Research group in biomedicine receives award for Research Environment of the Year
The Davis Lab at the Department of Biomedicine has received the Young Academy's Research Environment of the Year award. The research group focuses on creating an inclusive, welcoming and cohesive group, two of the researchers explain.
Næste gang forskergruppen The Davis Lab fra Institut for Biomedicin på Aarhus Universitet skal på ekskursion eller holde et arrangement, er der ekstra penge at gøre godt med. Den unge forskergruppe har nemlig netop modtaget Det Unge Akademis pris Årets Forskningsmiljø 2025 og 10.000 kroner.
To af gruppens forskere, ph.d.-studerende Laura Bruus Bjerre og postdoc Silke Chalmers, hørte om prisen til AU-workshoppen ”Fostering an inclusive culture at Aarhus University” og besluttede at indstille gruppen. Prisen er indstiftet i 2022 og giver juniorforskere mulighed for at indstille deres eget forskningsmiljø. Det er første gang, prisen går til en gruppe på AU.
”Vi var interesseret, fordi prisen har en anderledes tilgang. Den handler mere om forskningsmiljøet som en helhed og mindre om individuelle præstationer,” siger Laura Bruus Bjerre.
Samarbejde og selvstændighed
The Davis Lab – også kendt som The Calcium (Ca2+) Signalling Group – forsker i calciumsignalering i biologiske systemer. Det består af ni forskere, en museumskoordinator og en administrativ assistent og er en relativt ny gruppe på AU med en ung forskningsleder og forskere, der er i begyndelsen af deres karriere.
”I vores ansøgning pegede vi blandt andet på, hvordan vi prøver at skabe et fællesskab, hvor alles stemme er værdifuld og bliver hørt. Vi stiler mod samarbejde og venlighed over intern konkurrence. Denne tilgang var særligt nyttig, da vores forskningsleder Felicity Davis, som er fantastisk, sidste år gik på barselsorlov. Fordi vi var så vant til at støtte hinandens projekter, betød det, at vi kunne fortsætte med vores laboratorie-møder og samarbejde med hinanden og dermed fortsætte vores projekter,” siger Silke Chalmers.
Laura Bruus Bjerre uddyber, at det var en lærerig tid, der blev succesfuld, fordi gruppen allerede havde etableret et fundament af tillid og samarbejde, inden de for en kort stund stod uden forskningsleder.
Gruppen har også et dokument over sine værdier, som ifølge dem er hjælpsomt for sammenholdet.
”Vi har et lab ethos document – et værdidokument – som beskriver vores forventninger, ikke bare om arbejdsmængde men også om, hvordan vores forskningsmiljø fungerer. Alle tilskyndes at læse det, inden de bliver ansat i gruppen, så alle har de samme forventninger til miljøet og gruppen. Inden nye medlemmer accepterer et jobtilbud, inviteres de til en samtale med resten af gruppen uden forskningslederen, og her opfordrer vi dem til at stille de nitty-gritty spørgsmål, de kunne have. På den måde får de et godt billede af vores miljø på forhånd,” siger Silke Chalmers.
Gruppen forsøger hele tiden at udvikle sig og reevaluere dynamikken, når nye forskere kommer om bord, fortæller de to forskere.
Det er ikke givet, at alle forskningsmiljøer er lige inkluderende, forklarer de.
”Det varierer. Tingene er ofte ikke skrevet ned på universitetsniveau, så ansvaret for at putte struktur ind hviler på de folk, der leder forskningsmiljøet, og så er det op til gruppen at omfavne det,” siger Silke Chalmers og Laura Bruus Bjerre tilføjer:
”Når jeg taler med venner og kollegaer om det, er de altid positivt overrasket over måden, vi gør det på. Jobinterview kan ofte virke som en envejs-vurdering, men vi prøver at vende det om og give kandidater et indblik i vores dynamikker. Jeg tror, det har hjulpet os med at få et arbejdsmiljø med plads til diversitet i gruppedynamikker,” siger Laura Bruus Bjerre.
Fælles identitet
Ifølge Det Unge Akademi, som hører under Videnskabernes Selskab, har et godt forskningsmiljø blandt andet fokus på ”en fælles identitet og mission samt et tydeligt formuleret værdisæt,” at ”sikre diversitet blandt forskere og forskningsmetoder,” og ”være sammen om at fejre succeser og sammen om at tage ejerskab over og lære af fejl og nederlag”.
”Vi synes, det er en rigtig god idé med den her pris, og vi håber at flere vil få øjnene op for den,” siger Silke Chalmers:
”Vi blev selv meget inspireret, da vi læste om forrige års modtagere, og vi håber, vores tiltag og idéer vækker inspiration i andre forskningsmiljø,” siger hun.
De 10.000 kroner overvejer de blandt andet at bruge på en ekskursion for at besøge et andet forskningsmiljø, arrangere et foredrag eller paneldebat med fokus på diversitet og inklusion, eller holde et socialt arrangement for gruppen i forbindelse med ansættelse af nye forskere.
The next time The Davis Lab research group from the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University goes on a field trip or organises an event, there will be extra money to spend. The young research group has just received the Young Academy's Research Environment of the Year 2025 award and DKK 10,000.
Two of the group's researchers, PhD student Laura Bruus Bjerre and postdoc Silke Chalmers, heard about the award at the AU workshop "Fostering an inclusive culture at Aarhus University" and decided to nominate the group. Established in 2022, the award gives junior researchers the opportunity to nominate their own research environment. This is the first time the award has been given to a group at AU.
"We were interested because the award has a different approach. It's more about the research environment as a whole and less about individual performance," Laura Bruus Bjerre says.
Collaboration and autonomy
The Davis Lab – also known as The Calcium (Ca2+) Signalling Group – researches calcium signaling in biological systems. It consists of nine researchers, a museum coordinator and an administrative assistant and is a relatively new group at AU with a young research leader and early career researchers.
"In our application, we emphasised how we try to create a community where everyone's voice is valuable and heard. We aim for collaboration and friendliness over internal competition. This approach was particularly useful when our research manager Felicity Davis, who is amazing, went on maternity leave last year. Because we were so used to supporting each other's projects, it meant that we could continue with our lab meetings and collaborate with each other to continue our projects," Silke Chalmers says.
Laura Bruus Bjerre elaborates that it was a learning experience which became successful because the group had already established a foundation of trust and collaboration before briefly being without a research director.
The group also has a document outlining its values, which they say helps foster team spirit.
"We have a lab ethos document – a value document – which describes our expectations, not only about workload but also about how our research environment works. Everyone is encouraged to read it before joining the team so that everyone has the same expectations of the environment and the team. Before new members accept a job offer, they are invited to an interview with the rest of the group without the research director, where we encourage them to ask any nitty-gritty questions they might have. That way they get a good picture of our environment in advance," Silke Chalmers says.
The group is constantly trying to evolve and re-evaluate the dynamics when new researchers come on board, the two researchers say.
It's not a given that all research environments are equally inclusive, they explain.
"It varies. "At the university level, things are often not formally documented, so the responsibility for implementing structure lies with those leading the research environment. It is then up to the group to embrace it," Silke Chalmers says, with Laura Bruus Bjerre adding:
"When I talk to friends and colleagues about it, they are always pleasantly surprised by the way we do it. Job interviews can often seem like a one-way assessment, but we try to turn it around and give candidates an insight into our dynamics. I think it has helped us create a work environment with room for diversity in group dynamics," Laura Bruus Bjerre says.
Shared identity
According to the Young Academy, which is part of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, a good research environment focuses, among other things, on "a common identity and mission and a clearly formulated set of values," "ensuring diversity among researchers and research methods," and "celebrating successes together and taking ownership of and learning from mistakes and failures together."
“We think this award is a really great idea, and we hope more people will become aware of it,” Silke Chalmers says:
“We were very inspired when we read about last year’s recipients, and we hope our initiatives and ideas will inspire other research environments,” she says.
"They are considering using the 10,000 kroner to fund a field trip to visit another research environment, organise a lecture or panel discussion focused on diversity and inclusion, or hold a social event for the group in connection with the hiring of new researchers."
This text is machine translated and post-edited by Cecillia Jensen