Greater integration of research into degree programmes, financial challenges and a desire for a higher degree of self-government are some of the themes which Rector Brian Bech Nielsen touched on in his New Year’s greetings to staff and students.
In the coming semester, Aarhus University is giving its alumni as well as current and retired employees the chance to attend one series of lectures at the Danish University Extension free of charge.
The offer has been available for several years, and always attracts a high level of interest. Registration for the spring semester opens on Wednesday 13 January at 10:00. There is a limited number of places which are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
To register:
· Go to the Danish University Extension website at fuau.dk (in Danish).
· Select the menu item “Specialaftaler” at the bottom of the page
· Enter the access code “AU16”
· Select a class, and complete the registration procedure
Aarhus University staff and the university’s partners are invited to a reception to mark Arnold Boon’s appointment as new university director at Aarhus University.
The reception is being held on 29 January at 8:30-10:00 in Stakladen at Fredrik Nielsens Vej 2, 8000 Aarhus C.
The registration deadline is 25 January.
On 7 January, the Danish Agency for Higher Education visited Aarhus University for the annual supervisory meeting. The agency’s management met with the senior management team. The meeting is part of the agency’s supervisory role vis-à-vis the educational institutions under the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.
The meeting was held in a constructive spirit, and the agency acknowledged and expressed satisfaction with the account of Aarhus University’s work over the past twelve months and the outlook for developments in the coming years. In contrast to previous meetings, the Danish Agency for Higher Education is not subsequently preparing a report on the institution.
The purpose of the supervisory meetings is to shed light on the challenges faced by the institutions and the opportunities open to them, including issues of particular relevance to current educational policy, which this year include regionalisation, the study progress reform and financial framework conditions. The agency is keen for the discussions at the meetings to address how the institutions work strategically and practically with challenges and opportunities.
The faculty management team at Aarhus BSS is now complete following the appointment of Professor Carsten Sørensen as head of the Department of Economics and Business Economics.
Carsten Sørensen comes from a position as professor in finance at Copenhagen Business School and takes up his new position at Aarhus University on 1 March.
In an editorial in the broadsheet Politiken on 30 December 2015, Dean Allan Flyvbjerg discusses the possibility of involving impartial international experts in assessing the optimum location of a new national centre for paediatric heart surgery.
Dean Allan Flyvbjerg also had an article published on Altinget, a news website about Danish politics, last Wednesday 6 January, in which he called for a more balanced discussion of the need to train more medical doctors. He also calls fora higher degree of involvement on the part of the medical industry in ‘rightsizing’ medical training programmes in Denmark, and for the implementation of progressive measures to retain medical doctors in rural areas.
The dean is a member of Altinget’s health panel, which is made up of representatives from different parts of the Danish public health service.