In 2011, The Royal Academy established The Young Academy (DUA). The Young Academy is an independent unit under the Royal Academy of Sciences and was born out of a wish to create a cross-disciplinary meeting place for young, talented researchers. Here, there would be room for engagement in research policy topics, interdisciplinary collaboration, and science dissemination to a broad audience.

– The Young Academy is important as a forum for developing cross-disciplinary collaboration, giving added focus to general research dissemination and not least as an important voice, speaking in particular for young researchers and their working conditions. I am convinced, that DUA will have a leading role to play for many years into the future, says Karen Vallgårda, chairperson of The Young Academy.

And the future is a good place to look to. After a full 10 years of existence, DUA is as active and engaged as ever, giving reason to believe that The Young Academy will continue for at least as many years as it has existed already.

Just as it was intended from the beginning, DUA now has 40 members, representing a wide range of scientific disciplines from all the universities in the country:

– The fact that we represent so many different disciplines and come from different universities means that we have a unique insight into the working conditions of researchers in different parts of the country. It also means that we truly can work together across disciplines and take that as our starting point when communicating to the general public. In addition to being fun and educational for us, it also gives us a solid foundation for contributing to the public debate on research policy, Karen Vallgårda explains.

In line with DUA’s work, a panel debate was held at the anniversary celebration on December 1st, focusing on Danish research and research policy over the past 10 years – as well as for the next 10 years. Here, key figures in Danish research and journalism discussed the relationship between basic research and applied research, society at large, the politicians’ views on research and not least the plight of researchers and research in Denmark.

In addition to its current 40 members, DUA has an alumnus of 51 researchers. Naturally, they were also invited to the anniversary celebration at the Carlsberg Academy. As well as the panel debate, they could look forward to celebratory speeches by former and present chairpersons of DUA, presidents of the Royal Academy of Sciences and not least a musical performance by artist, composer and cellist Josefine Opsahl.

To mark the anniversary, DUA issued a “Festschrift”, which was published at the Carlsberg Academy celebration.

DUA in short

The Young Academy (DUA) was founded in 2011 under the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. DUA currently has 40 sitting members and counts 51 alumni. After election, membership of DUA lasts 5 years. The chairperson of DUA is Karen Vallgårda, associate professor at the Saxo Institute, Copenhagen University. The deputy chairperson is associate professor Niels Martin Møller at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, Copenhagen University. Read more about DUA here.