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In this workshop, Dr Nataša Lacković will explore how GenAI images can be used as part of an interview method. The workshop will focus on why, when and how abstract concepts and topics across disciplines can be “translated” into images, extending the widely known research method of photo-elicitation interviews into inquiry graphics interviews. These types of interviews can also be understood as arts-based, artefact-based, visual and/or multimodal interviews.Inquiry graphics interviews are distinctive in that they build on sociomaterial and semiotic principles for data creation and analysis, which will be discussed during the workshop.Participants will engage in creating an image in response to a specific research question, and discussing the method, its potential and its challenges, including the tricky positionality of AI in research.  For this purpose, attendees should bring a mobile device, preferably a laptop, and have access to an AI platform capable of generating images, such as ChatGPT. There will also be an opportunity to follow up on the workshop through a joint publication. About Dr Nataša LackovićDr Nataša Lacković is Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) at Lancaster University, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (FHASS).She co-directs FHASS "Centre for Social Futures".Her work explores and advances educational theories and practice at the intersection of humans, art-e-facts, place, technology, nature and culture. She has coined a number of new concepts, such as inquiry graphics (images and art for inquiry), postdigtial bubbles, postdigital living, concepts on the spectrum, PSC (production-signification-consumption) critical media literacy method, key concepts of postdigital literacies, and, most recently, artefactual ecologies and pedagogies (publication in progress). She has published and co-edited four books and has written about relational and multimodal higher education as well as different types of literacies and student experiences.  This workshop is organised by DIAS Chair Nina Bonderup Dohn

The impact of AI-powered clinical assistants on clinical practice and healthcare experiencesAbout the ConferenceArtificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbots, automation tools, and patient-facing robots, powered by large language models (LLMs), are rapidly becoming integral to modern healthcare, both in the Danish healthcare system and globally.Clinicians increasingly use these technologies for information-seeking, documentation through ambient voice systems and digital scribes, clinical decision support, communication, and patient interaction. Patient-facing robots are emerging in hospitals, clinics, and home-care settings to assist with, e.g., rehabilitation, medication adherence, and emotional support. As these assistants begin to complement or replace tasks traditionally performed by humans, they transform both the delivery of care and the experience of providing and receiving it.National and international research projects are emerging, exploring these transformations, and new interdisciplinary networks are forming.The purpose of this conference is to bring together researchers and clinicians for knowledge-exchange, constructive dialogue and networking.Date12th of November 2026 - 10:00 to 17:30 followed by a conference reception.VenueUniversity of Southern Denmark, Odense Campus, DIAS auditorium.The conference is hosted and co-funded by the Danish Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS), University of Southern Denmark (Research Unit of General Practice and Department of Business and Management) and Odense University Hospital.The cross-disciplinary research network Caring for People and Technologies at the University of Southern Denmark organizes the conference (Associate Professor Elisabeth Assing Hvidt, Professor Dorthe Brogård Kristensen, Assistant Professor Line Maria Simonsen, Post Doc Kathrine Rayce, Associate Professor Elena Shulzhenko and special consultant Henriette List).

Professor Tore Rem, University of OsloAbout the eventTore Rem will present the work currently undertaken by the large interdisciplinary research initiative UiOemocracy (University of Oslo), which has been in existence since 2023. He will talk about why and how UiOemocracy came about, what the 12 research groups do, and how the initiative functions as a laboratory for interdisciplinarity. Rem will also share ways in which the initiative has led to new forms of engagement between research and society, and how it has created popular arenas for discussing the contemporary challenges of democracy.About the speakerTore Rem (b. 1967) is director of UiOemocracy and Professor of literatures in English at the University of Oslo. He has published extensively on British and Scandinavian 19th- and 20th-century literature, book history, world literature, and life writing, and is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.  The event is hosted by Anne Marie Mai

Academic Workshop:Illness, Narrative, and the Politics of VulnerabilityReflections on professor Tore Rem's book, Tidligere frisk mann, Previously Healthy Man: A Story of Illness, 2025We warmly invite scholars, researchers, healthcare professionals, and graduate students to participate in a workshop devoted to the literary, cultural, and political dimensions of illness narratives, taking Tore Rem's remarkable book Previously Healthy Man: A Story of Illness as its point of departure. The book is written in Norwegian, but the workshop will take place in English, and the workshop is open to all interested participants, regardless of whether they have read the book. After collapsing during a football match in 2014, Rem was diagnosed with the rare autoimmune disease cardiac sarcoidosis, an experience that transformed him from a healthy and active citizen into what he describes as a member of "the realm of the sick." Through his account of living with uncertainty, intensive treatment, bodily change, and repeated encounters with mortality, Rem develops a powerful literary reflection on illness, vulnerability, care, and the meaning of being human. The workshop will explore questions such as:[list][*]How does serious illness reshape personal identity and self-understanding?[*]In what ways are illness and vulnerability social and political rather than merely individual conditions?[*]How can literature and reading contribute to medical practice and public discussions of health?[/list] Through interdisciplinary discussion, we aim to bring together perspectives from literary studies, medical humanities, narrative medicine, sociology, cultural studies, and healthcare practice.We look forward to an engaging exchange of ideas on one of the most fundamental yet often overlooked dimensions of human existence: our shared vulnerability. Tore Rem will open the workshop by a short introduction. Moderator: Professor Anne-Marie Mai Tore Rem is professor of English Literature at the University of Oslo and one of Norway’s most distinguished biographers and literary scholars. He is the author of acclaimed biographies of Jens Bjørneboe, King Olav V, and Knut Hamsun: Journey to Hitler. He is director of UiOemocracy, the University of Oslo's interdisciplinary research initiative dedicated to the study of democracy, public discourse, citizenship, and democratic culture.

About the eventAn upper age limit of 65 years for DIAS Chairs was proposed when DIAS was established a decade ago. The idea was fiercely debated, with opinions showing a strong correlation with age, and it never became a reality. There is no mandatory retirement age at Danish universities, and practices therefore vary considerably. Nevertheless, the process of generational succession in research is discussed surprisingly little within Danish academia. At this Wild Wednesday, SDU mid- and late-career researchers will share their experiences and perspectives on generational succession in research, serving as a starting point for a broader discussion with the audience. Moustapha Kassem, Tore B. Stage, and Mette Præst Knudsen will each briefly present their experiences and views on the "crown prince(ss) model" versus the "bottom-up approach" from both senior and junior perspectives. Anthony Fernandez will challenge the traditional Danish approach to academic recruitment and generational transition. Finally, Martin Karstoft, Chief Consultant and Psychologist at SDU HR, will summarise insights gained from his involvement in several generational succession processes at SDU. The session will be chaired by Kaare ChristensenAbout the speakerDr. Christensen is the Director of the Danish Aging Research Center and the Danish Twin Registry at the University of Southern Denmark.  Through a 20-year period he was also affiliated as a Senior Research Scientist at Duke University, USA. Dr. Christensen’s research is multidisciplinary and primarily engaged with human development and aging, combining methods from epidemiology, genetics, medicine, demography, and other disciplines. He has headed a long series of epidemiological studies on twins, the oldest-old and longevity-enriched families in Denmark, in order to shed light on the importance of genes, environment and behaviour in aging, diseases and longevity. Dr. Christensen has co-authored more than 750 scientific peer-reviewed publications and his work has been cited 100,000 times. Dr. Christensen is a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters and has received 14 national and international honors and awards for his scientific contributions. These include the Knight of the Order of Dannebrog; the first University of Southern Denmark Outreach Award for widespread and creative communication of science; and the Ethical Merit Award granted by the Danish National Committee on Biomedical Research Ethics, received on behalf of the Danish Twin Registry.The event is organized by Kaare Christensen

Quantum Advantage to AI Supremacy by Volodymir Zenin, Shailesh Kumar and Torgom YezekyanAbout the event:In the series of three presentations by young scientists, Volodymir Zenin, Shailesh Kumar and Torgom Yezekyan from SDU Nano Optics, we intend to illustrate the basic underlying concepts involved in quantum optics, especially quantum computing and communications, by using a simple (pedestrian level) language and conducting real and gedanken experiments. We’ll endeavor to answer, or at least start answering, questions like:What is quantum about light? Can one see/feel any signs of quantum light in real life? What is so special about quantum computing/communications? Do we really need quantum computing/communications? How does AI come into all this?The idea is to make the realities of quantum revolution we are witnessing nowadays just a bit more understandable and tangible, i.e., more real.  About the speakersShailesh Kumar is an Associate Professor at SDU Nano Optics, University of Southern Denmark. His research focuses on quantum nanophotonics, particularly solid-state single-photon emitters, metasurfaces, nanoantennas and integrated photonic structures. He develops ways to control the emission rate, directionality, polarization and spatial modes of quantum light, with the aim of creating compact sources of structured and entangled photons for quantum technologies. Dr. Vladimir Zenin received his Ph.D. in Energy and Environmental Technologies from the University of Southern Denmark in 2014. Since joining the Nano Optics group, his research has focused on scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), progressing from fiber-based collection-mode SNOM with in-house fabricated probes to advanced scattering-type SNOM.His work applies SNOM to precise nanoscale characterization of optical properties in advanced materials, including gold monocrystals and van der Waals materials. Dr. Zenin has published extensively in high-impact journals and regularly presents his research at international workshops and conferences. Dr Torgom Yezekyan is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Nano Optics, University of Southern Denmark (SDU). He received his PhD in Physics in 2019 from Yerevan State University where his work focused on the theoretical investigation of interactions between quantum emitters and plasmonic structures. His current research centers on experimental studies of nanoscale light–matter interactions, with an emphasis on passive and active plasmonic and photonic systems.The event is organized by Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi.

Join the DeiC Q-Access Roadshow at SDU on 10 December and discover how researchers and students can get free access to quantum computers through DeiC. Get an overview of the latest quantum computing opportunities, real-life use cases and the support

About the event:This lecture explores how alarmist polycrisis narratives distort risk perceptions, undermine preparedness, and amplify vulnerabilities to hybrid threats. Combining political communication research with technological innovation, it examines how decentralized, community-driven communication networks can strengthen trust, cooperation, and societal resilience.  About the speaker:Sophie Lecheler is Professor of Political Communication at the Department of Communication at the University of Vienna. Her research explores the impact of technological change on politics, public discourse, and democracy, bridging communication science with political science, psychology, and digital technologies. She holds a PhD from the University of Amsterdam and degrees from the Universities of Cambridge and Munich. Previously, she held academic positions at the University of Amsterdam and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research has appeared in leading international journals, including Journal of Communication, Political Communication, Communication Research, New Media & Society, and Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. She also co-leads the Vienna Doctoral College of Digital Humanism, and currently serves as the speaker for a new Research Platform on Trustworthy Science Communication.More information  https://polcom.univie.ac.at/ The event is organized by Claes De Vreese

The future of food may be buried in the past Climate change is reshaping the conditions under which our food is grown. But long before the present crisis, ecosystems and species were already adapting to environmental disruption. On 16 December, DIAS Chair and internationally renowned DNA researcher Professor Eske Willerslev takes us into AEGIS: the ambitious new research initiative using ancient environmental DNA to understand how past ecosystems responded to change - and how those insights may help build more resilient crops and food systems for the future. Drawing on the project’s first research questions and findings, Willerslev will explore what sediments, genomes and deep environmental history can teach us about climate resilience, biodiversity and global food security. He will also reflect on the challenge of building a major new research centre across disciplines, methods and institutions. The event will be followed by a panel conversation with DIAS Chairs and an open discussion with the audience. About Eske Willerslev Professor Eske Willerslev is a world renowned evolutionary geneticist and pioneer in ancient DNA research. He is Director of the Centre for Ancient Environmental Genomics (CAEG) and leads the international AEGIS programme at the University of Copenhagen, while also serving as Professor at the University of Cambridge. His groundbreaking work has reshaped our understanding of human origins, past ecosystems, and how lessons from ancient DNA can help address future challenges related to climate, biodiversity, and food security. This event is organised by Sten Rynning, DIAS Director & Eske Willerslev, DIAS Chair *Registration: Please register here by 14 December 2026*

Dear upcoming graduate.On Friday, January 29, we are holding our graduation ceremony. If you are graduating from TEK, you have received an invitation in your SDU email. You can find more information on the page https://mitsdu.dk/da/mit_studie/ingenioeruddannelserne/dimission

About the lectureEnabling behaviour change at individual, community and populations levels is at the heart of addressing the many societal problems and crises we face, including in the areas of health and sustainability.  Behaviour change is not easy and there is a science of behaviour change that needs to be drawn on to understand behaviours in their contexts and develop interventions and policies that are likely to be effective.This talk will present widely-used methods for doing this, using the COM-B model of behaviour and the Behaviour Change Wheel framework.  I will present examples to illustrate this approach and demonstrate how  systematic behaviour analysis and frameworks can enable precise, evidence-based strategies. These tools can also be used to facilitate knowledge sharing, accelerate scientific progress, and improve health and environmental outcomes across systems and populations.About the speakerSusan Michie, FMedSci, FAcSS, FBA, FSBM is Professor of Health Psychology, University College London, UK. She is Director of its Centre for Behaviour Change. (www.ucl.ac.uk/behaviour-change) and co-Director of WHO’s Collaborating Centre for Behavioural and Implementation Sciences for Health, and co-Director of Behavioural Research-UK (www.br-uk.ac.uk), a leadership hub to advance behavioural research across the UK.  Her undergraduate degree was in Experimental Psychology, Masters in Clinical Psychology and D.Phil in Developmental Psychology. Her research focuses on human behaviour change in relation to health and the environment: how to understand it theoretically and apply theory and evidence to intervention and policy development, evaluation and implementation. Her research, collaborating with disciplines such as information science, environmental science, computer science and medicine, covers population, organisational and individual-level interventions. She has pioneered methods for investigating and synthesising evidence e.g. the Human Behaviour-Change Project (www.humanbehaviourchange.org) and the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology (www.BCIOntology.org). She has published >600 journal articles and several books, including the Behaviour Change Wheel: A Guide to Designing Interventions (www.behaviourchangewheel.com). She is a Lancet commissioner for “Evidence-Based Implementation in Global Health” and is past chair of WHO’s Behavioural Insights and Sciences Technical Advisory Group, and member of the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group in Emergencies.The event is organized by Nikos Ntoumanis