New clusters will boost interdisciplinary research and external collaboration
Nat and Tech are committed to helping deliver solutions to the most complex and long-standing challenges facing our society, and new clusters will play a key role in this mission. The clusters will bring together internal and external expertise in interdisciplinary networks, connecting knowledge, ideas and action.
Sustainable food, melting sea ice at the poles, and the digital transition. Our society is changing and evolving at a rapid pace, and robust research is what gives us the tools to respond and adapt to these developments. Robust research is precisely what Aarhus University’s five faculties have to offer. And from the beginning of next year, researchers from across the university’s faculties and disciplines will join forces in new clusters.
These clusters are being formed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration around themes of crucial relevance for our society, and all researchers with an interest in the theme can join – regardless of which faculty or department they work in. These clusters are also open to external partners with an interest in contributing to high-level interdisciplinary collaboration – whether from business and industry or other research environments in Denmark or abroad.
“It’s vital that these clusters create visible and accessible environments for all parties, both internal and external, who are interested in the cluster’s theme. We need to bring together the brightest minds to work together on these themes, because we can achieve more together than we can alone – this will benefit both the theme and the individual researcher,” says Poul Nissen, vice-dean for research at the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
Eight clusters will open in 2026
The first eight clusters will launch at the beginning of next year, with seven of them carrying forward the work of the current thematic centres ARC, CBIO, CiFood, DIGIT, iClimate, iMat and WATEC. These centres have succeeded in creating research communities and interdisciplinary environments across many departments, and the questions they address remain highly relevant to our society – as both faculties are keen to emphasise. For this reason, the centres will transition to clusters with the same focus. In addition, a cluster for quantum research will also be launched in order to consolidate the work of Quantum Campus Aarhus, which was launched in 2023.
“We are dedicated to supporting research in selected focus areas with a highly topical social relevance and potential for new breakthroughs and possibilities. We want to contribute solutions, and it’s important to emphasise that the other faculties at the university as well as our partners in business and industry are very welcome to collaborate with Nat and Tech in these clusters,” says Brian Vinter, vice-dean for research at the Faculty of Technical Sciences.
The dean’s offices at Nat and Tech are taking the initiative to create clusters as a strategic response to long-standing societal challenges and issues – and they see opportunities and potential for more clusters at Nat and Tech. Funds have been allocated to a SpaCe cluster from January 2027, which will build on the last of the current thematic centres, Space, and work is also underway to establish a nanoscience cluster to bring together researchers working in this field. Work to develop these clusters will begin in 2026.
It’s also anticipated that the new interdisciplinary research networks, which are researcher-initiated, will help foster the next generation of research talent. The Faculty of Natural Sciences already has two interdisciplinary research clusters – AUSBI and AUNAB, founded in 2023 and 2024 – and is currently inviting ideas for new initiatives.