UNDERSTAND THE UNIVERSITY ELECTIONS IN 2 MINUTES
This year, students and PhD students are eligible to vote in the university elections. But what are the elections about? Who can vote – and for whom? Get ready to cast your vote.
The 2025 University Elections
Who? This year, students and PhD students will vote.
What? Representatives are elected to the boards of studies, academic councils and PhD committees.
When? From 9:00 on 10 November until 16:00 on 13 November.
Where? The elections will take place online.
Why? To ensure you have a say in your education and university.
Every November, university elections are held at Aarhus University, but who gets to vote and what’s being voted on for varies from year to year. The university elections are among the most important elections you can participate in – they concern your education and your university. The election takes place over four days from Monday, 10 November at 9:00 to Thursday, 13 November at 16:00, and voting takes place online.
Who can vote?
This year, students and PhD students will be voting in the university elections.
WHAT ARE YOU VOTING ON?
As a student, you must cast two votes: You must choose who will represent you on the board of studies for your programme and on the academic council for the faculty to which your programme belongs.
As a PhD student, you can cast up to three votes: If you are enrolled and employed at AU, you must choose your representative on your local PhD committee and on the academic council of the faculty where you are employed.
What do the boards of studies and academic councils do?
The board of studies has a direct influence on your education. They adopt academic regulations, approve exam schedules, ensure that student evaluations are followed up on, and process applications for credit transfers and exemptions. Some boards of studies cover a single study programme, while others cover several similar programmes.
The Academic Councils ensure that employees and students are involved in discussions about academic matters at the university, such as strategy, financial issues and policies. There is an academic council at each faculty, and the chair is a representative of the employees. The academic councils can advise the university management and meet with the board once a year.
PhD committees are linked to the PhD schools and consist of both PhD students and academic employees. Among other things, the committee determines the range of courses offered and evaluates the supervision of PhD students.
If you are a non-employed PhD student with a master's degree, you must choose who will represent you on your local PhD committee, board of studies and academic council.
If you are a non-employed PhD student without a master's degree, you must choose who will represent you on your local PhD committee.
However, there may be exceptions to the above – some elections may be decided by an uncontested election or cancelled altogether if no candidates are running.
Who can I vote for?
The short answer is your fellow students. Several candidates have been nominated by the student unions Frit Forum Aarhus, the Student Council's degree programme councils (e.g., the Political Science Council, the Psychology Council, and the Medicine Students’ Council) and Conservative Students. In the election system, you can see a complete list of who you can vote for, depending on which programme you are enrolled in. Also, keep an eye out in your local canteen - associations often set up election booths where you can meet their candidates.
How can you vote?
The university elections take place online via AU's election system. You can vote until Thursday, 13 November at 16:00, and the results will be announced on Tuesday, 18 November.
Does It Even Matter?
For you, it may just be a few clicks with the mouse. But for your fellow students running for the various boards and councils, your vote really does make a difference. The more people who vote, the stronger the mandate they receive. And there is room for improvement here. Last year, the voter turnout reached 18.24% – but in this case, the students were voting for representatives to the university’s board. If you want to ensure that students speak up for you in councils and committees with a strong mandate, then use your vote.
Just something we’re pretending?
University elections at Aarhus University are conducted in accordance with the University Act and AU's by-laws. An election committee has been appointed at AU, chaired by Ole Terkelsen, Associate Professor of Law. As with general elections, list pacts and electoral pacts may be formed for the university elections, which is conducted as a proportional representation vote using the d'Hondt method - the same system used in municipal elections. The aim here is to achieve a reasonable distribution between the number of votes and the number of seats.
WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ELECTIONS?
You can read more about the election at AU's election page, where you can also log in to the election system during election week.
The campaign period begins on 26 October, so keep an eye out for election posters and your local canteen – your local candidates may be stopping by.
And now you don’t need to spend your time—or theirs—figuring out the technicalities of the election. You can go straight to what really matters: their views and key issues 😊
This text was machine translated and post-edited by Lisa Enevoldsen.