The last liaison committees are meeting this week to discuss the future budget cutbacks. It will then be possible to form an overview of how many lay-offs can be expected.
This means that, by the end of week 8, the senior management team will be able to announce the expected number of voluntary retirements, senior staff schemes and planned dismissals.
Last Thursday, Professor Daniel Otzen and Professor Jens-Christian Svenning were celebrated at Ny Carlsberg Glyptoteket for their role as elite researchers. Here, they each received an Elite Researcher Prize of DKK 1.2 million. Of this amount, DKK 1 million is earmarked for research activities while DKK 200,000 is a personal prize. Since 2007, five Elite Researcher prizes have been awarded each year.
At the same event, Crown Princess Mary and the new Minister for Higher Education and Science, Sofie Carsten Nielsen, presented the Elite Researcher travel grants totalling DKK 300,000.
Read more about the two winners of the Elite Researcher Prize:
See a list of this year's Elite Researcher winners (in Danish)
Aarhus University has received 14 applications for the new position of pro-rector for education. The application deadline was 3 February, and an appointment committee will now be appointed, chaired by the Rector.
An advisory group was appointed in connection with advertising the new position of pro-rector for education, comprising an academic staff representative from each of the four main academic areas, a representative from the technical and administrative staff, and a student representative. The members of the group were recommended by the chairman's assembly of the academic councils. The group's task is to advise the Rector on which candidates should be invited to attend an interview.
Then, the Rector's appointment committee meets to select which applicants to invite. The actual process of interviews and tests will take place over the next few months, and it is expected that the new pro-rector for education will be presented in May and start work in June.
The introduction of a joint digital exam system has moved one step closer.
Following a joint call for tenders by Aarhus University, Aalborg University, Copenhagen Business School, the University of Copenhagen and Roskilde University, a joint contract for the digitisation of exams has been signed with Arcanic A/S.
Under the contract, a joint solution will be developed to address some or all of the challenges facing the sector as a result of the digitisation strategy.
Frank Pedersen, Vice-Dean for Knowledge Exchange at the School of Business and Social Sciences, is retiring on 28 February after 35 years at Aarhus School of Business and Aarhus University.
Frank Pedersen graduated with an MSc in Economics and Management from Aarhus University and was employed at Aarhus School of Business in 1978 where, among other things, he has made a significant contribution to internationalisation while assuming charge of two summer school courses and the first full-time MBA programme.
Everyone is welcome to attend Frank Pedersen's leaving reception, which is being held on 28 February at 15.00 in building 2540 (R1) on Fuglesangs Allé.
On 30 January, Aarhus University and the university college UCC signed a partnership agreement to further strengthen the level of education and research collaboration between the two institutions.
As far as education is concerned, it means, for example, that efforts will be made to start strengthening the degree programme structures and collaborating on offering relevant continuing education to students with professional bachelor's degrees as well as teachers and social educators.
Within research, the plan is to continue the collaboration on PhD programmes, R&D projects with municipalities and schools as well as exchanges with visiting researchers.
The work to become an accredited institution will involve many employees at Aarhus University in the coming year. A new website provides an overview of the process, working groups and guidelines.
The work to have Aarhus University accredited was initiated after the Danish Accreditation Act (Akkrediteringsloven) was amended in 2013. With the new act, it is no longer the individual degree programmes but Aarhus University as a whole which must be accredited in future in order to set up new programmes and education offers.
Two weeks ago, Smart Aarhus celebrated its second birthday with the launch of an app which makes life easier for citizens by offering new digital solutions. The whole idea with Smart Aarhus is to digitise towns with a view to benefiting their citizens, and Aarhus University and Aarhus University researchers are greatly involved in the project.
Smart Aarhus is a partnership between research, public institutions and businesses, and functions as a lever for the strategic partnerships which will develop the digital towns of the future.
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.