Following a long application and selection process, Professor Andreas Roepstorff has been selected as new AIAS director by an appointment committee, headed by the chair of the AIAS Board of Directors, Professor Jørgen Frøkiær, head of the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University.

“With Andreas Roepstorff AIAS is gaining a director with an in-depth knowledge of Aarhus University’s core values and academic environments. Over the last 10 years, AIAS has developed into an important platform for excellence at Aarhus University. Andreas is a strong and visionary leader who can drive AIAS forward and realise our ambitions for excellent research and interdisciplinary collaboration both nationally and internationally,” says Jørgen Frøkiær.

Rector Brian Bech Nielsen at Aarhus University expresses his recognition:

“AIAS’ ambition to bring together different disciplines is more relevant now than ever before. Andreas Roepstorff understands the benefits of thinking beyond your own field and developing your ideas alongside the knowledge and insights of other researchers. This is what he has done throughout his career. He has led by example, breaking through conventional subject boundaries and motivating others to do the same. So, I am delighted that he applied for this position. His appointment will be good for AIAS and for Aarhus University.”

Andreas Roepstorff comes from a position as deputy head of school with responsibility for research at the School for Culture and Society at the Faculty of Arts at Aarhus University and is an internationally acknowledged researcher with several current research projects in his portfolio.

Andreas Roepstorff will take up the position at AIAS from 15 September 2023:

It’s an honour and a privilege to take up the position as director of AIAS. During the first 10 years of existence, AIAS has become a flagship for ground-breaking research, nationally and internationally.

Innovative and interdisciplinary ideas and mindset

The mission of the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies is to bring people together across disciplines, nationalities and methods to develop novel research trajectories and lines of thinking for the benefit of society and humankind.

“The societal challenges we face calls for forms of knowledge that are committed and care. To develop that requires collaboration and subtle balances between abstraction and engagement. AIAS has become one of those unique places where these dynamics unfolds. This is rare and precious,” expresses Andreas Roepstorff.

Fostering broad collaborations

Trained in biology and social anthropology at Aarhus University, Andreas Roepstorff’s research is collaborative and transdisciplinary, engaging with the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and health. He was the co-founding director of the Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University and is a professor at the Department of Anthropology since 2010.

He holds several positions of trust as the vice president of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, chairing the Section for Humanities and Social Sciences and a member of the Council for Technology and Society at the Danish Academy for Technical Sciences (ATV). For decades, he has been a strong driving force for cross-disciplinary studies and collaboration.

“I look very much forward to contribute to the unique environment at AIAS. It is about holding a space that sustains a collaborative culture and of fostering interactions that are both playful and serious. It is about developing AIAS as a platform for transdisciplinary research at Aarhus University and to strengthen the links with external partners both in research and in the wider society,” concludes Andreas Roepstorff, AIAS director from 15 September 2023.

Andreas Roepstorff takes over the position from Søren Rud Keiding, who passed away earlier this year.

Read more about new AIAS director Andreas Roepstorff here

Contact

Lotte Holm, Head of Secretariat, vice director
E-mail: lho@aias.au.dk
Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, AIAS
Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 6B
DK-8000 Aarhus C
Denmark