Research attachés can pave the way for international contacts and collaboration with world-class universities. All it takes is the willingness to engage in a partnership of equals.

By Marie Leth Rasmussen, journalist

The Danish Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation has established innovation centres in three important global locations: Silicon Valley (in Palo Alto, California), Shanghai and Munich. The purpose of the new agencies, called Innovation Center Denmark, is to assist small enterprises and research environments find business partners, establish networks and draw attention to Danish research abroad. A seminar in October 2008 hosted by the Danish Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation gave Danish research institutions an opportunity to meet the research attachés and learn what doors the programme opens to them.

Danish design researchers have much to offer in international projects, where both parties contribute and learn from each other, says Dan Gilbert from Stanford University. Illustration: Anne Katrine Gelting

Focused Study Tour

Søren Nedergaard, who is a research attaché in the USA, pointed to the study tour undertaken by one of the Ph.D. scholars of the Danish Centre for Design Research as a good example of how the research attachés might be of assistance. A year and a half ago, Sidse Grangaard, who recently handed in her Ph.D. thesis at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, contacted Søren Nedergaard together with two fellow Ph.D. scholars from the Academy's School of Architecture, Winie Ricken and Ulrik Stylsvig Madsen, to discuss the planning of a study tour to the USA.

“Sidse contacted me before their visit to ask if I might help them get in touch with researchers at Stanford University. Sidse and her group had a clear focus with their visit: making connections, learning something, and presenting their own projects. That was great. The outcome is so much better when you have a focus. Some of the people who come here haven't really decided what they want to do before they arrive. Their visits are less successful. The more targeted you are, the more people tend to take you seriously,” says Søren Nedergaard.

The study tour in turn led to a visit by Dan Gilbert, Academic Technology Specialist at Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning, to Denmark. His teaching addresses the use of IT and the physical environment to create better settings for learning. In Denmark, Søren Nedergaard and Sidse Grangaard helped him arrange visits to three schools that feature examples of innovative interior design.

Meetings With American Researchers

Sidse Grangaard’s Ph.D. dissertation addresses the design of physical environments and user interactions with an emphasis on office environments. To her, the study tour was an opportunity to see American approaches to office design and to meet American researchers working within this field.

The study tour began in New York, where it included a visit to the design firm DEGW, an industry leader in the design of modern office environments called New Office. After a week on the American east coast, the group continued to the west coast, where Søren Nedergaard had arranged a guided tour of a modern office environment and meetings with several researchers at Stanford University, including Dan Gilbert.

“It was exciting to meet others who were interested in the design of good physical settings. Dan Gilbert is very focused on the interaction between learning and IT, and it was exciting to hear about his ideas. Among other things, we saw a space that the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning lends to other faculties to give them the experience of teaching in a new, more modern way. The idea is to develop the practical approach to teaching at Stanford,” says Sidse Grangaard.

Taught at Stanford

At Stanford University, many of the courses take place in traditional auditoriums with rows of chairs, where students listen to lectures. Dan Gilbert’s rooms feature mobile furniture, rooms for group activities, lounge areas and a focus on IT over traditional teaching aids.

“When I compare the American conditions with the Danish, it’s my impression that we have an advanced position in this area. We have excellent learning environments, and we definitely have something to offer here,” says Sidse Grangaard.

After the guided tour, the three Danish Ph.D. scholars gave a presentation in Dan Gilbert’s class. Here, Sidse Grangaard related the ideas from New Office to her own project on office environments, showed pictures from various physical environments in Denmark, and illustrated interior design principles for office environments in Denmark.

Innovation Center Denmark assists Danish companies and research environments in building international contacts and partnerships and attracting investors. Illustration: Anne Katrine Gelting

Open to Partnerships

Dan Gilbert applauds the fact that Sidse Grangaard and her fellow scholars brought something with them when they came to Stanford. Stanford University is very interested in international cooperation, but it has to be partnerships where both parties contribute and learn from one another. Many foreign researchers who visit Stanford admire the university’s reputation so much that the exchange of knowledge becomes one-way, which is of little interest to the researchers at Stanford University.
“I was very impressed with Sidse and her group – why, with all the Danes I’ve met. The Danes seem to have a very clear goal, and at the same time they’re open to learning and to building partnerships. They’re not trying to push their own agendas but are interested in a genuine partnership where knowledge is exchanged. And their English is good enough for discussions on a high intellectual level. Here, the Danes have a great advantage,” says Dan Gilbert.

Study Tour to Denmark

Dan Gilbert had long wanted to visit Denmark, and the visit by the three Danish Ph.D. scholars strengthened this notion. Thus, Søren Nedergaard applied to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation for partial funding for a study tour for Dan Gilbert to Copenhagen. Once the visit had been arranged, Søren Nedergaard contacted Sidse Grangaard and Ulrik Stylsvig Madsen, who organised a one-day tour to three of the newest and most innovative learning environments in Denmark: Hellerup School, the high school Ørestadsgymnasiet, and the IT University of Copenhagen. After the tour, Dan Gilbert was virtually euphoric:

“I saw three of the most innovative schools on the planet. It was a very exciting day for me. I just suggested to my wife that when our daughter is old enough, we’d move to Denmark, so that she can do high school or university there,” says Dan Gilbert.

Innovation Center Denmark

One of the goals of the research attachés is to attract knowledge and capital to Denmark.
“As a research attaché, it’s my job to promote contacts between Danish research environments and American universities in the Bay Area. I can help Danish researchers organise workshops and conferences ranging from several days to brief sessions that last a couple of hours. I help work out the logistics, for example to help someone get from Berkeley to Stanford in time. This can be difficult to arrange from Denmark. I also report back to the Ministry and the Danish research environment about what’s happening over here,” says Søren Nedergaard.

He also mentions that cooperation between Danish and American researchers does not necessarily have to mean crossing the Atlantic. In some joint projects, all communication takes place via Skype and e-mail, and Søren Nedergaard has also helped organise a video conference for a Danish and an American university.

Innovation Center Denmark has three focus areas: Within the area of research, the agency helps Danish research environments make connections and build networks. Within the area of innovation, the agencies focus on small enterprises and help them link up with potential business partners, and under the heading Invest in Denmark, the focus is on securing foreign investors for new Danish products and services.

Links to Innovation Center Denmark

Silicon Valley: www.innovationcenterdenmark.com
München: www.innovationcenterdenmark.de
Shanghai: www.innovationcenterdenmark.cn

Mind Design #14, 2008