Chairman of the Board of the VILLUM FOUNDATION Jens V. Kann-Rasmussen in front of one of the new buildings of the Villum Research Station.

Temperature and salinity being measured from the underside of the sea ice to the sea floor using a so-called CTD at the Villum Research Station.

Chairman of the Board of the VILLUM FOUNDATION, Jens V. Kann-Rasmussen, unveiled the official inauguration plaquette, as HM the Queen and the Premier of Greenland, Kim Kielsen, were unable to attend due to dense fog at Station Nord.

By ANDERS CORRELL

The VILLUM FOUNDATION and Aarhus University have just opened one of the world’s most northerly and most well-equipped research stations – Villum Research Station – in north-east Greenland, only 900 km from the North Pole.

The station should have been inaugurated by HM the Queen and Kim Kielsen, the Premier of Naalakkersuisut, the Government of Greenland,   but unfortunately dense fog made it impossible for them to land at the Danish military station Station Nord in north-east Greenland where the new arctic research station is situated next to buildings owned by the Danish Defence. Instead, the station was inaugurated by Chairman of the Board of the VILLUM FOUNDATION, Jens V. Kann-Rasmussen.

The VILLUM FOUNDATION has played a crucial role in establishing the Villum Research Station and has donated a total of DKK 70 million for buildings, laboratories, field material and advanced state-of-the-art instruments including mobile laboratories, drones, land-based remote sensors, snow scooters etc.

Researchers fly in from all over the world

The buildings are now transferred to the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and the Government of Greenland, while research at the Villum Research Station is to be run by Aarhus University; however, the state-of-the-art facilities will not only benefit researchers from Aarhus University. More than 1,700 overnight stays have already been booked this year by researchers from all over the world and that pleases Professor Henrik Skov, director of research at the Villum Research Station. At the inauguration, he expressed heartfelt thanks to the VILLUM FOUNDATION for the very generous grant, to the Government of Greenland for its consistent support for the project, to the Danish Defence for the unique cooperation which is making it possible to have a research station so far to the north and finally to the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

Henrik Skov also took the opportunity to talk about the severe climate challenge which we are facing.

”We expect temperatures to increase twice as fast here in the Arctic compared to the rest of the world, and in north-east Greenland by up to nine degrees Celsius. We do not know how these dramatic changes in temperature will affect the Earth’s natural cycles. Potentially, it can give us some nasty surprises, e.g. due to substantial releases of the greenhouse gas methane as the permafrost starts to thaw,” warned Professor Henrik Skov.

We must address climate problems

Therefore, international cooperation to further our knowledge and understanding of the complex climate challenge is more important than ever. This was, in fact, one of the objectives of the Villum Research Station when it was first planned.

”The VILLUM FOUNDATION hopes that the Villum Research Station will attract researchers from all over the world who can help to identify the causes and effects of global warming, which we see as the greatest challenge of our time. Maybe results from the Villum Research Station can even point to ways of correcting the mistakes we as humans have made in this field”, said Chairman of the Board of the VILLUM FOUNDATION Jens V. Kann-Rasmussen.

The chairman also emphasised his family’s close ties with Greenland, which date back to 1933. At the time, his grandfather Villum Kann-Rasmussen was a motorboat helmsman on Lauge Koch’s three-year expedition to Greenland. In 2013, Jens’ father, Lars Kann-Rasmussen, accompanied HRH Crown Prince Frederik to Station Nord where the Crown Prince cut the first sod for the Villum Research Station.

“I’m extremely pleased to be standing here at the completed Villum Research Station which bears my grandfather’s name and that of the foundation, and which very much epitomises what could be called my grandfather’s motto: One experiment is worth far more than a thousand expert assumptions. The VILLUM FOUNDATION chose to support this project because we could see that it was a fantastic project, but also a little bit because we, by virtue of my grandfather’s connection to Greenland, have a weak spot for this wonderful nation”, said Jens V. Kann-Rasmussen at the inauguration.

The Dean of Science and Technology at Aarhus University, Niels Christian Nielsen, points out that increased knowledge of the climate's development and history provides the scientists with a better possibility to predict the effect of climate changes globally. Research results from the Villum Research Station therefore must be included in the counselling provided by Aarhus University to the Greenland Self Government, the Danish ministries and Parliament with regard to sustainable solutions.

According to the Dean the inauguration of the Villum Research Station underlines Aarhus University’s huge commitment in Arctic research.

“Villum Research Station will be part of the University’s network of research facilities in Greenland. The Station will be a central part of Aarhus University’s research effort through the Arctic Research Centre and an asset in the Arctic Science Partnership, which Aarhus University has together with The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources in Greenland and the University of Manitoba in Canada”, the Dean of Science and Technology at Aarhus University emphasizes.

• Read more in Danish here: A crucial boost to climate research

FACTS ABOUT THE VILLUM RESEARCH STATION:

• Official opening: 8 July 2015
• The Crown Prince cut the first sod in 2013
• Location: At Station Nord in north-east Greenland (81°36’N 16°39’V)
• The VILLUM FOUNDATION donates DKK 70.5 million towards the establishment of the station
• Annual operating costs: DKK 5 million, primarily covered by user fees
• Run by: Aarhus University for the next ten years
• Average temperature at Station Nord: -14° C
• The management consists of a day-to-day management, a scientific coordination committee, an international scientific council and a board.

For further information, please contact:

• Henrik Skov, director of the Villum Research Station, Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, hsk@envs.au.dk, telephone: +45 8715 8524
• Anders Correll, head of press and communication, Aarhus University