Prizewinner seeks to punch a hole in the myth of the ‘lonely genius’

Scientific innovation requires multifaceted perspectives, strong interdisciplinary collaboration and an atmosphere of trust to promote creativity and explore new ideas – and it is the remit of the modern research director to bring this all into play to best effect, according to professor and researcher in epigenetics and genome stability, Anja Groth.

In her eyes, trust, inclusion and creativity are the drivers that create outstanding research environments built on differences in thought, expertise, culture and gender. And she has been tremendously successful. Now, she is being awarded the very first Lundbeck Foundation Scientific Enrichment Prize.

‘The scientific community has this image of the “lonely genius”. That is, of individuals who come up with brilliant new discoveries all on their own. But that’s a myth, especially in today’s research environment, which requires innovative thinking across multiple disciplines. It’s strong collaborations across numerous specialist fields – as well as across genders, cultures and nationalities – that produce the best and most innovative research,’ says Anja Groth.

Strong culture of trust

As stated in the justification for awarding the prize to Groth, she takes diversity and inclusion to the next level when composing her research teams, and she wields this approach systematically and actively when leading her research teams at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (CPR) at the University of Copenhagen. She also spends much of her time sharing her experience and knowledge to inspire other research environments.

Successful, creative processes are highly dependent on trust and inclusion – something that is built up over time, and that takes effort according to Anja Groth:

‘In order to benefit from diversity, it’s important to create a strong culture of trust so everyone feels comfortable enough to put their thoughts and ideas on the table, and gets used to doing so, even though they may not be an expert in the field. This also produces strong social cohesion and a good working environment, which are extremely important if we want to retain our young research talents.’ Groth continues:

‘We’ve had researchers from more than 20 different countries – from four different continents. We generally have a good gender balance, and the areas of specialisation have spanned from chemistry, structural biology, reproductive biology and yeast genetics to developmental biology, genomics, molecular biology, biochemistry and translational cancer biology. This makes it possible to work across several fields and draw on a wide array of technologies in order to identify new methods for solving the issues we work on. We also have many fantastic collaborations with other Danish and international research teams to ensure we work across scientific fields and technologies.’

A shining example

Direct of Research at the Lundbeck Foundation, Jan Egebjerg, does not mince words when asked why Groth deserves the prize:

‘Complex problems must be solved by examining them from many different angles and by composing research teams that can contribute a range of perspectives. It’s important that we don’t all come from the same backgrounds and contribute the same ideas. That’s why diversity and inclusion are crucial for boosting scientific environments and paving the way for new discoveries. And Anja Groth and her team are a shining example of this. Her work can serve as inspiration for many others,’ says Egebjerg, and continues:

‘If you want scientific environments to embrace diversity, you need to create an understanding of how it enriches science and what it means to work actively with diversity in scientific leadership. We need to spotlight the strong examples. That’s why we created the Scientific Enrichment Prize – and why Anja Groth has been chosen as the first recipient.’
The prize will be presented on Wednesday 2 November 2022 at Panum Tower, University of Copenhagen.

Why do we need another diversity prize?

The primary focus when presenting awards tends to be the research results. However, the new Lundbeck Foundation Scientific Enrichment Prize celebrates the ability to enrich research through diversity. The prize honours individuals, but not for their research results or number of scientific publications. Instead, it is conferred on a person who takes – or has taken – the lead in ensuring diversity in order to produce vital novel research results. A suitable award recipient is someone who has enriched research environments by integrating diversity into their leadership.

About the Panel for the Lundbeck Foundation Scientific Enrichment Prize

Every year, three high-profile figures from both the academic research community and the business world will assess the nominees for LF Scientific Enrichment Prize and appoint a winner of the personal prize of DKK 100,000.

This year’s panel comprises Marianne Thellersen, Senior Vice President of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Christina Aabo, independent consultant and former Head of R&D at Ørsted, and Thomas Sinkjær, professor at Aalborg University and Secretary General of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.

Jan Egebjerg, Lundbeck Foundation Director of Science congratulates Professor Anja Groth on the prize:

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