SLU news

Double success for young researcher

Published: 17 November 2023
Maria Vilain Rörvang

At this year’s ISAE congress, the New Investigator Award was awarded to SLU-researcher Maria Vilain Rørvang. As a young researcher, she also received a 4 million kroner funding from Formas.

 “Maria Vilain Rørvang is an excellent and rounded candidate who has demonstrated scientific independence and scientific excellence with multiple publications as first author and in collaboration with other researchers, demonstrating broad collaborative aptitude. Her input within the field has clearly been significant in a short period of time,” ISAE writes in their motivation.

Maria Vilain Rørvang was happy to receive the positive news.

– It was such an honour to receive this award! Being acknowledged for your work as an early career scientist means a lot. It sparks motivation and a sense that you are moving in the right direction. Especially being acknowledged for enthusiastic mentor and supervisor ship of students and junior faculty meant a lot to me, she comments.

As a young researcher, she also received 4 million kroner for her research-project Smells like welfare.

– I’m thrilled to receive this grant and positive assessment of an idea that has been brewing in me since I started at SLU in 2018. To now finally be able to uncover these research questions is a dream come true. I’m excited for the project to start and I hope that we will soon be able to uncover if farm animals form positive odour memories and what powers these memories hold.