The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit

Objectives

The objective of the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit is to use its independent status to produce new, empirically-based analyses related to the current problems faced by modern society, particularly within the areas of labour market conditions (including the spread of black work in Denmark and other North European countries) and of the functions, stability and legitimacy of the welfare state. The Rockwool Foundation takes it to be self-evident that a deep insight into the nature of a problem is a prerequisite for its solution.
With this primary objective of acquiring new knowledge about important social questions, the Research Unit has made a considerable impact since 1987 through a number of important research projects.

Complete Independence

The Rockwool Foundation took the initiative to establish the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit in 1987. From the outset, the topics of the Unit’s research projects have been decided upon by the Board of the  Foundation, which also grants the finance necessary to carry out the research. Once the topic, time frame and budget of a project have been agreed upon, the research is carried out by the Research Unit, acting totally independently of the Foundation. Since 2003 the Research Unit has been headed by Research Director Torben Tranæs, M.Sc., Ph.D. (Economics).

Organization

In order to ensure high academic standards and to avoid using resources on research fields that have already been investigated or are being investigated by other researchers, the Board has formed  the Rockwool Foundation Programme Committee, made up of leading Scandinavian experts within the fields of research that are prioritized by the Foundation.
The Programme Committee is always consulted before the Board makes its final decision on giving financial grants to a research project.