News from the senior management team no. 25/2017

Finance Bill 2018: No growth for education and research

Last Thursday, the Danish government presented its proposal for the Finance Act 2018 under the heading ‘A safe and cohesive Denmark’.

It is positive that the government intends to increase public research spending by DKK 377 million compared to 2017, and thereby maintain its objective of investing 1 per cent of GDP in research.  However, given the cuts in 2016 of DKK 1.4 billion, the funding which has been allocated falls considerably short of what was previously available.

• Read the comments in full on the government’s proposal for the Finance Act 2018 (in Danish)

To all new students: Live student life to the full

Take an active part in student life – and be curious, ambitious and inquisitive. This is the call from Rector Brian Bech Nielsen to the 7,000 new students who are starting a new life as students at Aarhus University. 

Pro-rector Berit Eika has also welcomed the new students in an article in Delfinen, the Student Council’s independent magazine for students. In it, she encourages new students to grab the reins and assume responsibility for their education through commitment, independence, hard work and contributing to the sense of community.

• See the rector’s welcome 
• Read the pro-rector’s op-ed in Delfinen (in Danish)

Status on competitive funding of public sector consultancy

ST’s public-sector consultancy will be subject to competitive funding in the coming years. The preparation work is in full swing.

• Read more 

Pro-rector at entrepreneurship festival: It must be possible to combine studying and entrepreneurship

On Thursday 31 August, 110 of the city’s entrepreneurs spent the day working at Dokk1, where the Student Incubator in Aarhus and Dokk1 organised a large festival for entrepreneurs for the third year running.

Pro-rector Berit Eika dropped by and, in a brief interview, stressed that Aarhus University is very supportive of the entrepreneur environment. The university’s job is to create the right framework so that students with the skills and the desire to set up their own businesses can pursue both paths simultaneously.

• Watch the video (in Danish)

Food Festival 2017: Get a taste of AU

This year, you could again meet Aarhus University at Scandinavia’s biggest food festival – Food Festival – which took place at Tangkrogen on 1–3 September. Here, researchers from the Department of Food Science shared their knowledge about tomorrow’s foods at the department’s stand. Visitors even had the chance to participate in the research themselves, for example by tasting and judging some of the products the department is working on within the field of sensorics.

• Read more about the Department of Food Science’s activities (in Danish)

AIAS welcomes 23 new fellows

Soon it is changeover time at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS), which has just announced the names of 23 new fellows. The first 15 will start on 1 October, and the rest in February.

The new fellows are junior and senior researchers working at a high international level who have been selected on the basis of a comprehensive international peer-review process. At AIAS, they will be part of a group of 34 fellows, who come from many different research institutions worldwide, and who are conducting research within widely differing areas within health, the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. Of the 23 new fellows, six are from Aarhus University.

With an AIAS fellowship, the researchers have the opportunity to immerse themselves in their research for a longer period of time while simultaneously contributing to AU’s research environments through networking and cooperation.

• Read more and see the list of new fellows 

New and simpler workplace assessment in 2019

The senior management team has decided to test a new and simpler model for the workplace assessment (WPA) which takes place every three years, the next time in spring 2019. For the new WPA, employees will have to assess both the physical and the psychological workplaces at the same time.

In the near future, the framework for the survey and subsequent follow-up will be discussed in detail by AU’s WPA advisory group and at a joint meeting of the Main Occupational Health and Safety Committee (HAMU) and the Main Liaison Committee (HSU) on 9 November.

• Read more

Calendar

4-6 September: Student Fair 5 September: All-day meeting of Universities Denmark 8 September: Education Debate 2017 with the participation of the pro-rector 12–14 September: Sport Summit 2017 in Concert Hall Aarhus and at the Lakeside Lecture Theatres with the participation of the Minister for Culture Mette Bock, among others   14 September: Inspiration day on education  15 September: The Danish ambassador to Germany visits AU 15 September: Annual celebration 15 September: Denmark’s biggest Friday bar and Sports Day   20 September: Rector starts his round of visits to the various departments/schools/institutes 25 September: Opening of the Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research (SDC) in China

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.