Last week, Aarhus University hosted the MatchPoints Seminar 2015, which brought together researchers, diplomats and politicians from all over the world to discuss the globalised Arctic. More than 300 people attended the conference. Presentations and discussions addressed geopolitics, climate and the environment from a Nordic and international perspective. Both Kristian Jensen, Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Esben Lunde Larsen, Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science, spoke at the event.
The conference was organised by Aarhus University in cooperation with the City of Aarhus. It was supported by various partners including the Danish Parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the Danish Ministry of Defence, the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science and the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Students’ teaching evaluations can make a very positive difference to the quality of the university’s degree programmes. However, this does not happen automatically, and there are several dilemmas associated with the evaluation work.
Therefore, Aarhus University is inviting staff and students to an after-work meeting in collaboration with the Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA). At the meeting, EVA will present the results of its latest report on evaluation, while Associate Professor Lone Koefoed will talk about the specific initiatives being launched to make the most of the input from students. Pro-rector Berit Eika will round off the event by accounting for the role of the evaluations in Aarhus University’s quality work in general. This will be followed by a panel debate and a chance for the attendees to talk about their experiences and ask questions.
Aarhus University is currently developing a joint technical evaluation platform which will both accomodate the wishes of the academic environments and meet the growing requirements made externally in respect of the university’s documentation of its evaluation efforts.
The meeting will take place on 9 December at 14.30.
Early last week, Pro-rector Berit Eika had an article published on Altinget, a news website about Danish politics, in connection with a panel discussion about education. In the article, she suggests that relaxing the requirement that researchers must also teach will be a blow against research-based education, which is one of the hallmarks of the Danish universities. Berit Eika also highlights the fact that teaching is a central theme, both when employing academic staff and in their ongoing competency development.
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/2015.