The Danish Government has decided to establish a ‘COP15 Climate Scholarship’ for money saved pursuant to its policy of not giving gifts to participants at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen later this year.

At similar international conferences, participants usually receive gifts and so-called conference-kits with various items from the host country. At the COP15 in Copenhagen the number of participants is expected to reach 15.000. As part of its efforts to reduce the environmental and climate impact of the conference, the government has decided to discontinue the practice of giving gifts. The DKK 4 million (app. USD 700.000) hereby saved will instead be spent on climate scholarships allowing 10-12 candidates from all over the world to carry out 2-year climate related master’s programs at Danish universities.

“Our 0-gift policy and the COP15 Climate Scholarship are good signals to send at a conference which requires innovation in terms of the way we use our resources. Although there is no doubt as to the good intentions behind giving gifts, we have often experienced how conference kits end up in garbage bins at conference venues and hotels. We want break that habit in Copenhagen and spend the money in a constructive way”, says Minister for Development Cooperation, Ulla Tørnæs.

“The COP15 Climate Scholarship puts a spotlight on Denmark’s strong position in climate related research and the good possibilities for qualifying yourself at Danish universities. Besides, the scholarship is in line with the Government’s goal to increase the exchange of students across borders. With this scholarship, we hope to welcome a group of clever young people from all over the world who will become highly motivated to make a difference, and furthermore will get an exhaustive knowledge about Danish technology and research”, says Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Helge Sander.

For more information on the COP15 Climate Scholarship:

www.studyindenmark.dk/climate

For further inquiries please contact

Chief Advisor
Nis Gellert (Ministry for Foreign Affairs)
tel. 33 92 02 77

or

International Advisor
Christiane Mißlbeck-Winberg (CIRIUS)
tel. 33 95 70 66

PRESS RELEASE FROM
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND
THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Asiatisk Plads 2
1448  København K
Tlf. +45 33 92 00 00
e-mail: um@um.dk

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Tlf. + 45 33 92 97 00
e-mail: vtu@vtu.dk

Project 1: Carbon cycle modelling

A PhD studentship within the topic of carbon cycle modelling is available, funded in cooperation by the Centre for Ice and Climate and the Danish National Environmental Research Institute. A cornerstone in the Centre for Ice and Climate research plan is the measurement of greenhouse gasses on Greenland Ice Cores. In connection with this, ocean carbon cycle models will be applied, and collaboration with other research groups in the field will be initiated. The model results are expected to support the interpretation of the ice core CO2 measurements and to improve understanding of the carbon cycle especially in warm climatic periods.

Project 2: Ice sheet modelling

A PhD studentship within the topic of ice flow modelling is available, funded in cooperation by the Centre for Ice and Climate (CIC) and the Danish Climate Centre at the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI). The candidate will mainly be based at CIC, and the project will be carried out in the framework of the interdisciplinary Danish ice sheet modelling initiative in which CIC and DMI are key partners.
The overall goal is to address the very timely question of how the Greenland Ice Sheet will respond to global warming. The focus of the PhD will be to develop existing ice flow models to improve the treatment of the surface mass balance and the interaction with climate models. Data compiled and collected by CIC and DMI on and around the Greenland ice sheet will be used to validate the models.

Read the full announcement at http://www.iceandclimate.nbi.ku.dk/vacancies/

Closing date for applications: February 2, 2009, noon CET.

A new research centre focusing on nanophotonics for terabit communications is being established at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). The centre is based on donations from a private foundation, VILLUM KANN RASNMUSSEN FONDEN. The NATEC centre will, in particular, perform research on light-matter interaction in semiconductor quantum dots and photonic crystal structures and explore the use of such nanostructured materials for realizing photonic chips operating in the terabit regime. The centre is a strongly focused effort involving nanofabrication, experimental characterisation based on nanoscopy and ultrafast lasers, fundamental theory including topology optimization, and systems experiments and will provide ample opportunities for cross-fertilization between these areas.

The NATEC Centre is headed by Professor Jesper Mørk (jm@com.dtu.dk) from Department of Photonics Engineering, DTU, and involves the collaboration with 4 other institutes at DTU: Department of Micro-and Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Center for Electron Nanoscopy and Danchip.

At the moment we have openings within the following areas of research:

Growth and characterisation of semiconductor quantum dots and fabrication of photonic crystal based devices (Kresten Yvind; ky@com.dtu.dk).

Characterisation of pulse propagation in photonic crystal structures and ultrafast dynamics in quantum dots (Mike van der Poel; mvp@com.dtu.dk).

Theory and modelling of light-matter interaction in photonic crystal structures with quantum dots (Niels Asger Mortensen; nam@mic.dtu.dk).

Topology optimization of nanophotonic structures incorporating effects of nonlinearities and fabrication uncertainties (Ole Sigmund; sigmund@mek.dtu.dk).

Experimental and theoretical investigations of terabit systems emphasizing noise limitations and information capacity (Palle Jeppesen; pj@com.dtu.dk).

We are looking for candidates with a strong track record and with a good experimental, theoretical and/or computational background in photonics, electromagnetics or materials engineering and physics. The annual salary of PhD students starts at approximately 277,000 DKK (36,900 EUR) + pension.

For further information please contact Jesper Mørk or the persons mentioned above, or see the full job announcement at the homepage of DTU. Please send your application as a single pdf file, including CV, list of publications, certificates of exams and grades, as well as a list of references to:

Director Anders Bjarklev
Department of Photonics Engineering
Ørsteds Plads, Building 343
Technical University of Denmark
DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Denmark
Email: natecapplications@fotonik.dtu.dk

Deadline for application: July 14, 2008 at 12.00 noon.