Poul Nissen becomes Vice Dean for Research, Innovation and Business Development
On 1 January 2024, Professor Poul Nissen will take up the position as Vice Dean for Research, Innovation and Business Development at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Aarhus University for a four-year period. He will maintain research activities at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics while holding his position as vice dean.
Poul Nissen already has some high-level management experience, as he was previously head of Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre of Excellence PUMPkin, and now for a number of years he has also been head of the interdisciplinary research centre DANDRITE (The Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience). DANDRITE is the Danish branch of the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, which is a unique network of national research centres in the Nordic countries with complementary research expertise and close ties to EMBL. The main purpose of DANDRITE is to develop new infrastructures and outstanding research talent and research leaders in neuroscience.
Professor Poul Henning Jensen from the Department of Biomedicine takes over the role of interim director of DANDRITE until a new one is found, whereas Associate Professor Magnus Kjærgaard joins DANDRITE's leadership as a new representative for the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics.
Poul has also been the main driving force behind the development of the national Danish research infrastructure for cryo-electron microscopy (EMBION). He has also served on many advisory bodies such as the EMBL Scientific Advisory Committee and was the founding leader of the follow-up research centre DANEMO. He will continue as Danish delegate to the EMBL Council.
Poul Nissen states:
"With the leadership of DANDRITE, I have greatly appreciated creating a framework and promoting the development of exciting and important new research environments and their positive impact on society. This will also be the central task of a vice dean, but on a much larger scale, and I am really looking forward to the new challenges.”
“But it was also important to me in accepting the position that I could remain research active and continue to collaborate with the fantastic staff, students and postdocs in the lab. In many ways, it is an easier perspective to hold the position of vice dean when you are an active researcher yourself. Of course, it will also present challenges in terms of balancing the calendar and the 24 hours of the day, so I'll definitely have to learn some new lessons there as well, concludes Poul Nissen.”
For further information, please contact
Professor Poul Nissen
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Aarhus University
pn@mbg.au.dk - mobile 28992295