ITU has a Danish record in attracting EU funds

Researchers from IT University of Copenhagen are very successful in attracting research funding from the EU's Horizon 2020 programme. One explanation is a clear focus on the application potential of the research, says Pro-Rector Jens Christian Godskesen.

Research

Written 31 January, 2017 09:14 by Vibeke Arildsen

ITU is leading among Danish universities when it comes to attracting research funding from EU’s Horizon 2020, according to the magazine Forskerforum. Since the programme started in 2014, ITU has received almost 5 million euros for 5 research projects. This corresponds to an average of almost 60,000 euro per researcher. This average is more than twice as high as those of Technical University of Denmark and University of Copenhagen, which rank second and third according to Forskerforum’s calculations.

Pro-Rector Jens Christian Godskesen points to ITU’s rigorous internal quality assurance processes, which provide support and feedback for research applications, as one of the explanations for the good results. But ITU's clear focus on the application potential of research also comes into play, he says.

"In many applications - especially in the Challenges column – they are interested in how research can be applied. We have many researchers who are motivated by others using their research. It has almost been in our DNA since we were born that our mission is to create value with information technology. When we hire researchers, we very much look at how their research can be used. It is not enough that they are cited. Someone has to think that it is exciting and can create change. And this fits very well into Challenges," he told Forskerforum.

See the article in Forskerforum (pages 20-21).

Further information

Jens Christian Godskesen, Pro-Rector, phone +45 7218 5276, email jcg@itu.dk

Vibeke Arildsen, Press Officer, phone 2555 0447, email viar@itu.dk