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SCC Invites Young International Researchers to SDU to Address the Climate Crisis

The SDU Climate Cluster (SCC), led by Sebastian Mernild, has launched the GAIA project, focused on attracting young researchers from abroad. “We need their help to tackle global climate issues,” Mernild explains.

By Birgitte Svennevig, , 11/4/2024

Young researchers may hold the creative solutions needed to get us through the climate crisis. This is the idea behind SCC’s new flagship initiative, GAIA, which now invites 15 young, international researchers to Denmark for two-year postdoctoral positions.

Approximately half of the funding for these 15 scholarships comes from the funding SCC received from SDU at its inception in 2022, and the other half is provided by the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions program.

- I expect we will attract some young, talented researchers we aren’t currently in contact with. They represent growth potential for SCC that can benefit both SDU and Denmark - especially if they choose to stay here. But either way, their work will benefit climate research,” says Sebastian Mernild.

An interdisciplinary approach is crucial

The 15 young researchers awarded with these postdoc fellowships will be based at SDU and will engage in interdisciplinary collaborations with other researchers, businesses or public agencies. Their research themes will range from the green transition, eco-literacy, circular economy and transportation to health, behavioral change, arctic challenges and digital solutions.

An interdisciplinary approach to these project themes is crucial, Mernild emphasizes.

- Climate issues are complex and interwoven, so as researchers we must engage in multiple disciplines. We need interdisciplinary solutions to tackle these issues. With GAIA we bring together researchers from various fields because we believe this can lead to new areas of research and constructive collaboration.

As an example of interdisciplinary collaboration in climate research, Mernild highlights the Aqua-NbS (Aquatic Nature-Based Solutions) centre, where researchers within fields like biology, urban planning and economics work together to address water-based climate challenges such as flooding.

The academic partners in GAIA include

The academic partners in GAIA include the University of Copenhagen, Norway’s Institute of Marine Research, the University of Rijeka in Croatia, the University of Stirling and University of Edinburgh in the UK, the University of Limerick in Ireland, the University of Cyprus, the Agricultural University of Georgia, the University of Essex, Spain’s Carlos III University of Madrid, Poland’s Adam Mickiewicz University and the Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Center at Aarhus University.

The business partners include Dansk Industri, Universal Robots, H.J. Hansen Recycling and A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S, while additional partners include Odense Municipality, Sønderborg Municipality, Fyens Stiftstidende, the CARE Denmark Foundation and Region Zealand.

For more information, visit the project website: https://www.thegaiaproject.eu.

Interested in applying: Go here for more information: GAIA’s application page.

The researchers will be enriched by a change of environment

Another example is a project on sustainable pharmacology led by Odense University Hospital, which unites hospitals, pharmacies, municipalities, regulatory bodies, industry and climate researchers in efforts to reduce the climate impact of pharmaceuticals in Denmark’s healthcare sector.

Eligible GAIA applicants must be from abroad - or to be precise, they may not have lived in Denmark for more than 12 months in the past three years.

Jan Andersen, who works in research project development at the Faculty of Science and contributed to the GAIA project, explains, “Studies show that researchers are enriched by a change of environment such as spending time at a university in another country. Their productivity rises, and so does the quality of their research. They gain a new perspective on their field, which is invaluable. That is something we want to support.”

Sebastian Mernild, who has spent 15 years abroad during his career (2006–2020) in places such as the USA, Chile and Norway, shares this view.

The first 15 GAIA postdocs are expected to join SDU in mid-2025.

Read the article

You can also read the article GAIA Postdoctoral Fellowships: Training Tomorrow’s Interdisciplinary Climate Scientists

Link to the article

Editing was completed: 04.11.2024