Akademiet for de Tekniske Videnskaber
The Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV – Akademiet for de Tekniske Videnskaber) is an independent, non-profit organization. ATV's objective is to promote technological and scientific research and to ensure the application of research results to the benefit of society.
Thus, ATV strives to promote innovation by means of technology, research and education. ATV's key issues are to strengthen the technical and natural sciences in the Danish educational system and to strengthen the competitiveness of Danish companies through technological development.
Recently, ATV has also focused on how technology can contribute to solve global problems by providing sustainable food and energy systems, climate adaptation, and urban development.
The members of ATV are elected in a co-opting process according to their personal competences and their strong professional expertise. ATV has approximately 700 members of which most are distinguished scientists and research and development managers at universities and private companies.
Working method
The academy members work unpaid on a voluntary basis supported by a professional secretariat consisting of ten employees.
ATV does not conduct scientific research per se, but works on establishing and improving the right settings for others. This is done by means of expert commissions, cross-disciplinary cases, publishing reports, memoranda and minutes, hearing statements, arranging conferences and seminars, contributing papers and letters in the media, and keeping in dialogue with decision-makers in the public and private sectors.
The Academy considers itself to be the neutral meeting place for private companies and universities, thus contributing to and encouraging co-operation as to research and innovation.
International co-operation
ATV cooperates with technical-scientific academies in other countries, especially the Swedish Kungl. IngenjörsVetenskapsAkademien (IVA) and the Norwegian Norges Tekniske Vitenskapsakademi (NVTA). Furthermore, ATV is a member of two international organizations, namely CAETS and Euro-Case.
History
ATV was founded on 28 May 1937 by a group of scientists and business people headed by the then rector of Denmark's Technical University, P.O. Pedersen. The mission was to build up a Danish society which could take its rightful place internationally and to create value based on technological and scientific progress. The first years were characterized by a number of committees trying to address the consequences of the crisis economy of 1930's.
During the 1940s up till mid-1950's ATV became a significant participant in changing Denmark into an industrialized country. In 1946, ATV in co-operation with the state, established Denmark's first research council, The Technical-Scientific Research Council, which, to this very day, is still part of the Danish Council for Independent Research.
ATV contributed to giving Denmark a research policy. At the same time, ATV established a number of technology institutes the purpose of which was to find solutions to the problems of private companies and the Danish society as a whole. These institutes are today separated from ATV but are still important parts of the modern knowledge-based society. The most well-known institutes are FORCE Technology (product development, design), DELTA (sound and light research), and DHI (water, environment, health).
In 1953, USA offered other nations access to nuclear technology if they renounced all rights to developing nuclear weapons. ATV saw the possibilities opening up for Denmark and took the initiative to establish the Nuclear Energy Committee with physicist and Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr as front member and industrialist Haldor Topsøe as another significant member. The Committee explored the possibilities for Denmark, and the Committee's recommendations were made into the official policy of the then Danish government: The Nuclear Energy Commission was founded, and the nuclear test facility Risø was built near Roskilde.
During the second half of the 1950s and up through the 1960s ATV became a bridge-builder between the knowledge institutions, the private companies, and the growing public sector. One of the specific results is the Industrial PhD Programme established by ATV in 1971. This Programme contained a 2,5 year research education which aimed at providing the Danish private businesses with employees qualified to upgrade the research and development in such businesses.
In 1988, this education gained the status of an official 3 year PhD-education. Such an education course is completed by a candidate in co-operation with a private company, at which the candidate is employed, and a university where the candidate completes his PhD-studies. ATV administered this programme up till when the Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education took over.
During the 1970s, ATV changed focus, now concentrating on environmental consciousness and critical technology assessment. This led to a lengthy, internal debate between ATV’s members on whether Denmark should make use of nuclear power in its energy supply or not. During this period, ATV contributed to the start-up of the wind turbine industry while, at the same time, the institutes established by ATV helped the start-up of Danish offshore oil and gas industry in the North Sea.
During the 1980s and the 1990s ATV’s role in society changed again. The academy wished to revitalize the research, educational and technological policies. For instance, ATV published a number of reports recommending that the engineering educational system should have a much higher degree of cross-disciplinary elements, so that engineers – besides the traditional subjects – also obtained skills in business economics, project management, management in general, and communication. Ideas, which have later been implemented.
ATV also aimed for a change to the legislation from the 1970s regulating the governing bodies of the Danish universities. ATV considered the legislation to be obsolete and wanted to heighten the quality of research and education by, among other things, implementing management models from private businesses. Success was achieved in 1992 and 2003.
In 2000, the Academy had to define a new role for itself. Most of the political objectives had been met, the Industrial PhD Programme was taken over by the state, and the institutes had separated from ATV. In the following years, ATV primarily functioned as a network mediator and as a think tank contributing to the debate in the Danish society by means of conferences and reports. For instance, ATV was one of the first organizations to pinpoint the importance of society adapting itself to the climate changes. ATV has also asserted itself by publishing several reports on food research and control, infrastructure, and energy sources and uses.
A new strategy in 2012 gives the academy members a more prominent role and emphasizes anew the specialty of the Academy – working with cross-disciplinary analyses and reports based on the members’ professional skills and competencies. A part of the strategy is to strengthen relations with decision-makers and increase their focus on ATV’s recommendations while at the same time make ATV more visible in the news media. Financing of the Academy’s future activities is the third strategic area.
Finances
ATV is financed by voluntary contributions from a variety of sources to ensure the independence of the Academy. The day-to-day operations are financed by regular contributors who each pay a yearly membership fee. ATV has approximately 70 regular financial contributors, often major private businesses, universities, foundations, and organizations.
ATV’s projects are mainly financed by means of grants and sponsorships. The Academy also carries out paid-for cross-disciplinary project commissions.
The list of ATV’s financial contributors as well as key figures are publicly available and published in the Academy’s annual reports.
Organization
The executive management of the Academy consists of a presidium elected by the academy members. ATV’s President is at present Carsten Orth Gaarn-Larsen. The day-to-day operations of the Academy are handled by the secretariat led by academy director Lia Leffland. The secretariat is situated in Kgs. Lyngby in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen.
The academy members participate in four interest groups. The chairmen and the vice-chairmen of these four groups constitute the Academy Council. The present chairman of the Academy Council is professor Egon Bech Hansen, National Food Institute, the Technical University of Denmark.
ATV’s Think Tank was established in 2002 and consists of both academy members and external members. Its present chairman is Professor Anja Boisen, DTU Nanotech. The objective of ATV’s Think Tank is to process societal issues and problems on a technical-scientific basis.
The regular financial contributors form ATV’s Financing Council which is headed by the Financing Committee. The present chairman of both the Financing Council and the Committee is Lars Bang, Group Senior Vice President at H. Lundbeck A/S.
In addition to the permanent academy bodies and committees, ATV establishes working groups to deal with specific issues and themes. These working groups are established only for the duration of the relevant projects.
Presidents
- P.O. Pedersen 1937–1941
- Anker Engelund 1941–1947
- H.P. Christensen 1947–1953
- Robert Henriksen 1953–1956
- K.U. Linderstrøm-Lang 1956–1959
- J.L. Mansa 1959–1962
- N.E. Holmblad 1962–1968
- Povl Hermann 1968–1971
- Niels I. Meyer 1971–1977
- Niels Gram 1977–1983
- Poul Vermehren 1983–1989
- Erik B. Rasmussen 1989–1995
- Jens Rostrup-Nielsen 1995–1999
- Kim A. Hueg 1999–2001
- Mogens Bundgaard-Nielsen 2001–2003
- Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen 2003–2005
- Torben Greve 2005–2008
- Klaus Bock 2008–2011
- Martin Bendsøe 2011–2014
- Carsten Orth Gaarn-Larsen 2014-
References
Sources
- H. Knudsen (2005) Konsensus og konflikt. Organiseringen af den tekniske forskning i Danmark 1900–1960 Phd. thesis, Aarhus University, Denmark
- Henrik Knudsen (2012): Visioner, viden og værdiskabelse – en historie om Akademiet for de Tekniske Videnskaber Published by The Danish Academy of Technical Sciences