Junior VIP meeting looked to the future
AGRO’s PhD students and postdocs are valuable to the department. This is one of the reasons that they have been invited to give their feedback regarding AGRO’s four new flagships
Where are we now and where are we heading? These were the two main issues raised by Department Head Erik Steen Kristensen in the first part of the junior VIP meeting that was held in Foulum on 17 September 2015. Approximately 35 people attended the meeting.
The aim of the first part of the meeting was to introduce the department’s proposal for four new scientific flagships and to get feedback from the junior VIP’s regarding the flagships. The young scientists provided plenty of useful feedback and food for thought that can be used in the process of developing the flagships. This is a process which will last the rest of the year. The proposed flagships will be discussed with the Dean in December.
AGRO’s strategy and flagships were studied before the groups gave their feedback to them (Photos: Janne Hansen):
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Before introducing the flagships Erik outlined where AGRO is at the present. As shown in the slides Erik presented at the meeting, the Department of Agroecology is moving in the right direction with regard to number of PhD students, postdocs and published articles. From 2009 to 2014 the number of publications increased from 114 to 259. Erik pointed out that this positive development is in large part due to the increase in the number of PhD’s and postdocs in the department.
The international NTU ranking, which is solely based on number of publications, also shines a positive light in our direction. In the category “Agricultural Sciences” Aarhus University ranked as number 11 in the world in the latest ranking (2014).
An overview of the frequency of occurrence of keywords in AGRO’s scientific articles has resulted in a diagram that looks something like a brain scanning or a map of weather systems. This colourful picture has been used to determine where AGRO’s four key scientific areas lie. This is where the four new flagships sail onto the scene, so to speak.
Based on the figure the four proposed scientific flagships are:
- Soil Functions
- Sustainable Crop Pest Management
- Sustainable Nutrient Management
- Climate-Smart Agriculture
These topical areas are also in harmony with the challenges for agriculture set out by the European Commission’s 3rd SCAR Foresight Exercise and cover key areas of global agricultural interest such as sustainability, production and growth.
Many of the postdocs and PhD students felt that they could fit under two or even three of the flagships. This reflects how interconnected the flagships are. One could say that they are meant to support each other and sail in the same general direction – like a fleet – to support AGRO’s overall mission, namely to contribute to sustainable production and growth through research, advice and teaching in agroecosystems.
Suggestions were given as to the names of the flagships so that they better reflect the contents of the flagships. These suggestions will be taken into consideration in the ongoing process of developing AGRO’s strategy and flagships.
A similar junior VIP meeting will be held in Flakkebjerg on 29 September.