Dear mayor -
Dear employees, students, partners and friends of the university -
Dear fellow board members.
In short:
Whoever you are
Wherever you are
Welcome to the 2024 Aarhus University annual celebration!
The Danish Broadcasting Corporation is currently airing a series called ‘the Miracle in Aarhus’ which really highlights the city’s qualities.
The miracle the title refers to was the explosion of creativity that happened here in Aarhus in the 1980s.
There were bands like TV2 and Gnags and musicians like Anne Linnet, Lis Sørensen Thomas Helmig and many others.
There were comedians, actors and other cultural figures who energised one another. Cross-pollinated one another with innovation and stardust.
This quickly turned into a positive feedback loop.
Suddenly there was this perfect storm of wild creativity sprouting all over the place.
And it put Aarhus on the cultural map of Denmark, in a prominent position.
In the early days of my research career, I studied at Aarhus University for quite some time in 1983 to learn from eminent physiologists and biophysicists like Jens Christian Skou.
And I certainly remember the special atmosphere of youth, fun, vitality, energy and transformative power that buzzed at the university and in the city.
And as board chair, I’ve had ample opportunity to confirm that this energy is still alive and well here at Aarhus University.
In the TV series, the university is mentioned several times – above as as a unique strong magnet and catalyst for intense, inquisitive young people.
A place with receptive audiences and talented students - where there were concerts and performances. And in that sense, the university was an important part of the positive feedback loop that emerged.
And this aspect of being integrated in the community...participating actively in the city...exchanging energy with both culture and business.
I see this as absolutely central to Aarhus University’s identity.
And this doesn’t just apply to the 1980s.
If we go back to the 1920s, Aarhus University was created on the foundation of the rock-solid dedication of local residents and local businesses.
From the very beginning, the university was a collective project, by and for the community.
This spirit is still alive. Not just her on the Aarhus campus, but also on the university’s other campuses.
We interact with our community. We get involved. We give energy, and we receive energy.
Take innovation and entrepreneurship, for example.
It’s really taken off at the university in recent years.
More students are taking the leap to become entrepreneurs.
And many more researchers are, in collaboration with external partners, exploring opportunities to translate their research findings into concrete products, solutions or services to the benefit of society.
The university is devoting more resources to promoting research-based innovation - not least thanks to intensified collaboration with municipalities, regions and the private sector.
It’s evident to everyone involved that when we pull in the same direction, we create value that benefits us all.
Positive energy becomes a positive feedback loop – just like the miracle in Aarhus.
Aarhus University is a large university – a comprehensive university
that shapes and influences society in many different ways.
So I’d also like to acknowledge the enormous contribution many researchers from our university make to research communication, thanks to their contributions as experts in the media.
And thanks to their contributions to political commissions and science advice.
And by writing books for a general audience or giving talks in community centres, at festivals and so on.
Having researchers who make such essential contributions to ensuring the public is well-informed and interested in new knowledge and debate is a huge asset to a democracy.
That Aarhus University is able to perform at such a high level in innovation and research communication is of course because these efforts are founded in world-class research.
Which is Aarhus University’s hallmark.
Aarhus University has a unique culture around basic research which has required major investments and taken decades to develop.
Decades of researchers standing on the shoulders of those who came before them, pioneers stepping down and proudly passing the torch to the next generation.
This has been possible thanks to many years of stable financing from the state to the universities through so-called ‘basic funding for research’.
This financing has been crucial in enabling the university to become truly comprehensive.
Because it’s this basic funding that makes long-term non-targeted basic research possible, which in turn makes it possible for us to offer research-based education within all of our subjects.
That’s why basic funding is so essential to the university.
But these non-targeted, non-earmarked funds have not increased - have stagnated, in other words -for over a decade.
So this basic funding has not in any way kept pace with the - quite significant - development in competitive external funding for targeted research.
The numbers speak for themselves:
In 2023, basic funding accounted for 29% of Aarhus University’s total revenues, whereas external funding accounted for all of 36%.
This funding primarily came from significant donations from private and public foundations in Denmark.
In fact, external research funding in Denmark as a whole has risen by considerably more than a whopping 50% compared to basic funding.
Naturally, this growth provides unique opportunities for the university's talented and established researchers to attract funding to carry out their exciting, high-quality research projects.
But on the flip side, the stagnation of basic funding threatens some of our most important tasks.
Such as:
Because if we aren’t able to fund supporting our young talents in launching their careers as independent researchers, the quality of the university’s teaching and research staff of the future will suffer.
And the university’s infrastructure will lag behind and will fail to keep pace with the needs of our researchers and our degree programmes.
So the upshot is:
We need a renewed focus on research policy and financing, including basic funding, at the national level.
In the meantime, we’re all delighted that private foundations continue to increase their grants to research.
But these funds come with strings attached, however. And they cannot replace basic funding.
No, they are and will remain a supplement - a welcome supplement.
And when basic funding doesn’t increase, this has unintended consequences.
But if we succeed in getting more basic funding, this will give a needed boost to building a more robust research ecosystem in which we foster talented early-career basic researchers who can contribute to the development of our university.
Another dimension is that if our basic funding isn’t increased, we will also lose some of the breadth of our research palette.
And if there’s one thing we’ve learned from the last couple of years, it’s that we can’t predict what kind of knowledge there might suddenly be a very urgent need for.
It wasn’t all that long ago that understanding Russia and China was a low priority, politically speaking.
There was also a pandemic recently, and suddenly RNA research was the hottest trend.
You might put it this way: Knowledge is also a form of emergency preparedness.
Our esteemed minister might consider using this mantra as ammunition in policy discussions when the question of why it’s worthwhile for Denmark to increase its investments in our universities going forward is on the table.
And why the state ought to provide the much-needed increase in non-targeted basic funding we’re asking for.
As the singer Thomas Helmig - Aarhus born and bred - once sang (loosely translated): ‘there will hopefully come a day/when reason will hold sway...’
Let’s hope that this day also comes - and soon! - for Danish research policy and Denmark’s universities.
Here at Aarhus University, we will, to the best of our ability, remain true to our mission to:
To the benefit of society.
I’d like to conclude my remarks by saying: thank you to our employees and students, and to the senior management team for our fruitful collaboration over the past year.
Not least for your hard work to bring the university’s finances back into balance after the tough years of 2022 and 2023.
It’s demanded a concerted, constructive team effort on the part of the university’s executive management to get this far.
On behalf of the board, I’d like to say:
Aarhus University anno 2024 is a strong and thriving university on a growth trajectory. And its potential is huge.
Thank you all for your hard work and dedication this past year.
Once again: welcome to the most wonderful annual celebration in almost a century.
Enjoy
Welcome, minister, mayor and board members!
And welcome, colleagues, students and valued partners.
I’d also like to extend a warm welcome to all of you here with me today in the Main Hall for Aarhus University’s 2024 annual celebration.
I’d especially like to welcome Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund.
We truly appreciate that you’ve taken the time to participate in our annual celebration once again.
But by way of introduction, I’d like to take you on a trip to a completely different place than our beautiful Main Hall-
out past the very outermost planets in our solar system: past Uranus, Neptune, and past the dwarf planet Pluto... and beyond, even further out.
All the way out where we can no longer hear the roar of the solar wind.
And where the interstellar wind takes over.
Somewhere out there, the Voyager 1 space probe is speeding along, at a quite respectable speed of about 17 kilometres a second, which would take it from here to Hamburg in just 40 seconds.
Voyager was the first human-made object to break out of our solar system.
It’s been travelling for 47 years.
And so far, it’s traversed 25 billion kilometres.
Which corresponds to about 946 billion kayak trips across the University Lake...
which certainly puts our own annual regatta in perspective.
The reason I started so far out in space is not because I am searching for a suitable place to park the Master’s degree reform -
although the thought has crossed my mind.
No, it’s because the Voyager mission says something about the role universities and science have to play in our society.
Just ask yourself the question: Why?
Why is Voyager actually flying around out there in the dark billions of kilometres from our own planet?
If you ask me, there’s only one answer: because of curiosity and optimism...our fundamental urge to understand as much about the world and ourselves as we possibly can.
And our indomitable belief that what takes us forward is the pursuit of new knowledge.
To give you a somewhat more earthbound example of the curiosity and optimism I’m talking about...well, pop outside into the University Park behind me here.
Today, our students are in a party mood and are busy organising Denmark’s Biggest Friday Bar and sports day.
But the fundamental urge that drove them all to apply to university was a desire to understand more about the world and themselves.
Because they know that knowledge matters - and knowledge works.
That knowledge takes us forward. As individuals - and as a society.
And we would all do well to hold on to that conviction - and that hope.
Because when we look around at our world, we see plenty of reasons to be worried.
The negative impact of climate change on our planet is increasing.
Terrible wars are raging in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Sudan.
And here in the rest of prosperous, stable Europe, our democracies are under pressure - internally from the political developments in the east and the south, and perhaps even also in the west.
And in response to these new lines of conflict, we are building more and more walls - both online and in real life.
The university is no exception – terms like espionage and unintentional knowledge transfer are now an important part of our vocabulary - and our working lives.
Going forward, we will have to be much more cautious when we travel...when we engage in international collaboration...and when we hire new employees.
Aarhus University will - as a matter of course - comply with the requirements the state and the intelligence services impose on us.
But we’re being asked to compromise fundamental academic ideals related to the free exchange of knowledge and talent, and I won’t conceal the fact that we do so purely out of necessity and with a heavy heart.
Science is founded on – and thrives on - openness and collaboration.
Not war, fear and distrust.
But fortunately, hope for the future is intrinsic to the essence of science.
Knowledge works - knowledge matters!
Knowledge takes us forward.
That’s precisely why it’s important that we hold on to our curiosity and optimism, along with a degree of idealism coupled with a healthy realism - despite the challenging times we live in.
Instead of drowning in worry and reverting to reactive thinking, we have to dare to think proactively.
For our own sakes - but especially for the sake of coming generations.
Undeniably, it’s been challenging for the universities to be proactive for many years – while at the same time we’ve been tossed around like the ball in a pinball machine by a rapid-fire succession of various reforms.
The Master’s degree reform is just the most recent in the series.
And make no mistake – implementing it will be a Herculean task.
We respect the intentions behind the agreement made by the Danish parliament.
We do our very best to deliver on the tasks we’re assigned - even when they’re painful.
But we’re also under an obligation to point out the discrepancy between political intentions and what’s possible within the given framework.
We’re positive about the idea of flexible new Master's degree programmes for working professionals – but come on: realising them within the financial framework of the reform is a tough proposition.
Loosening this framework would be really helpful here.
The reform also gives the universities the latitude to admit more international Master’s degree students.
Now that’s thinking proactively...
And that’s a significant asset for Denmark.
But we have to go even further and make more place available to international Bachelor’s degree students – over and above the cap defined in the new sector resizing plan.
Bachelor’s students are in Denmark for longer, which puts them in a better position to pursue a subsequent career here.
Before I wrap up this speech, I’d like to thank Birgitte Nauntofte, chair of the AU board, and the other board members for our good working relationship over the course of the past year.
We truly value your feedback and whole-hearted support for this fantastic university and for the whole senior management team.
We’re proud of what we do at Aarhus University.
And with good reason.
AU and the other Danish universities make a huge difference in the lives of many individuals, and we contribute integrity and quality to Danish society as a whole.
I can almost hear you thinking: The rector’s really bragging now, isn’t he...
Well yes, I am.
Because our staff and students deserve it.
They deserve all the recognition and thanks we can give them.
So I’d like to thank all our employees - academic and technical/administrative - and our students.
Thank you so much for all your hard work over the past year.
You shape the university.
You provide the curiosity and the thirst for knowledge that drive us forward - if not exactly at the same speed as Voyager, at least close.
By the way, there’s detail about Voyager that I didn't mention at the beginning.
Voyager is expected to run out of energy within the next few years.
But I can promise you one thing - that’s not going to happen to Aarhus University.
Curiosity is our most important source of energy, and that’s something we’ll never run out of.
We will continue our quest for knowledge...both in space, deep inside human cells, in our history and literature, in the law, food technology and across the palette of our disciplines.
This is how we take both society and Aarhus University forward.
I now have the great pleasure of handing over the podium to Minister Christina Egelund, who will be succeeded by one of our talented students, Karen Porskrog Boisen.
Thank you for your attention.