More women should pursue a university career

Women remain significantly underrepresented among assistant professors, associate professors and full professors in the STEM fields. The drop-off starts after the PhD. Villum Foundation is therefore awarding DKK 17.4 million to six excellent female researchers who have the potential to advance their fields and become role models for others. The grants include the opportunity to carry out research at a leading university abroad. 
 

Women are leaving STEM

“We hope these grants can help create strong female role models that other women can identify with. The talent is there. The challenge is making female scientists choose Academia in those years when career and family life must somehow come together. With the Villum International Postdoc Programme we offer better conditions for research stays abroad, also for those travelling with a partner or family,” says Head of Programme at Villum Foundation, Karen Skytte Larsen. 

 

New voice in the future of construction

One of the recipients is Anja Kunić from the University of Southern Denmark. Her research explores how robotics and architectural design can work together to create timber structures that can be assembled, taken apart, and reused without damage, reducing waste and lowering the climate impact of construction. The fellowship will support a research stay at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. 

"As a female researcher in a traditionally male-dominated environment, receiving this support is deeply empowering and affirming. It reinforces my confidence to challenge conventions, pursue ambitious ideas, and help shape a more inclusive and forward-thinking future for the technical sciences,” she says. 

A research dream comes true 

Another recipient is Kathrine Mørch Groth from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen. She will conduct research into some of the universe's smallest particles, known as neutrinos, which help us explore the extreme Universe. The international part of her project will take place at Stockholm University. 

"The grant from Villum Foundation provides me with a clear path forward in my research, enabling me, as I prepare to become a mother, to continue pursuing my career ambition and work towards leading my own research group,” she says. "At the same time, I am delighted that the foundation has placed its trust in my research project and its potential to advance our understanding of the high-energy Universe and the rapidly evolving field of astroparticle physics.” 

All six grant recipients are at a career stage where women statistically leave academia more often than men. 

“We lose many talented women at this point in the pipeline, and that matters for research and for the diversity of voices in the field,” says Karen Skytte Larsen. “We hope that strong female role models will encourage more women to stay on the academic path and aim for the top.” 
 

Read more about the Villum International Postdoc Programme here: Villum International Postdoc | Villum Fonden