Increased Future Collaboration Between CBS and DTU

Photo: Iris/Scanpix

CBS Maritime and Maritime DTU intensify the current collaboration between the two universities as recently described in the maritime newspaper Søfart (No. 20, 11 May 2015).

The fruitful project and research collaboration of the two maritime research environments has proven to be a way to secure interdisciplinary collaboration to the benefit of the industry.

- CBS Maritime is already working closely together with Maritime DTU on projects such as the Blue Inno+ as well as mutual initiatives in regards to research with a focus on the Arctic, optimization of life-cycle cost and ports. Also, CBS Maritime will host a couple of seminars at Danish Maritime Days in October, two of them in close collaboration with Maritime DTU. These are just a few concrete examples where we are working closely together with our colleagues at Maritime DTU as well as DTU Space, says Director of CBS Maritime, Henrik Sornn-Friese.

CBS Maritime and Maritime DTU have had regular coordination meetings that have also included maritime researchers from Aalborg University and the University of Southern Denmark. Over the past year the collaboration between CBS Maritime and Maritime DTU has resulted in the development of joint projects and a shared commitment to working even closer together in the future.

- Our mutual take on our future collaboration is that together we make a strong case when it comes to addressing the future challenges of the maritime sector. I am referring to the fact that DTU and CBS represent two very different research agendas, namely a technical and a business administrative and economic research focus, which are both highly relevant for maritime companies and the industry as such. Combining our two traditions is really viewing the sector from a broad perspective with the many different aspects that go into running a successful maritime business. We look much forward to our continued and even closer collaboration in the future, says Head of Maritime DTU, Ingrid Marie Vincent Andersen.

CBS Maritime’s Co-director, Carsten Ørts Hansen, agrees:
- By establishing two comparable centers or platforms that are willingly collaborating on different research questions, we have established a critical mass on the basis of which we are able to work constructively and in close dialogue with the industry. In the future we will seek to identify even more ways for CBS Maritime and Maritime DTU to collaborate.

Maritime Research Environments - a Benefit to the Industry
In recent years CBS and DTU have followed a similar recipe when it comes to connecting and coordinating the various maritime activities taking place within the walls of the respective universities. Today, CBS Maritime works as a so-called Business in Society (BiS) platform – CBS’ concept for engaging in knowledge production that is based on context-driven, problem-focused and interdisciplinary research.Likewise, Maritime DTU works as a center at DTU whose objective is, among others, to facilitate close collaboration and value creation for the industry through business-relevant research.

- Our main focus at CBS Maritime is relevance. By establishing entities such as CBS Maritime and Maritime DTU, the maritime sector has a one point of entry into each of our two universities. By this means, we believe that we can begin the dialogue more quickly with regards to identifying the main challenges of the maritime sector, says Henrik Sornn-Friese.

- Our research activities should support CBS´ increasing teaching within the maritime area, meaning that it is a way of securing that CBS can remain a world leading university supplier of graduates at the bachelor, masters and MBA level. World class research equals world class candidates, concludes Carsten Ørts Hansen .