Life in Research
A life shaped by inquiry.
I initiated and led international interdisciplinary research projects and secured a considerable number of prestigious research grants.
My work advanced the study of mobility, identity, textile production, and social life in ancient societies.
Selected Research Initiatives
Tales of Bronze Age People
Supported by the Carlsberg Foundation · Founder and Director
I initiated and led this project after securing a Semper Ardens Advance grant from the Carlsberg Foundation. As director and PI, I brought together an international interdisciplinary team to explore mobility, identity, and social roles in Bronze Age Europe, with a particular focus on present-day Denmark.
Sr-Mobility Research Group
National Museum of Denmark · Founder and Director
I founded and directed this international research group to develop and apply strontium isotope methods for investigating human and animal mobility in the past.
Bringing scientific and archaeological perspectives together, the group opened new ways of tracing movement, connection, and individual life histories across time.
Rise -II: Towards a new European Prehistory
Supported by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond · Co-Principal Investigator and Work Package Leader
As co-PI, I led the work package on strontium isotope analysis, investigating patterns of individual mobility across the Mediterranean.
By bringing isotope evidence together with aDNA, archaeology, and language studies, the project opened new perspectives on movement, interaction, and connection in European prehistory.
Awards and Recognitions
My work has been shaped within international research environments at the intersection of science and the humanities.
As Denmark’s first Professor of Archaeometry—and the first permanently appointed Professor at the National Museum of Denmark—I have led cross-disciplinary research initiatives exploring new ways of understanding the past.
This work has been supported by major national and international research foundations.
It reflects a way of working grounded in inquiry, collaboration, innovation and sustained attention over time.
2024
Recieved in: July 2024
International
2022
Awarded by:
Mrs. Ida Emilie Grandjean, born Attrups Foundation
National
2019
Recieved in: July 2021
International
2017
Awarded by: Shanghai Archaeology Forum (SAF)
International
2017
Dansk Magisterforenings forskningspris
National
Since 2017
Denmark’s leading reference on notable Danes. Gad Editorial
National
Since 2017
Type: Elected life-membership
National
2016
Received in 2016
International
2015
Ranked by: Archaeology Magazine
International
2015
Awarded by: Scientific Newspaper “Ingeniøren”
National
2013
Eilschou Holms Award
National
2011
Awarded by: L’Oréal Denmark, UNESCO, and The Danish Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters
National
2011
Awarded by: GMPCA for the best PhD thesis in Archaeometry
International
2010
Award by; The Faculty of Humanities, Copenhagen University for PhD thesis
National
Publications
Over 100 peer-reviewed articles
I have published over 100 peer-reviewed articles that have made significant contributions to the fields of archaeometry, archaeology, mobility, migration, trade, identity, and geoscience.
Contributed chapters in various books
I have contributed chapters to numerous academic books, sharing my expertise and research findings with a broader audience.
National bestselling author of “The Journey of the Egtved Girl”
The Journey of the Egtved Girl” became a national bestseller. In it, I share my personal journey of building a cross-disciplinary career, detailing how I developed and applied innovative scientific techniques to investigate the mobility and life of the iconic Bronze Age woman, The Egtved Girl.