Akademiet for de Tekniske Videnskaber

Domicile of The Danish Academy of Technical Sciences

The Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV – Akademiet for de Tekniske Videnskaber) is an independent, member-driven think tank. ATV's vision is that Denmark shall be one of five leading Science and Engineering regions in the world – to the benefit of future generations. ATV is a private 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.

The members of ATV are elected in a co-opting process according to their personal competences and their strong professional expertise. ATV has 770 members of which most are distinguished scientists and research and development leaders at universities and private companies. A smaller number of the members are so-called Partner Members who represent the financial contributors.

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, organizing conferences, seminars, and an annual Technology Day. ATV takes part in the public debate in the news media, and influences 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 in 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 shift in 2012 emphasizes projects that create direct value for the Academy’s own members as well as for companies, research institutions, and society as a whole. The concept is essentially to promote facts and conclusions from projects and reports by implementing recommendations through the Academy’s members.

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 60 regular financial contributors, which are 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 regular financial contributors elect members to ATV’s Partner Committee. The present chairman of the Committee is Lars Bang, Group Senior Vice President at H. Lundbeck A/S.

The activities are planned and coordinated through five theme groups and a standing committee named ATV’s Think Tank. The theme groups are:

In addition to the permanent 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 projects.

Presidents

References

Sources

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