Workshop for academics looking to experiment with their careers

31 October 2018

A group of 85 Villum Experiment grant recipients shared their experiences during a workshop.

Professor Steve Wooding, of Cambridge University, led the workshop, which included presentations from four of the first group of Villum Experiment grant recipients. All four are well underway with their projects, and they explained how they used the Villum Experiment programme to get started with their research.

Challenges on the way
The focus of the workshop was to give this year’s recipients the chance to learn from the experiences of last year’s recipients by asking them to address questions like: What problems did I run into? What would I have done differently? and What three things would I tell someone who was interested in the programme?

After the presentations, participants were divided into small groups to continue the discussions with people with different professional backgrounds.

Diversity?
Villum Experiment stands apart from other funding programmes for its anonymous application process. During the workshop, participants discussed how the programme contributes to diversity amongst grant recipients. To date, the approval rating for both genders has been similar. The same is true when it comes to age and experience.

Thomas Bjørnholm said:

“The Villum Experiment programme’s anonymity makes it different from our other funding programmes, thereby allowing focus on the project. Since this is something new for us, we would like to keep a close eye on how it’s going. The workshop gave us that opportunity, while also making sure that grant recipients can give each other ideas they can apply to their own research.

“We had a lively debate during today’s workshop, and we heard from various people in a number of different fields. This is a sign that we have achieved our aim, just as we also learned more about the conditions for conducting research.”

All VILLUM researchers are invited to join communities
All recipients of VILLUM FONDEN grants within the technical and natural sciences are invited to join seminars, workshops, management programmes and networks. Read more under VILLUM FONDEN’s programmes for research in the technical and natural sciences.