Many students will welcome the decision announced on Thursday 13 November by the parties behind the University Act to introduce a transitional arrangement under which it will still be possible to take supplementary courses to qualify for a Master’s degree programme.
The arrangement comes to the rescue of students who were in the process of taking supplementary courses or who have based their choice of education on wanting to take certain supplementary courses. Now they can have these subjects taken into consideration when they seek admission to their Master’s degree programme. Doing away with supplementary courses was part of the 2013 study progress reform which was introduced at short notice. It meant that many of the students were put in a very unfortunate situation as, in the middle of their programme, they were prevented from following their intended academic track.
??The proposal takes effect retrospectively from 1 September 2014, and is valid for two years. From September 2016, the parties will follow through on their intentions to abolish the option of taking supplementary courses, which is very regrettable. Supplementary courses allow students to choose a Master’s degree programme which is not in direct continuation of their Bachelor's degree programme.
This flexibility should remain open so that students are not locked into a field of study from day one of their studies. The senior management team hopes that the parties to the agreement will work to find a permanent solution which retains flexibility in the educational system.
Last week, Science and Technology presented plans for the research environments in Flakkebjerg and the food research in Aarslev and Foulum.
It has finally been decided that Flakkebjerg will continue as an experimental station, and that the faculty will develop its activities in Flakkebjerg.
There is also news on the food research environments in Foulum and Aarslev. The plan is to bring together all the university's food research activities in new facilities at Agro Food Park in Skejby.
However, before the construction plans can be realised, they must be approved by the authorities and the Aarhus University Board. This is expected to take place next year.
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In future, a newly established programme group under "Education" will handle the work involved with institutional accreditation (IA) at AU.
In 2013, institutional accreditation replaced the accreditation of the individual degree programmes, and the new programme group must contribute to creating coherence across the faculties and strengthening AU's quality assurance work.
Aarhus University will be accredited in 2016.
It is now possible to register for an information meeting and workshops in connection with updating the national roadmap for research infrastructure.
The information meeting will be held in the AIAS auditorium, after which there are five academic workshops:
1. Humanities and Social Sciences
2. Environment, Climate and the Environment
3. Biotech, Health and Life Sciences
4. Physics & Universe and Materials & Nanotechnology
5. e-Science
To find out which workshop to attend, please refer to the existing roadmap for research infrastructure. The workshops will be held in English.
Everyone interested is encouraged to register to assist in planning with regard to refreshments and other practicalities. The deadline for registration is 1 December.
On 20-22 November, the biggest names in research, architecture, design and industry will come together to discuss how media architecture can shape the cities of the future. The occasion is the Media Architecture Biennale 2014.
Aarhus University is co-hosting the biennale with the Media Architecture Institute. The event includes a conference, an exhibition, an awards ceremony and a wide range of workshops.
Pro-rector Berit Eika will open the biennale together with the Mayor of Aarhus Jacob Bundsgaard, among others.
The Senior Management Team 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 Team, please go to http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve/index.asp?sprog=en. The English version of News from the Senior Management Team is available at http://www.au.dk/en/about/uni/seniormanagement/newsletter/. You can read previous editions of News from the Senior Management Team at
http://www.au.dk/en/about/uni/seniormanagement/newsletter/2014.