By Morten Appel, AAU Communication and Public Affairs. Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

In 2023, the foundation was laid for the joint missions: creating a sustainable Danish energy system and improving well-being among Danish children and young people.

- Now things are underway. The process has been approved. The governance structure has been adopted. What we are going to do now is in many ways the most important thing, says Niels Bech Lukassen, Head of the Mission Secretariat and Mission Officer on the well-being of children and young people mission.

- We need to get research projects and collaborations started. This means that now is the time for researchers and management to get involved and actively participate in the missions.

During winter and early spring, the mission secretariat and mission management will visit any department interested in learning more about the missions. The purpose of the visits is to talk about the missions and to engage in dialogue about cooperation and ideas. The visits involve department management, section or research group leaders and researchers. If a department has not yet arranged a visit, it is not too late.

- Being a mission-oriented university raises many questions, big and small. Some questions we can help answer, but many questions require that we help each other find the answer. There will also be discussions on the goals and technical content of the missions, as well as the process. That is, how departments and researchers become part of the mission, says Maria Appel Nissen, Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work and Mission Manager of the mission on the well-being of children and young people.

Come up with ideas and mark your calendar

How researchers can join the missions may become even clearer in March and April when workshops will be arranged for researchers at AAU who might be interested in working on one of the two missions. The workshop for the mission on the well-being of children and young people is 14 March 2024. For the mission on a sustainable energy system the workshop is on 8 April 2024.
The workshops will feature keynote presentations, and it will be possible to pitch ideas for mission projects, get feedback, and cultivate and nurture collaboration across the university.

- The aim of the two workshops is that we inspire each other and develop ideas for interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral mission projects. So all researchers who have an interest in either the energy or well-being mission are welcome. It isn’t necessary to submit ideas or proposals in advance, but that will be an option, says Niels Bech Lukassen. Regardless, we would encourage everyone to mark their calendars right now, says Niels Bech Lukassen.

The deadline for project proposals for the mission on the well-being of children and young people is mid-May, and the expectation is that the first mission projects will be launched this summer.

Jakob Stoustrup, Professor in the Department of Electronic Systems and Mission Manager for the mission on a sustainable energy system, expects that during 2024 several large applications will be submitted for the first theme in the energy mission. He also expects these to be large projects with very broad partnerships.

Film about AAU and the missions

As part of the communication effort for AAU as a mission-oriented university, a film has been produced introducing the mission-oriented approach and how AAU works with missions.

Watch the film here:

A new web universe dedicated to the missions will be launched in early 2024 where it will be possible to watch films about the individual missions, search for more information and find lists of experts.

Existing projects

Mission projects stand on the shoulders of the knowledge and initiatives that already exist in ongoing research and innovation projects at the university. Through the missions and not least the cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaborations that are established, research and innovation can be strengthened. Among these is the CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) project "Gate to Green Fuels", a collaboration that includes the Port of Aalborg and Aalborg Forsyning, which has now become part of the energy mission. CCUS stands for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage.

- The mission project "Gate to Green Fuels" is part of the North Jutland business beacon "CO2Vision" that boasts an interdisciplinary approach and thus a need for many different research disciplines. The project will also serve as the basis for the "Mission Innovation Lab" that invites mission-oriented activities between researchers, students and companies. The goal is to achieve interdisciplinary and mission-oriented education, says Paw Mortensen, Mission Officer on the sustainable energy system mission.

Project owners or project managers with an existing project or special expertise that they think can be important for either the energy or well-being mission may contact the mission management or mission secretariat.

- In the secretariat, we compile knowledge and build bridges between projects, researchers and external partners, so it’s important for us to dialogue about all aspects and possibilities, says Niels Bech Lukassen.

Involving external partners

Just as department managers and staff at the university are now invited to join the joint missions, work is also underway to establish an external mission partner board for each mission. The intention here is to use the Horizon Europe's partnership model as inspiration to ensure an equal distribution between research and public and private sector companies.

The five to seven external partners are drawn from central public and private sector companies and organisations. By virtue of their knowledge, expertise and influence within the individual mission, they are invited to help define the mission roadmaps and provide input for the strategic achievement of the mission's goals.

- We expect to send out the first invitations soon, and we hope to be able to hold the first meetings in early 2024, says Niels Bech Lukassen.

Jakob Stoustrup emphasizes that the respective partner boards will be of central importance. Particularly for the mission on a sustainable energy system.

- They will help us implement the national strategy for the green energy transformation, among other things by identifying themes in the different phases of the mission. These themes will serve as the framework for the meetings with the departments and for the subsequent work, he says.

An international track

Since 2018, the European Commission has used mission-oriented partnerships to solve major challenges in society. In this context, the commission established five missions within the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.

In order to provide better conditions for research in current and future EU missions, the Mission Secretariat, in collaboration with Innovation Fund Denmark, has arranged a roundtable meeting in Brussels on 7 March 2024 that will include Rector Per Michael Johansen, Professor David Budtz Pedersen as well as the heads of the Energy Mission and the Well-being Mission, Professor Jakob Stoustrup and Professor Maria Appel Nissen, and the EU Director General for Research and Innovation, Marc Lemaitre.

- AAU's vision is to be internationally recognized as a mission-oriented university, and Innovation Fund Denmark has successfully established four Inno Missions to provide solutions to specific societal challenges in the short and long term.  At the meeting in Brussels, we will therefore discuss our mission-oriented approach and how Danish experiences and ambitions with the missions can contribute to the European Commission's further work to develop the EU Missions, Jakob Stoustrup says.

An entirely new mission

In parallel with the operation of the energy and well-being missions, a working group has been set up to begin drawing the contours of a health mission as of January. It is scheduled to be approved by the University Board in June 2024.

The members of the working group are:

Ninna Meier, Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Work; Thomas Ploug, Professor, Department of Communication and Psychology; John Rasmussen, Professor and Vice Department Head for Research, Department of Materials and Production; Anders Olsen, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience; Thomas Dyhre Nielsen, Professor with special responsibilities, Department of Computer Science; Christian Nøhr, Professor and Head of the Danish Centre for Health Informatics (DACHI); and Johannes Struijk, Professor, Department of Health Science and Technology. The working group is chaired by Professor Michael S. Rathleff, research group leader for Musculoskeletal Health and Implementation, affiliated with the Center for General Practice.

The mission team for Well-being of Children and Youth. From left: Sine Agergaard, Professor, Department of Health Science and Technology; Maria Appel Nissen, Mission Manager and Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Work; Sidse Grangaard, Senior Researcher, Department of the Built Environment; and Niels Bech Lukassen, Mission Officer and Head of the Mission Secretariat. Stefania Serafin, Professor, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology is also part of the Mission Management.                                                                                
Photo: NoWonder.

The mission team for Sustainable Energy System.  From left: Poul Houman Andersen, Professor, AAU Business School, Mission Management; Jakob Stoustrup, Professor, Department of Electronic Systems, Mission Manager; Paw Mortensen, Mission Officer, Mission Secretariat; Prisca Ohler, Development Consultant, Mission Secretariat; Anders Horsbøl, Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Psychology, Mission Management; Amjad Anvari-Moghaddam, Associate Professor, Department of Energy, Mission Management; and Nelly Sander, Communication Specialist, AAU Communication and Public Affairs. 
Photo: Studio 03