Prizewinners at the EliteForsk conference held at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen included two top researchers and five PhD students from Aarhus University.
The two professors Rubina Raja, Department of Culture and Society, and Lars Birkedal, Department of Computer Science, both received the distinguished Elite Researcher Prize, which was presented by HRH Crown Princess Mary. The prize includes a cash award of DKK 1.2 million.
The prizewinners also counted five AU research talents, who each received an Elite Researcher travel grant of DKK 200,000.
Last week, Svend Hylleberg, dean of Aarhus BSS, announced that he is resigning from his job as dean and returning to research and teaching on 30 June this year. Hylleberg’s career in management has spanned over two decades and has included positions such as director of studies, degree programme council chair, head of section, department head and dean.
The job advertisement for the position of dean of Aarhus BSS is currently being written.
Vice-dean and chief adviser to step down on 30 June
The vice-dean for research and talent development at Aarhus BSS, Per Baltzer Overgaard, has decided to step down on 30 June to take up a professorship at the new Department of Economics, Logistics and Finance. Baltzer has been vice-dean and head of the graduate school since 2011, before which he was department head at the Department of Economics and Business.
The chief adviser at Aarhus BSS, Per Henriksen, has announced that he will be retiring at the end of June. Per Henriksen earned his Master of Laws degree in 1982, and has worked at Aarhus University since 1983.
The position of dean of Arts has been advertised, and the application deadline is 29 March 2015.
The job advertisement was written based on input from representatives of the academic staff, the technical and administrative staff and students at the Faculty of Arts.
An appointment committee will be established once the deadline for applications has expired, and the new dean is expected to start on 1 July 2015.
Johnny Laursen has served as acting dean of Arts since 1 July 2014.
Fewer AU students are dropping out during their first year of Bachelor studies, according to figures from Universities Denmark's statistics service which have just been published. The total drop-out rate for first-year students has fallen from 16.2% to 13.5%, which is the lowest among all Danish universities in 2014.
The new figures from Universities Denmark cover education and enrolment and include data on admissions, completion rates and internationalisation. The statistics on other areas (which include staff and finances) are usually published in June.
Four rule changes at government level could lead to better conditions for internationalising the degree programmes, wrote Pro-rector for Education Berit Eika and Deputy Director for Education Kristian Thorn in last Thursday's feature article in Jyllands-Posten.
Specifically, the feature article examines the study progress reform and the rules for degree programme resizing, supplementary programmes and cooperation agreements. According to the two authors, more flexible rules in these areas would make it easier to attract foreign talent, as well as more attractive for Danish students to study abroad.
Last week, the computer giant Apple and the Municipality of Viborg entered into an agreement to establish one of the world's biggest data centres in Foulum – close to Aarhus University's research centre in Foulum.
The data centre will service Apple's customers across Europe, and is expected to run on 100% renewable energy.
No specific cooperation agreement has yet been made between Apple and Aarhus University, but Niels Christian Nielsen, dean of Science and Technology, sees excellent opportunities for collaboration within such areas as green energy and computer science.
The establishment of the data centre is expected to cost DKK 6.3 billion, and construction will start in 2016.
Kind regards The 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.