Deliang Chen awarded the Faculty of Science’s 2021 Synergy Award
Deliang Chen is a respected research director who has made significant contributions in communicating science to decision-maker. He is now being awarded the Faculty of Science’s 2021 Synergy Award for his efforts within community outreach.
What does it feel like to receive the 2021 Synergy Award?
“To be recognised by my home faculty is particularly flattering and satisfying. At the same time, I feel a great deal of gratitude and appreciation for all the support and all the help I have received from the University’s leadership and my colleagues for my community outreach efforts over the years.”
How do you view your achievements in community outreach?
“As a climate researcher and someone who wants science to play an important role in the advancement of society, I see a great need of and am inspired by community outreach with various actors in society beyond my research colleagues.”
What challenges do you feel community outreach presents?
“Community outreach can take long time and require more knowledge than what we acquire through traditional education. I am continually trying to be better and more effective. But I do receive many more requests than I’m able to handle. It’s a constant challenge to say no to certain enquiries and not to respond to all incoming email messages so that I can find a good balance between community outreach and other work.”
Have you given any thought to what you will do with the prize money?
“Naturally, it will be used for quality improvements or to increase my community outreach efforts. I can also imagine helping my doctoral students and post docs if they would like to work with community outreach, though I’m also aware that not everyone can or wants to do so.”
Award explanation
Deliang Chen is a respected international scientist in Earth System Science and an excellent scientific communicator who has made great contributions to climate science and global sustainability.
His significant efforts to link science to policy making can be illustrated by his substantial engagement in leading or participating in several climate change assessment panels. These panels are instrumental for political decision making at the regional, national and global level. He was selected by the UN as Lead Author and Coordinating Lead Author of the IPCC’s fifth and sixth assessment reports. Furthermore, he has advised various governmental, intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations as well as research funding agencies. Deliang is also a frequent voice in Swedish media.
A recent example of his engagement is his involvement in the Nobel Prize Summit entitled "Our Planet, Our Future" which explored the question: What can be achieved in this decade to put the world on a path to a more sustainable, more prosperous future for all of humanity? The summit resulted in a powerful statement, which has been circulated around the world and will have a significant future impact.
The Synergy Award recognises positive efforts within the Faculty of Science’s community outreach. The award is in the form of a SEK 250,000 grant to the recipient’s department for appreciated and successful community outreach efforts. The Faculty’s 2021 award will be presented on 2 December.