Talent Track to promote elite research: Meet the first participants

By Marlene Jørgensen, marl@sam.sdu.dk, 1/22/2021

Talent must be cultivated throughout one’s career – and preferably as early in one’s research career as possible.

This very reason has spawned a new talent development programme, which researchers at the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences at SDU have the opportunity to become part of.

Entitled ‘Talent Track’, the initiative aims to support some of the faculty’s most talented young researchers in pursuing visionary goals, which can be an important push forward in their research careers and at the same time significantly strengthen the faculty’s research.

Sten Rynning, Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, comments on the new initiative:

- Innovative ideas are crucial for both research and society. With Talent Track, we want to strengthen our support to a number of emerging career scholars with extraordinary potential by giving them an even better opportunity to invest in their ambitious and groundbreaking ideas, which can take their research in new directions and to new heights. It’s a career booster, but also benefits the research environment at SAMF and thus creates value and solutions for the benefit of society, says Sten Rynning.

Three new research talents found

Initially, three researchers have been selected to join the Talent Track. It already counts six researchers who have received prestigious European research grants or are part of another talent programme.

The new researchers set to become part of the Talent Track are:

• Julia Bronnmann, Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics
• Kerstin Bree Carlson, Associate Professor at the Department of Law
• Volha Lazuka, Assistant Professor at the Department of Business and Economics.

Among other things, the researchers are provided with an individual career plan, and during their participation they can draw on a mentor, an experienced and recognised researcher, who will help them fulfil their ambitions.

In addition, Talent Track is also a forum where the enrolled researchers can network and discuss research questions, learning and experiences with each other.

Six researchers are already involved

With Julia Bronnmann, Kerstin Bree Carlson and Volha Lazuka, a total of nine researchers are now part of the Talent Track. The faculty already has six young recognised research talents, such as Marie Curie Fellows, DIAS Fellows, ERC Starting and ERC Consolidator Grant holders. Together with the new participants, they are part of the Talent Track. Please meet them:

• Aviva Guttmann, Postdoc at the Department of Political Science and Public Management and Marie Curie Fellow
• Ingvild Bode, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Management and ERC Starting Grant recipient
• James Rogers, Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Management and DIAS Fellow
• Keith Meyers, Assistant Professor at the Department of Business Management and Economics, DIAS Fellow and Marie Curie Fellow
• Pantelis Analytis, Assistant Professor at the Department of Marketing & Management and DIAS Fellow
• Zeinab Rezvani, Postdoc at the Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics and Marie Curie Fellow.

In the future, it will be possible to apply for admission to the Talent Track once a year in August. Thereafter, the SAMF Think Tank will appoint the new participants.