News from the senior management team no. 14/2018

General meeting on 2 May about AU’s campus development

Today on 2 May the senior management team presented the plans for the physical development of the university. You can view the stream at au.dk/om/nycampus/ (in Danish)


Day of festivities with ice-cold marshmallows

About 900 children, adolescents and adults dropped into Stakladen on 26 April, when Aarhus University held its Festival of Research. No fewer than 40 speed lectures and lots of spectacular stands offering hands-on experiments attracted attendees of all ages, and lots of spontaneous and enthusiastic feedback was provided by the visitors. Upper secondary students in particular were especially well represented this year.


Pro-rector: After the Bachelor’s degree comes the Master’s degree

Pro-rector Berit Eika will be discussing the future of Bachelor’s degree programmes as part of a debate panel in the newspaper Altinget. In her contribution of 23 April, she states that universities, in consultation with employers, are in the best position to ensure that the right range of Bachelor’s degree programmes is offered, and that solutions should not be dictated centrally. She does not believe that broad admissions to Bachelor’s degree programmes will resolve challenges regarding transparency, and she points out that the university is already adapting and strengthening the profiles and content of its degree programmes. In the case of the Bachelor’s degree programme portfolio, the university’s most important task according to Berit Eika is to ensure that relevant programmes are offered that point towards a Master’s market.


DKK 120 million from the Lundbeck Foundation for research into mental disorders

The iPSYCH research project has received a third grant of DKK 120 million from the Lundbeck Foundation. The grant means the project remains the largest in the world within the field of psychiatric research.


Internationalisation improves health research and education

In an editorial in Science Report on 30 April, the dean and vice-dean for education at Health emphasise the need for international semesters for medical students. Not to attract privileged students who feel like travelling, but because state-of-the-art medical knowledge is developed through international relationships.  


Rector: My time was nothing to brag about – but the great atmosphere certainly was

The final registration deadline for this year's DHL relay race is 4 May. You can decide for yourself whether you want to walk, run or sprint the 5km when Aarhus University lines up once again for this year’s late summer traditional event held in Aarhus, Odense and Copenhagen. 

In any case, Brian Bech Nielsen, who himself has participated in the race, reckons the great AU companionship is a big attraction.

“My time was nothing to brag about – but the great atmosphere among the members of the AU team certainly was. The DHL is a good opportunity to spend time with your closest colleagues and meet colleagues from other parts of the university. I hope that many of you will take this opportunity to participate in some friendly competition and socialising in an informal setting,” says the rector’s invitation. 


Collective agreement negotiations 2018: Settlement on collective agreements in place

All of the public sector collective agreement negotiations mediated by the conciliation board concluded with a settlement at the weekend. This applies to all state sector employees covered by collective agreements, and hence to all of AU’s staff who are employed under collective agreements. A major labour dispute has been averted, as a settlement has also been reached for the regional and municipal public sector labour market. After union members have voted to ratify the new collective agreements, the precise content of the collective agreements will be made public to both employers and employees. Of course, this assumes that employees will vote Yes to the results of the collective agreement negotiations.

The AU information page on possible consequences of a major conflict for employees is closed. 


Calendar

The senior management team publishes a weekly newsletter Here, we provide information about decisions and initiatives from the senior management team, as well as current activities and discussions. You can register for the newsletter at http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve, and you will then receive an email every time the newsletter is published.

You will find previous newsletters from the senior management team at http://www.au.dk/om/uni/universitetsledelsen/nyhedsbrevuniled/2017.

If you would like to register for the English version of the news from the senior management team, you can do so at http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve/index.asp