OPINION: AU wants international talent – but is closing the door on them at Cognitive Science

This is an opinion piece, the views expressed in the column are those of the writer’s.

By Sabrina Zaki Hansen, Mikkel Krøjer Svendsen, Grete Liis Reimand, Zara Hrovat, Terézia Sabajová, Bryan Roemelt, Lydia Pauli Rambrand, Fabienne Michelle Baaser og Julianne Silke Swärd on behalf of the working group 'Keeping Cognitive Science International'.

We are students and alumni from Cognitive Science at Aarhus University. We oppose AU's decision to make the Bachelor's programme Danish-taught from 2027 and close it to international applicants. Cognitive Science has been international since the programme was established, and over the past ten years, lecturers and students have put considerable effort into building and developing the academic and social environment that defines it today. We want AU to reconsider a decision that would fundamentally change this without first involving the programme, the department, or its students.

AU must reduce the number of international study places to stay within the political cap. That explains why cuts have to be made. It does not explain why Cognitive Science should lose its international intake. AU's own justification is that the programme is academically strong and attracts enough qualified Danish applicants to fill its places. That is a narrow way of
assessing what is at stake. A degree programme is also shaped by who applies and teaches, the language in which the field is taught, and the academic environment that develops around it.

Difficult to understand

This is difficult to understand because AU recently moved in the opposite direction elsewhere at the university. In 2024, AU celebrated the approval of three new English-taught Bachelor's programmes in Computer Science, Data Science and IT Product Development, which opened in 2025 to attract more international students to Aarhus. Employers called for more international graduates, the City of Aarhus welcomed international IT talent, and AU pointed out that many international graduates stay in Denmark. Two years later, Cognitive Science is being converted to Danish to make room under the same cap.

How has the university leadership decided which parts of AU should continue to offer international Bachelor's programmes? If the plan goes ahead, Arts will have no English-taught Bachelor's programme from 2027, while Natural Sciences has just gained three. Internationalisation has long been part of Arts' direction. Why should the faculty now lose the ability to admit international Bachelor's students?

250 have signed petition opposing the decision

The response from those who know the programme shows what is at stake. 252 students, PhD students and staff have signed the petition opposing the decision. More than four in ten are international students or alumni, many of whom describe Cognitive Science as the reason they came to Denmark. They choose Denmark, become part of academic and professional communities, and often stay to work and conduct research. Danish students and alumni describe the value of studying alongside them: experience working across cultures, professional confidence in English, and better preparation for international companies and research environments. Cognitive Science already attracts international talent to Denmark and connects it to the Danish labour market.

Re-open the decision and involve the programme

This echoes AU's own case for more international study places. Pro-rector Berit Eika has warned that the current cap affects Aarhus and Western Denmark disproportionately (in Danish), and AU has pointed to both shortages of highly skilled labour and the economic contribution of international graduates who remain in Denmark. Cognitive Science already does this.

We therefore ask the university leadership to reopen the decision, involve the programme, and examine alternatives: a smaller international intake, parallel Danish and English tracks, or a different distribution of the reductions across AU. The leadership should also explain why Arts should be left without an English-taught Bachelor's programme while new ones have just opened elsewhere at the university. We also urge the politicians behind the cap on international study places to reconsider it, and AU's management to push for political change while taking responsibility for how the reductions are distributed internally.

AU says that Aarhus and Western Denmark need international talent. At Cognitive Science, they are already here.