Dear all,

It’s wonderful to see the bike lanes, lawns, and benches filled with hopeful students, laughter, and conversation. What a perfect way to welcome the new semester.

DKK 68 million for German and French Studies

As you may have seen, the Danish government has allocated DKK 68 million to strengthen studies in German and French in higher education. This is great news, and in the coming months, we’ll be exploring how these funds can best benefit our language environments.
Unfortunately, it appears that the National Centre for Foreign Languages has not been included in this year’s Finance Act. This is regrettable, as the centre’s work has significantly supported foreign language education across all levels of the educational system, which is an essential pipeline for the universities.

Campus 3.0

In August, the Campus Steering Group approved the overall master plan for University City South. This means that the overall allocation of teaching facilities, library, study environments, and office spaces is now outlined. This means that it is decided which academic environments will be housed in which buildings (the plan).

The next phase involves designing, constructing, and renovating the various buildings. Detailed decisions about where departments and staff will be located are expected to be made approximately six months before the buildings are ready for use. This also means that changes to the current plan may occur. After all, university life is never static.

Throughout all phases of construction, representatives of staff and students are involved through user meetings and workshops, contributing valuable insights and helping ensure that information about the project reaches colleagues and fellow students. It’s therefore important that you, as staff members, reach out to your representatives if you wish to influence the process. You can find an overview of your representatives and submit questions about campus development at Arts via the staff portal.

In parallel with the development of University City South, the first steps are now being taken toward developing Katrinebjerg. More information will follow.

Circle U funding opportunities

Now that the semester is underway, I’d also like to remind you that funding is still available through the Circle U mobility fund and the fund for developing Circle U educational activities. Several academic environments have already filled a bus and visited one of the other strong European universities in the alliance.

With the educational activities fund, it is now possible to expand collaborations and apply for funding to develop new course packages or other initiatives. I hope some of you will be inspired to seize this opportunity.

Wishing you all a great autumn semester.
 
Best regards,
Maja