Invitations to apply for the final five vice-dean positions have been publicly announced. The application deadline is 17 March. Last week, AU introduced nine new vice-deans for research, education, knowledge exchange and talent development.
Two rounds of applications are being held because it was not possible to fully define the scope of all fourteen positions before the first round.
The senior management group and the Student Council met this week to discuss ways of keeping AU's students informed about and involved in the coming stages of the academic development process. At the meeting, the previous decision to hold a meeting on the process which will be open to all students was reaffirmed. At the meeting, the senior management group will have an opportunity to present the decisions which have been reached and provide information about coming stages of the process. A date for the meeting will be announced as soon as possible.
Last week, the opposition invited Minister of Science Charlotte Sahl-Madsen and Minister of Education Tina Nedergaard to a consultation on DPU's status after the academic development process. Both ministers expressed complete confidence in AU's ability to strengthen education research as called for in the globalisation agreement of 2010. At the consultation, Minister Sahl-Madsen reconfirmed her desire to grant the universities a higher degree of autonomy, and she looked forward to continued dialogue with AU on the development of educational research.
The academic development process is attracting increasing attention from other universities and academic institutions. Last week, representatives from Lund University and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) visited Aarhus to learn more about the history of the process, from the mergers of 2006/2007 to the academic reorganisation currently in progress, as well as its significance for AU and Danish universities in general. More general issues such as research, internationalisation and innovation were also discussed at the meetings.
Last week, the senior management group met with senior officials of the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Food. The academic development process was discussed with particular reference to the terms and conditions for the provision of research-based consultancy services by AU.
Next week, thousands of potential students will visit Aarhus University at the U-Days event on 3, 4 and 5 March. U-Days attracted almost 8,000 young people from all over the country last year, of whom almost half visited AU. There has been even more activity on the U-Days website this year, so at least as many visitors are expected to attend. U-Days gives students from all over Denmark an opportunity to visit Aarhus' 135 educational institutions and ask the questions they need answers to in order to choose a course of study.
AU will hold a 'degree programme fair' at the Lakeside Lecture Theatres on the last day of the U-Days event again this year. The fair showcases AU's 91 Bachelor's degree programmes.
Similar open house events will also be held in Herning and Emdrup on 2 and 9 April respectively.
The Confederation of Danish Industry is interested in hearing your ideas about how to ensure the highest possible quality of higher education in Denmark, and about how higher education should be financed. Experts on economics, international politics and education, business community stakeholders and interested students will express their perspectives and debate national and global challenges and examples. Afterwards, there will be a political debate aimed at finding solutions for financing the university academic programmes Denmark wants and needs.
On Friday 4 March, the first recipient of the Brain Prize will be announced. The EUR 1 million Brain Prize is Denmark's first major international brain research award. The prize is awarded by the non-profit foundation Fonden for Grete Lundbecks Europæiske Hjerneforskningspris.
The researcher who receives the prize is obligated to share his or her knowledge and experience with Danish brain research circles through lectures, symposiums and exchange programmes. The programme is to be carried out together with the universities in Aarhus, Copenhagen and Odensen, and the rectors of the three universities are members of the board of the foundation behind the prize.
The prize will be awarded on 2 May at 4 pm in the Black Diamond in Copenhagen.
Kind regards,
The Senior Management Group
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.