and corresponding members, the former live in Denmark and are affiliated with Denmark or Danish research, while the latter live abroad and are affiliated with research outside Denmark.
New ordinary members in the natural sciences:
Mads Albertsen
Professor
Subject areas: microbiology, biotechnology
Workplace: Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University
Messoud Ashina
PhD, MD
Subject area: neurology
Workplace: Copenhagen University Hospital – Rigshospitalet and University of Copenhagen
Isabelle Augenstein
Professor, Head of Section, DSc, PhD
Subject area: computer science
Workplace: University of Copenhagen
Peter Ditlevsen
Professor
Subject area: physics
Workplace: Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
Stig Helveg
Professor, PhD
Subject areas: electron microscopy, physics-chemistry, nanomaterials, catalysis
Workplace: Technical University of Denmark
Sune Lehmann
Professor
Subject areas: computer science, informatics, social networks, applied mathematics, physics
Workplace: Technical University of Denmark
Kresten Lindorff-Larsen
Professor
Subject area: biochemistry
Workplace: Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen
Mette Løvschal
Professor
Subject area: prehistoric archaeology
Workplaces: Aarhus University and Moesgaard Museum
Rikke Louise Meyer
Professor, PhD
Subject area: microbiology/nanoscience
Workplace: Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University
Dorthe Bomholdt Ravnsbæk
Professor
Subject area: materials chemistry
Workplace: Aarhus University
Riikka Riinnan
Professor
Subject area: ecosystem-atmosphere interactions
Workplace: Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen
Peter Vuust
Professor, musician, composer, PhD
Subject area: neuroscience
Workplace: Aarhus University
New corresponding members of the natural sciences:
Ewan Birney
PhD
Subject areas: bioinformatics, genomics, heritability
Workplace: EMBL/European Institute of Bioinformatics (EMBL-EBI)
Robert Dunn
Professor, PhD
Subject areas: ecology, evolutionary biology, entomology
Workplace: North Carolina State University
Hélène Esnault
Professor, MD, honorary doctorates
Subject area: arithmetic geometry (mathematics)
Workplaces: Free University of Berlin (part-time at Harvard University and University of Copenhagen)
Naomi Halas
PhD
Subject area: chemistry and physics
Workplace: Rice University
Adeline Leclercq Samson
Professor, PhD
Subject areas: statistics, stochastic modelling, data analysis in biology and social sciences
Workplace: Université Grenoble Alpes
Guojie Zhang
Professor, PhD
Subject area: biodiversity genomics
Workplace: Zhejiang University
The new members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters are admitted after election and subsequent acceptance by the members. In addition to electing new members in the natural sciences, the general meeting also elected a new president and a new board member for the Carlsberg Foundation. The next election for new members, this time in the humanities, will be in spring 2025.
Please direct any inquiries regarding election procedures and the like to Royal Academy’s programme consultant Trine Hagerup: th@royalacademy.dk or +45 3149 2316. For press-related inquiries please contact communications consultant Rikke Reinholdt Petersen: rp@royalacademy.dk or +45 3125 8060.
