On Wednesday, the Danish government's degree programme resizing plan was adopted after a long and rather tortuous process.
The result is that 440 Bachelor places will be cut at Arts, even though the number of admissions of Bachelor's degree students has been largely stable since 2007. Business and Social Sciences will lose 172 places, while Science and Technology will be trimmed by 38 Bachelor places. All in all, 650 Bachelor's degree places will be lost over a four-year phase-in period for Bachelor's degree admissions and the following four years for Master's degree admissions.
The change stems from a strong political desire to significantly trim admissions based on the current unemployment figures. Admissions to the humanities degree programmes will be hit particularly hard, and this will have financial implications at Arts. The senior management team has therefore also decided that the degree programme resizing process is a challenge for the entire university and not just for Arts.
One of the major challenges for AU is the large intake of professional Bachelor's degree students, particularly at the Department of Education. However, the minister has shown a certain amount of understanding for this particular pattern of admissions.
Aarhus University Hospital has been named the best hospital in Denmark by the Danish healthcare newspaper Dagens Medicin. The quality of the treatment and examinations carried out at the hospital is one of the main reasons for the announcement.
This is the seventh consecutive year that Aarhus University Hospital has been named the best large hospital in Denmark.
The deadline is 6 January for synopses containing proposals for new research infrastructure projects. In the synopses, researchers at Aarhus University can say which research facilities they believe should be established, modernised or expanded in Denmark. Based on the synopses, the Committee for Research and External Cooperation will then decide which projects AU will submit to the national roadmap process.
The relevant academic environments will then have until April to work with the project proposals, including obtaining support and cooperation with environments at other Danish universities.
On Friday 5 December, an information meeting and workshops were held at Aarhus University in connection with updating the national roadmap for research infrastructure. Representatives from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (FI) attended the meeting to give an account of the process and the terms and conditions for projects. About 20 projects are expected for the final national roadmap. The requirements include 50% co-financing from the universities, and the projects must be of national interest. No funding is granted to projects that are only of interest to a single university. The university rectors must submit proposals to FI by 30 April 2015 at the latest. If you have any questions about the process, please contact the vice-dean for research at your faculty.
In parallel with the national process, considerable efforts are being invested in updating the European roadmap under the auspices of the European Strategy Forum of Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). If you have anything to contribute to this process, please contact your vice-dean for research. The deadline for submitting proposals to FI is 28 February.
Up to 12 AIAS-COFUND Marie Curie Fellowships are available at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS), and AU researchers are encouraged to involve their international networks.
Applications can now be submitted for AIAS-COFUND fellowships by talented junior and senior researchers from all over the world who have at least two years of research experience after gaining their PhD. Applicants are free to choose their research projects from any academic discipline.
So this announcement includes both incoming mobility and reintegration. The fellowship programme is co-financed by Aarhus University and the EU's 7th framework programme.
The application deadline is 11 February 2015 at 12:00.
Videnskab.dk has now announced the Danish Research Result 2014. Two AU researchers won second and third places, and receive 'highly commended' awards.
The two researchers are:
The Danish Research Result of the Year Award goes to cancer researchers from Odense University Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark who have developed a new method for detecting breast cancer (link in Danish only)
The awards were presented by the Minister for Higher Education and Science, Sofie Carsten Nielsen, at an official ceremony yesterday.
The Main Liaison Committee (HSU) has launched an evaluation of the liaison committee structure at AU. Among other things, the evaluation will examine how well the liaison committees at different levels (HSU, FSU/ASU, LSU etc.) work together.
The evaluation is being performed under the auspices of the liaison committees at all levels of the organisation. The liaison committees are responsible for inviting other AU forums, such as the occupational health and safety committees, the academic councils and departmental forums, to participate in the evaluation. In addition, all employees are welcome to contribute their views on the way the university's liaison committees are organised.
A committee chaired by department head Erik Østergaard has been appointed to take charge of the evaluation.
It is with great sadness that the senior management team has learned of the recent death of the anthropologist and former ambassador Birgit Storgaard Madsen.
In 1969, Birgit Storgaard Madsen was the first person to be awarded a Master's degree in anthropology from Aarhus University. She was also the first anthropologist to be made an ambassador, and represented Denmark in Ghana, India and Tanzania.
In recognition of her services, Birgit Storgaard Madsen was made a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog, 1st Class.
Birgit Storgaard Madsen was named Distinguished Alumnus at Aarhus University in 2012.
Kind regards
Senior Management Team
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.