Dean from RUC becomes the new director at DIIS

“An extremely skilled, strategically thinking and visionary leader with an international outlook and a solid academic foundation.” These are just some of the positive testimonials offered on DIIS’ future director, Peter Kragelund. The new director, who comes from a position as dean at Roskilde University’s Department of Social Sciences and Business, will take office on 1 October.

“In Peter Kragelund, DIIS has gained a director who has both a solid foothold in the research world and many years of leadership experience. This is important for a research institution like DIIS, which must constantly navigate between providing space for in-depth research, time to contribute to qualifying the public debate with research-based analyses in the media, and room for briefing politicians and officials on the challenges of an increasingly complex world order,” says Anne Marie Pahuus, chairperson of the board at DIIS.

The Danish Institute for International Studies is an independent, public research institute – funded partly by the Danish National Budget and partly by public and private foundations in Denmark and abroad. Ensuring both funding and the continued relevance of the research at the institute will be an important task for the new director. Especially in a day-to-day life with the inherent dilemma that research is slow by nature while the state of the world, and thus political and media focus, is changing at an ever faster pace.

Peter Kragelund is already well acquainted with the institution he is now assuming management of. He has been affiliated with DIIS while completing his PhD and his postdoc in International Development.

“DIIS is a dynamic research institution characterised by research of a high, international quality, but just as much by the integration of research, analysis and public sector consultancy in important areas such as foreign, security and development policy. DIIS’ work helps to support political decisions with research-based knowledge, and DIIS researchers’ daily contributions in the media are extremely important. However, so is providing the best possible framework for research. I look forward to spearheading this task,” says Peter Kragelund.