“We have the best students, and this is your party. And always will be. So hoist the flag, man the cannons and let the battle on the lake commence!”
These were the words as the rector, in full admiral’s regalia, and ‘Captain’ Bundsgaard (the mayor of Aarhus) threw themselves into giving the students’ Regatta the best possible kick-off in an absolutely packed University Park.
Today, the Regatta is one of the biggest student-run events in northern Europe, and sees different student associations competing for The Golden Bedpan trophy.
The Regatta brings together more than 20,000 students from across the city.
The annual nationwide Festival of Research started well for Aarhus University when Associate Professor Jacob Sherson was presented with this year’s Research Communication Award by HRH Crown Princess Mary at the festival’s grand opening in Copenhagen last Monday. Jacob Sherson is behind the development of a computer game that specifically contributes to research in quantum physics by actively involving citizens in his work. Søren Pind, the Minister for Higher Education and Science, mentioned, among other things that, by inviting people to participate in the actual experiment, Jacob Sherson is helping to bridge the gap between citizens and science.
Bridges were also being built between citizens and science at Aarhus University when more than 1,000 people dropped by Stakladen last Thursday, 27 April. Here, more than 30 researchers representing all four faculties helped to give the public a fascinating insight into the world of research.
Professor Susanne Bødker from the Department of Computer Science has received EUR 2-2.5 million from the European Research Council. ERC Advanced Grants are awarded to exceptional research group leaders who have already produced outstanding research results. Susanne Bødker is receiving the grant for her project Common Interactive Objects (CIO), which will strengthen her ground-breaking research into user interfaces for the complex human use of computers.
This autumn, AU is launching a number of initiatives that will strengthen the career paths of AU employees in assistant professor, postdoc and tenure track positions.
The initiatives include a career development programme, an interdisciplinary network as well as a new website with information targeted at this particular group. Together, the new initiatives will improve the opportunities open to young researchers to pursue a particular career path – either at the university or in a private or public organisation.
The specific initiatives have been selected on the basis of an internal survey that the Committee for Research and External Relations conducted among the heads of research, heads of department and postdocs in December 2016. The initiatives will be implemented in the autumn, and will be evaluated in 2018 with a view to their continued development.
In this month’s blog post, University Director Arnold Boon explains the circumstances surrounding AU’s budget surplus. According to Arnold Boon, the surplus can be ascribed to a number of one-off items. He also emphasises that the annual 2 per cent reductions in education subsidies will result in a decline in revenue. In other words, there is every reason for the administration to stick to the course that was set last summer.
The senior management team publishes a newsletter once a week. 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.
At http://www.au.dk/en/about/uni/seniormanagement/newsletter/2016/ it is possible to read previous newsletters from the senior management team.
If you would like to register for the English version of the newsletter from the senior management team, you can do so at http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve/index.asp?sprog&sprog=en