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Scientists gravitate towards Dark

They want to work at the Dark Cosmology Centre, the numbers show

Whenever Dark Cosmology Centre (DARK) advertises to fill a new postdoc position, more than 200 applications swamp the inbox, mostly from abroad. Administrative positions are just as popular.

Maybe being a part of the renowned Niels Bohr Institute (NBI); being able to boast an English-speaking working environment; and the completely internationalised subject tradition of Astrophysics is one of the reasons why.

But since the Centre started in 2005, attracting good international scientists has been no big deal, according to Anja Andersen, associate professor at the Centre: »We just pick the best!«, she says, adding that »the first thing is getting it going, then once you get a critical mass of interesting people, it becomes self-fulfilling«.

Meet one scientist, Ia, from Georgia here.

Young, new, ambitious

According to centre director Jens Hjorth, the top competitors for the raw astrophysical talent are US institutions like Caltech and Princeton.

»We try to do things differently here,« he says, then points to the Centre’s strong points:

»We are young on average, new and ambitious. We are accommodating and have a good international mix and a good gender mix. We want to be a welcoming mini-society«.

miy@adm.ku.dk

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