News from the senior management no. 19/2018

Denmark's Political Festival 2018: Aurora docks again with full programme

Aarhus University will be attending Denmark's Political Festival in Bornholm on 14-17 June with a view to reinforcing the debate on the role of universities in society and presenting some of the latest research to citizens, politicians, business and industry and other partners.

Aarhus University will be inviting people from the quay in Allinge to join it for an intensive three-day programme. The future of drinking water, cannabis for medicinal use, future skills requirements and the importance of universities to cohesion in Denmark are just some of the subjects that the faculties will be bringing up for discussion.

A total of 20 debates will be held at Aurora over the three days, and on Sunday the university will be rounding off the festival with a free guided tour of the research ship. Some of the events have been organised in partnership with others, such as the Danish University Extension, the City of Aarhus, Universities Denmark, the Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy (DFiR) and Independent Research Fund Denmark. The research ship is not the only thing to be representing Aarhus University – many researchers will also be participating in external debates.

Aurora is laying down the framework for Denmark's Political Festival in connection with a research expedition taking place in the Baltic Sea in June.


Folketinget adopts new rules on sideline employment for researchers

Folketinget has adopted new, more flexible rules on sideline employment and voluntary work for foreign workers. The senior management team welcomes the changes to the Danish Aliens Act.

The new rules came into force on 10 June 2018, making it possible for foreigners with residence and work permits who are working as researchers, visiting scholars or PhD students in Denmark to take sideline employment without applying to SIRI (the Agency for International Recruitment and Integration) beforehand. That said, visiting PhD students still have to submit applications. The new rules also mean that foreigners have the right to carry out unpaid voluntary work alongside their main employment and any sideline employment.

Only foreigners who have work and residence permits as researchers or guest researchers (under the researcher taxation scheme) or PhD students (under the PhD scheme) are affected by the new rules.

The rules only apply to non-EU/EEA citizens. EU/EEA citizens do not need to have a work and residence permit and, thus, are not included in the new rules.      


AU falls in new QS ranking

Aarhus University has been ranked at number 141 in the international QS World University Ranking – dropping 22 places lower than last year. 


Employees concerned about putting building maintenance tasks out to competitive tender

At its last meeting held on 7 June, the Main Liaison Committee discussed matters such as the senior management team's draft strategy with regard to putting buildling maintenance tasks out to competitive tender. At the same meeting, the Main Liaison Committee reported on the status of efforts to persuade more women at Aarhus University to pursue careers in research.


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.

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