Some aspects of the Danish government’s new tax agreement are problematic for Danish research, according to Rector Brian Bech Nielsen.
Both work done in 2017 and plans for 2018 were in focus as Aarhus University's board of directors last week acknowledged the work of its staff in the field of education.
There has been a marked increase in satisfaction with companies' cooperation with Aarhus University. AU also comes second in terms of the number of cooperation agreements with companies, surpassed only by the Technical University of Denmark.
Aarhus University is now on target with a draft of the strategic framework contract that is intended to replace the current development contract. The draft will be submitted to the Ministry of Higher Education and Science on 28 February to provide a basis for the university's second negotiation meeting with the ministry on 14 March. The rector acknowledges a valuable internal consultation process.
From 2020, Aarhus BSS will be introducing a minimum admission requirement of 7 for all the degree programmes offered by the school. The objective is to strengthen students' study conditions, ensure high quality and reduce drop-out rates.
The Central Denmark Region has taken the initiative to implement an analysis of research strengths, offering major potential for business cooperation. The project also includes an analysis of business strengths in the region, and together these analyses will contribute to qualifying the upcoming regional growth and development strategy. The Central Denmark Region is planning close cooperation with Aarhus University during the analysis phase. The analysis will involve both data and qualitative interviews.
The Committee for Research and External Cooperation and the senior management team will be monitoring the analysis work carefully over the coming months. The final analysis is expected to be completed by May 2018.
Aarhus University employees can enter information for use in 2018 salary negotiations between 1 and 15 March.
Trolle Linderoth, deputy centre director, has been named as the new centre director of iNANO, AU's Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center. He takes up his new position on 1 February 2018.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – part of Horizon 2020 – has paid four million euros to fund a new European consortium. AU professor Kurt Gothelf at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) is heading the new European cooperation which aims to pave the way for the creation of DNA-based robots by training 15 PhD students.
At a meeting held on 22 February, AU's board of directors re-elected Professor Peter Løchte Jørgensen to the board of directors of the Aarhus University Research Foundation for a period of four years. Peter Løchte Jørgensen has been a member of AUFF's board of directors since 2010 and has been its vice-chair since May 2017.
The board of directors also appointed the overall board of directors for Sandbjerg Estate for the next three years. Professor Birgit Schiøtt, head of the Department of Chemistry, will be joining the board as a new member, while Professor Jørgen Albæk from Aarhus BSS is resigning. The rector will continue as chair, and the other five members have been reappointed. These are university director Arnold Boon, vice-dean Niels Overgaard Lehmann, Arts, director Ole Steen Andersen, formerly of Danfoss, former consul-general Henrik Becker-Christensen, and rector Birthe Friis Mortensen, University College South Denmark.
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/2017.