Professor of Political Science receives new AU award and DKK 100,000

Professor of Political Science Lene Aarøe is the recipient of the Holst-Knudsen Research Talent Award at Aarhus University. 

She receives the award, along with the DKK 100,000 prize, for her “pioneering, interdisciplinary research in political opinion formation, where political science, psychology, biology, and communication converge,” as AU describes it in a news release.

Lene Aarøe received her PhD degree at AU in 2010 and became a professor of political science in 2024. She researches political psychology and her research points to the fact that political beliefs are not just about attitudes and common sense, but also about emotions and psychological dispositions. 

In 2012, Lene Aarøe and her colleagues conducted laboratory experiments using physiological measurements, for example. The study helps to push the boundaries of how to study political opinion formation, AU writes. Lene Aarøe elaborates to AU:

“Political opinions arise in the mind, in the body. By incorporating insights from biology, we gain a better understanding of political opinion formation. We wanted to investigate how experiences of scarcity shape our attitudes towards how we share resources in the modern welfare society. We hypothesised that hungry individuals are more likely to believe that resources should be shared, and as a result, support the redistribution of resources through the welfare state," Lene Aarøe says, reflecting on the experiment.

In the experiment, participants were gathered in a reading room and asked about their attitude to the welfare state. Some had drunk a soda with sugar, others had been given a sugar-free one. Participants had their blood sugar measured during the experiment. Those with low blood sugar were more supportive of a generous welfare state than those who drank a sugary soft drink. 

The award replaces the Victor Albeck Award this year

Lene Aarøe will receive her award at a ceremony in the Main Hall on Wednesday 28 May, where this year’s PhD prizes from the Aarhus University Research Foundation will also be presented. 

In 2025 and 2026, the Victor Albeck Award will be replaced by the Holst-Knudsen Research Talent Award. This change is due to the DKK 100,000 for the Research Talent Awards in these two years being donated by the Holst-Knudsen Foundation.

The Victor Albeck Award will return in 2027. The criteria for both awards are the same, according to AU.

It’s the Aarhus University Research Foundation that funds the Victor Albeck Award. The same goes for the Rigmor and Carl Holst-Knudsen Award for Scientific Research, which is presented at the annual celebration in September.

This text is machine translated and post-edited by Cecillia Jensen.