News from the senior management team no. 22/2017
UNLEASH: Young talents pitch sustainable ideas at AU
On Sunday 20 August, AU hosts a first-ever event where bright talents from all over the world present their ideas for solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges.
The event is being organised by UNLEASH – a global non-profit organisation, which over the next two weeks is gathering 1,000 young talents from 130 different countries together to develop new solutions to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals in collaboration with, among others, large Danish companies, universities, foundations and the UN. The programme is on an unprecedented scale, with events taking place at different folk high schools all over Denmark. The initiative will culminate on 21 August with a large awards show at Concert Hall Aarhus.
Professor Flemming Besenbacher from Aarhus University is chairman of the board of UNLEASH.
On Sunday 20 August, a large event will be held at Aarhus University, where the best solutions will be pitched to a jury of international experts and investors. The event is free, but it is necessary to register.
Report: Universities strengthen knowledge-based university-business collaboration
Danish universities have been doing more to strengthen knowledge exchange with society over the past three years. This is the conclusion of a new report produced by the consultancy firm IRIS Group for the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.
The report is a follow-up to the ministry’s evaluation in 2014 of the universities’ business collaboration and technology transfer ‘Vidensamarbejde under lup’ (Knowledge collaboration under the magnifying glass), which presented a number of recommendations for increased business-university collaboration.
Common to all universities is an increased focus on knowledge exchange activities targeted at students, among other things through case competitions and the establishment of business incubators, as well as specific organisational changes that support more university-business collaboration. The report specifically emphasises the significant increase at AU in the number of research partnerships with the business community, which has exceeded expectations. In the most recent development contract, the target was a 21 per cent increase by the end of 2017 relative to 2013, but AU had already achieved a 36 per cent increase by the end of 2016.
- Read the full report (in Danish)
- Read the evaluation ‘Vidensamarbejde under lup’ (in Danish) from October 2014
THE article on AU’s Open Science project
AU’s new Open Science platform, which was launched at the beginning of July, has been reported in the Times Higher Education (THE) magazine in an article that focuses on open science and patented research. Interviewed by THE, Dean at Science and Technology Niels Christian Nielsen and Professor Kim Daasbjerg say that patenting research can be quite resource-intensive and is often bad business for the universities.
New rules on free Danish courses
On 1 July 2017, new rules were introduced on free Danish courses for adult internationals, an offer which international students and researchers at AU take advantage of. The new rules will apply to future course participants.
Calendar
- 15 August: Inauguration of Centre for Integrated Materials Research (iMAT)
- 20 August: UNLEASH event at AU
- 8 September: Education Day 2017 at VIA with Pro-rector Berit Eika
- 15 September: Annual Celebration
- 15 September: Denmark’s biggest Friday bar and Sports Day
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/2015. 