May 2025: The first Maritime Research Alliance Research Festival at Syddansk Universitet – University of Southern Denmark

In the Maritime Research Alliance we work to facilitate cross-institutional and interdisciplinary maritime research and to strengthen collaboration across academia, industry, and public authorities. This month, we were pleased to host the first Maritime Research Alliance Research Festival at Syddansk Universitet – University of Southern Denmark under the theme: “Grand Challenges, Sectoral Transition, and the Role of Research.”

The first day of the festival focused on how the Danish maritime research community can contribute to addressing some of the grand challenges facing the sector. We were delighted to welcome more than 120 participants from Danish universities, authorities, industry organizations, NGOs, and companies.

The day was expertly moderated by Charlotte Harder from ShippingWatch and featured a keynote by Marc Levinson. The program also included panel debates on geopolitics, the green transition, and digitalization in the maritime sector, as well as poster sessions presenting 37 ongoing research projects.

On the second day, the focus shifted to research collaboration and funding opportunities. A total of 53 researchers from various institutions engaged in discussions on potential cross-institutional research initiatives, inspired by presentations from Den Danske Maritime Fond and VELUX FONDEN.

The festival clearly demonstrated the strength of the Danish maritime research community and the value of bringing together diverse perspectives to address shared challenges. We would like to thank all participants for their engagement, insightful discussions, and inspiring contributions to two days dedicated to research and collaboration.

We look forward to welcoming participants again at the next Maritime Research Alliance Research Festival in 2026.