The senior management group would like to thank all the many students and members of staff who helped create a festive atmosphere and a fine celebration for Aarhus University on Friday 9 September. The University Park buzzed with life throughout the day at the annual sports event, while approximately 10,000 students from the university’s many fields of study held a really good party in the evening.
At the ceremony in the Main Hall, the university paid tribute to some of its most prominent researchers, students and honorary doctors. This year’s honorary alumna Lene Vestergaard Hau – Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics, Harvard University – emphasised why it is important for her to maintain strong ties with Aarhus University.
In the Concert Hall Aarhus, Danish and foreign artists provided entertainment for the university’s working partners and staff in an extremely varied show – ranging from Niels Hausgaard and his humorous social satire to Mads Langer, one of Denmark’s new hitmakers, who has shot to the top in Denmark and abroad.
In the coming months, administration managers at the four administrative centres will be given an important role as contact persons for staff members at the main academic areas. If you have an unanswered question about work assignments, placement or similar issues regarding the ongoing changes, please contact your administration manager.
The four administration managers are:
A successful start-up meeting between the senior management group and the heads of departments recently focused on the identities, aims and directions of the departments at Aarhus University. The plan for this autumn’s work was also discussed at the meeting. Each individual department should internally determine a direction for the future by setting targets and action plans within the framework of the university’s overall strategy.
In collaboration with the heads of departments, the senior management group has produced a strategy map that can be used to support the processes. In addition, the forthcoming work with the departments’ new websites can serve the purpose of focusing on each department’s identity and academic profile.
The departments’ initial work on targets and action plans will be discussed in late November before the final schedule is set.
On Friday 23 September, the Department of Chemistry is marking its fiftieth anniversary with a special symposium for all members of staff. Head of Department Ib Johannsen is welcoming everyone and introducing a number of presentations on the subject ‘Chemistry of the Future’. After the symposium, there will be a reception and celebration for current and former employees at the department.
Aarhus University is hosting an international conference called ‘Science for the Environment – Environment for Society’. Attending the conference are 150–200 environmental researchers and consultants, and public sector representatives – mainly from Europe, but also from countries such as India and Japan.
The aim of the conference is to bridge the gaps between environmental research and the authorities, administrations and organisations that use the results of this research in their work.
The National Centre for Environment and Energy, Aarhus University, is responsible for the conference, along with the PEER organisation (Partnership for European Environmental Research), the Danish Ministry of the Environment and IDA (the Danish Society of Engineers). Aarhus University is represented by speakers from three of the main academic areas.
Kind regards
The Senior Management Group
19 September 2011
The Senior Management Group publishes a newsletter every week. This newsletter includes a brief description of current activities and discussions. You can sign up for the Danish version of the newsletter at http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve, after which you will receive an e-mail whenever the newsletter is issued.
If you would like to subscribe to the English version of News from the Senior Management Group, please go to http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve/index.asp?sprog=en. The English version of News from the Senior Management Group is available at http://www.au.dk/en/about/uni/seniormanagement/newsletter/. You can read previous editions of News from the Senior Management Group at http://www.au.dk/en/about/uni/seniormanagement/newsletter/2011.