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START invites researchers to participate in HUB collaboration

START - Centre for Sustainable Agrifood Systems - invites researchers from all the Danish universities to join the START HUB collaboration. The aim is to ensure crucial knowledge-sharing, provide needed interdisciplinary collaboration across the universities and to accelerate the green transition of agrifood system.

A successful green transition of the agrifood system is paramount for addressing the worldwide green challenges, ensuring nutritious food and other biomass for the biobased society by securing resource sufficiency within the planetary boundaries.  

And these challenges require new ways of collaborating - especially mission driven collaboration across research fields and disciplines.

To accelerate crucial interdisciplinary knowledge-sharing that can really drive forward the green transition, all the universities in Denmark joined forces in autumn 2021 to establish the joint research collaboration START: Centre for Sustainable Agrifood System.

The research collaboration has already resulted in several research HUBs within relevant themes, and the affiliated researchers have an open forum for interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration in the agricultural and food area and on future opportunities in the transition to a sustainable agrifood system:

"START is a unique platform that gives researchers across different fields and universities the opportunity to engage in new national partnerships with an international focus. The platform brings together relevant research environments across sciences. The intensive and interdisciplinary approach to research enables the researchers to develop real solutions to current and future global challenges. START will be a European research powerhouse and a preferred partner for new collaborations on the international stage," says Mogens Rysholt Poulsen, dean and newly appointed chair of the steering committee behind START.

Room for interdisciplinary collaboration

The START centre is a platform for research collaboration with space for interdisciplinary collaborations within the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, and humanities. The research collaboration will play a crucial role in creating solutions and strategies for more sustainable development in agricultural and food systems.

"The aim of the START research HUBs is to create forums in which researchers in Denmark can share knowledge across research areas This will help them establish a shared agenda and discuss research, collaboration and the opportunities to attract funding," says the chair of the steering committee.

So far, up to 200 researchers have participated in START activities, and Mogens Rysholt Poulsen encourages all researchers who want to be part of the START collaboration to sign up now:

"Sign up now if you want to join the interdisciplinary research collaboration and the various HUBs, because this is a unique opportunity to build networks and contribute crucial knowledge. Interdisciplinary collaboration is the foundation for applying for major research funding and being able to react to the urgent climate challenge," says Mogens Rysholt Poulsen.

Incentives and motivations - Why become part of START?

START is a collaboration between all Danish universities and is led by a Steering Committee with representatives from the founding universities. Chairmanship of the Steering Committee is based on an annual rotation principal between the eight universities: the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Aarhus University (AU), the IT University of Copenhagen (ITU), Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Aalborg University (AAU), the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) and Roskilde University (RUC).

As a part of START, researchers are offered:

  • Research networks across disciplines 
  • Funding opportunities and consortia
  • Increased exposure to European and national research and innovation landscapes 
  • Increased international impact and visibility  
  • Increased access to research infrastructures across the institutions 

Want to get onboard?

START invites researchers from all universities in Denmark to participate in one or more research HUBs.

Consider how your research expertise and knowledge can be brought into play? START invites you to register and to become part of the HUB platform. Bring your knowledge, experience, and expertise into play across disciplines.

Upon registration you will receive a welcome email upon and be in. be invited to activities related to START and the Research HUBs.

Please note that your registered data will be processed and administered in accordance with the GDPR and stored for a period of up to five years. You can unsubscribe at any time by contacting the START Administrative Team.

Read more about the START HUBs and sign up to become an active part of START. here

To match competences across fields and universities and in order manage GDPR only START registered researchers will receive news, updates, and invitations to the START and HUB activities by 2023. You are officially registered once you have fill in the application here

Mark your calendar: Annual Meeting 20-21 March 2023.

START will be inviting interested researcher to the annual meeting with the preliminary title “Improving impact project descriptions in green transition applications”.