Morten Frederiksen Joins the Danish Board of SDC

‘I see great potential in an institution that can facilitate access for collaboration with China. Personally, I would not have begun working with China if it was not for SDC. If you are not an experienced China researcher, it is crucial to have this intermediate station that can help establish relations,’ says Professor Morten Frederiksen.

In December 2023, he joined Roskilde University as the Dean of Social Science, and now he replaces Peter Kragelund in the Danish Board of SDC, where all eight universities have a seat.

Morten Frederiksen is very familiar with SDC, and he has taught and coordinated a joint course for the two Master’s degree programmes within social studies. He has also been responsible for a research project involving Chinese researchers, and in this connection, he was the supervisor for an SDC PhD student.

Complex to navigate in the Chinese university landscape

Morten Frederiksen views China as an explosively growing research nation and an obvious collaborator, despite the difficulties.

‘Of course, we cannot be naive, but traditionally researchers have been able to collaborate meaningfully despite political disagreements. However, it is different to collaborate with countries with whom you do not share a common language, culture, or institutions. It is complex to navigate in the Chinese university landscape, and as a researcher, it is valuable to get help for this and to make sure you make the right decisions underway,’ says Morten Frederiksen.

He looks forward to revisiting SDC in June when he, among other things, attends a board meeting in China.