New Dean for the Faculty of Science

Employees and students at the Faculty of Science at SDU will see a familiar face when they meet their new Dean on 1 May.

Marianne Holmer has been acting Dean since 1 December and has handled this task so well that the university's management has pointed her out for the post of Dean from a crowded field of applicants.

This means that in the coming years, she will also spearhead the faculty, which accounts for approximately 2000 students and 500 employees.

Active approach

They will be getting a Dean who knows the faculty better than most; Marianne Holmer studied biology at the department in the 1980s, and in 2010 was appointed Professor and employed as head of department.

“I am pleased that Marianne Holmer will help influence the development of science - and at SDU - in the coming years. She has demonstrated an active approach both as head of department and acting Dean, which makes her a strong and constructive colleague,” says Henrik Dam, Vice-Chancellor at SDU.

Both he and Marianne Holmer point out that there is great demand for scientific competences both here and on an international level.

Global challenges

“The scientific research is crucial for society in order to solve the major global challenges and live up to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We therefore need both the solution-oriented research projects and the more theoretical awareness projects, which are first and foremost about understanding how the world is built up,” says Marianne Holmer.

She would also like sustainability to be emphasised in the programmes offered by the faculty.

“Young people are very environmentally and climate aware. Therefore, we must highlight the fact that a science programme provides them with an opportunity to address sustainability,” says Marianne Holmer.

Leisure time at sea

The diving suit was part of the 54-year-old biologist’s work uniform of for many years, as she once specialised in the ecology of coastal zones with special focus on sea grasses and climate change. Her work tasks have become increasingly administrative in recent years, but the sea still occupies a great deal of Marianne Holmer's life.

She loves to spend her leisure time at sea. She has spent a number of good hours on sailing trips with her family in the Nordic waters. Just recently she has started sailing in a one-man boat, now that her daughters are more grown up.