The Danish Ministry of Education and Research awards a number of prestigious prizes each year. As a rule, the ceremony is attended by a member of the Danish royal family. This was also the case this year when Crown Princess Mary took part in the ceremony.The Danish Crown Princess was in charge of the awarding of the Ministry of Education and Research’s prizes together with Danish Minister of Education and Research, Jesper Petersen.
The purpose of the prizes is to recognize and create awareness of the best research in Denmark. The prizes are awarded annually to younger researchers who contribute to solving global challenges.
The award ceremony took place in Moltke’s Palace in Copenhagen. Moltke’s Palace or Christian VII’s Palace is one of the four palaces of Amalienborg in Copenhagen that was originally built for Lord High Steward Adam Gottlob Moltke. It is the southwestern palace, and since 1885, has been used to accommodate and entertain prominent guests, for receptions, and for ceremonial purposes.
This year’s five award recipients received 1.2 million Danish krone (about 120.000 US dollars) of which 200.000 Danish krone is given as a personal honorary award, and the remaining 1 million crowns goes to research activities. The award recipients were Professor Anne Ladegaard Skov, Professor Anton PottegĆ„rd, Professor Felix Riede, Professor Naja Hulvej Rod and Professor Sune Lehmann.
During the event, the five award recipients were interviewed on stage by conference host Line Friis Frederiksen about their research area and the research results that have led to them receiving the award.
At the award ceremony, the Crown Princess also presented the travel scholarships of 200.000 krone, which can be used for a long-term study stay in an international research environment. The travel scholarship is awarded each year to 20 PhD students. Along the way, singer Jonas H. Petersen and the string ensemble Who Killed Bambi performed with musical elements.
