Morten Hjelholt appointed head of research
Professor Morten Hjelholt has served as interim head of research since January and is highlighted for his “commitment, conviction, and a management philosophy”. Starting 1 August, he will take on the position permanently.
About ITUResearchMorten Hjelholt
Written 20 June, 2025 08:01 by Theis Duelund Jensen
ITU’s new head of research is a familiar face. Morten Hjelholt has served as interim head of research since January of this year, and prior to that he was interim department head leading up to the implementation of ITU’s new academic department structure. In Morten Hjelholt, ITU will have a strong advocate for the research community and an experienced leader with great insight into the field ITU occupies, says Rector Per Bruun Brockhoff:
“With great commitment, conviction, and a management philosophy based on dialogue, trust and a deep interest in seeing other people succeed, Morten has shown that he can take it upon himself to work strategically with research at ITU in close collaboration with the university's other areas of activity. With the addition of Morten, we have created a top management team at ITU with the strengths and values that can further develop ITU with an eye for both the university's special conditions and its great potential.”
Morten Hjelholt began his career in central government as an administrator working directly with administrative policy initiatives on digitalisation strategies. He has been at ITU since 2012 and was appointed professor earlier this year. In his time at ITU, he has served as head of the Digital Design and Communication education programme, section head (Design Research and Digitalisation, Welfare, and Participation) co-head of Center for Digital Welfare, and interim head of Digital Design department.
“I look forward to continuing my work as head of research at ITU,” says Morten Hjelholt. “We think and work differently at ITU – we take an interdisciplinary approach to digital technologies – and I look forward to continuing my work advocating for and shining a light on all the amazing work that is done here.”
As a professor specialising in digital societies who has conducted research in digitalisation policy for more than twenty years, Morten Hjelholt brings great insight into the cross-section between research and policy making. He has extensive experience serving on advisory boards and developing strategies on various digital agendas.
“My primary role is to be a facilitator for the researchers at ITU – to help ensure they have the best conditions for doing their work. It is also my job to outline an overall direction and show the rest of the world where our research addresses agendas and specific societal issues. Researchers at ITU create a lot of value for society, and it is my task to enable them to do so,” says Morten Hjelholt.
Theis Duelund Jensen, Press Officer, phone +45 2555 0447, email thej@itu.dk