Top metal researcher receives Annual Award

Dorte Juul Jensen from DTU Construct receives the Villum Kann Rasmussen Annual Award in Science and Technology for her groundbreaking studies of materials and tireless efforts to enhance Danish research. Together with the annual award of DKK 5 million, Dorte Juul Jensen will receive a piece of metal that doesn’t require research to understand: an Annual Award Medal engraved with her name, a symbol of one of Denmark’s largest individual research awards.

“The award is a unique recognition of my work and means that I can expand my research towards understanding the complicated microstructural evolutions occurring in 3D-printed metals when they are exposed to mechanical or thermal loads. Only when we understand what is really going on inside metals, we can improve them for the benefit of society,” says Dorte Juul Jensen.

In her 41-year career, Dorte Juul Jensen has developed new experimental techniques for studying metals in two, three and four dimensions. This has enabled her to advance the characterization of metal microstructures and to understand some aspects of why the metals behave as they do. Among other things, her research is used to produce new, stronger and more malleable materials that can save resources and energy. 

“Dorte Juul Jensen is an excellent representative of science at the highest level and of the interplay between fundamental understanding and practical application. VILLUM FONDEN is proud to present her with the Villum Kann-Rasmussen Annual Award,” says Jens Kann-Rasmussen, chair of VILLUM FONDEN’s board. “Her work has led to new scientific insights into the nanostructure of metals, but it has also had very direct impacts on industry. For instance, it has helped identify why cracks appear in railway tracks and how to shape aluminum components with an optimal microstructure.”