The PhD Association at Health awards the annual JCD Prize to a particularly committed PhD supervisor. Only PhD students can recommend candidates and select the winner; this year the award went to Professor Ole Mors from the Department of Clinical Medicine.

2019.01.30 | Simon Byrial Fischel

Professor Ole Mors from the Department of Clinical Medicine is the winner of this year's JCD Prize, which is given by Health's PhD student to an extraordinary supervisor.

“Ole Mors is friendly, helpful and positive, and despite having a busy schedule, his door is always open. There is always time for questions and queries, and the feedback he gives is guaranteed to be constructive. The work environment in his group is dynamic, agreeable and ideal for both research and learning. Without a doubt, this fantastic work environment reflects Ole’s openness, generosity and trust in others."

These are some of the comments from Ole Mors’ current and former PhD students, who nominated him for the JCD Prize as supervisor of the year at Health. The award is traditionally presented at the PhD Day at Health, which this year was held on Friday 25 January.

Watch Ole Mors talk about his approach to supervision and what winning the JCD Prize means to him personally.

Personal relationships are fundamental
Ole Mors' PhD students make no secret of the enormous respect they have for the supervisor's professional qualifications. With more than 400 publications, including in Nature, Nature Genetics and The Lancet, there is no doubt that he belongs at the top of his field. But for Ole Mors, it is a question of something more than professional authority. He believes that good cooperation also demands that you dare to open up and share something of yourself as a person.

"You also need to show who you are away from work, and I do that by inviting my PhD students to Christmas parties and summer parties at my house. Then they get the chance to see where I live, meet my wife and get to know me away from a work context. I find that people are really pleased to be able to see this side of their supervisor," says Ole Mors.

About the JCD Prize

• The JCD Prize is named after Professor Jens Christian Djurhuus, who was head of the Department of Clinical Medicine from 1978 to 2012.

• Professor Djurhuus is remembered as a department head who made huge efforts for the PhD students and enjoyed helping the young talents make progress with their research projects.

• Since he left the department in 2012, the PhD Association at Health has annually awarded the JCD Prize to a supervisor who has made an extraordinary effort.

Contact
Professor, Consultant Ole Mors
Department of Clinical Medicine – Psychoses Research Unit
Email: ole.mors@clin.au.dk
Tel.: (+45) 2947 9780