COLUMN: Another kind of warmth
Opinion
Arriving in Denmark during winter is challenging, especially coming from the warm and sunny Costa Rican pura vida way of living. Sofia Pereira, an exchange student at Aarhus University, first wondered how Danes manage to thrive in such a cold environment, but then she found a great way to keep warm: hygge.
Reply: Essential to discuss IT and work environment
Opinion
Olav W. Bertelsen raises an important issue in his opinion piece about how IT systems affect our work lives. This is what University Director Kristian Thorn writes in his reply, where he welcomes the desire to discuss AU's systems.
OPINION: Aarhus University should investigate how IndFak, MitHR, RejsUd, and all the other IT systems affect the work environment
Opinion
IT systems pose a genuine challenge to the work environment. Despite this, they are absent from the workplace assessment (WPA) conducted by the university every three years. AU should investigate how the systems affect staff well-being and the work environment, argues Olav W. Bertelsen, associate professor at the Department of Computer Science and joint union representative for academics at Natural Sciences.
COLUMN: It’s more important than ever to stand firm on our values
Opinion
Gender equity, diversity and inclusion are the foundation of an inclusive workplace. These are values that are more important than ever to uphold and put into action, writes Dean of Health Anne-Mette Hvas.
COLUMN: Measured by merit – how do we measure and acknowledge knowledge exchange?
Opinion
A modern university is more than just research and education. Knowledge exchange with the surrounding society plays an increasingly important role – but how can we measure and acknowledge knowledge exchange in a meaningful way without it becoming a time-consuming burden or constraint, asks Tore Rye Andersen, associate professor of comparative literature and academic staff representative on the Aarhus University board.
COLUMN: There is one year left of AU's first climate strategy – where do we stand?
Opinion
In one year, AU must have reduced the university's total CO2 emissions by 35 percent compared to 2018. In his column, university director Kristian Thorn states: AU is on the right track in reducing its carbon footprint. We’ll have to be on our toes to achieve our 2025 goal, but there is reason for optimism, the director writes.
OPINION: Research leadership: Danish universities and senior researchers can do better!
Opinion
Danish universities should be bolder in promoting research output, and leading researchers (especially professors and senior scientists) should seek international recognition more actively, writes Aliakbar Kamari, associate professor at the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at Aarhus University, based on his experience working within Danish academia for almost a decade.
OPINION: It's time for a clear path to full professorship at Danish universities
Opinion
As a 15-year veteran of the U.S. academic system, having gone through the full trajectory from assistant to associate to full professor at Purdue University and the University of Maryland, I was taken aback upon discovering the promotion structure at Danish universities when I joined Aarhus University last summer. At AU, and indeed across all of Denmark, there's a glaring gap in our academic career trajectory: the lack of a clear path from associate to full professor, writes professor of Computer Science Niklas Elmqvist.
COLUMN: "We shouldn’t be afraid of confrontation, but we shouldn’t be insensitive either"
Opinion
Now we know how enrolment caps will be distributed across the faculties, but there are still many unanswered questions regarding how sector resizing will affect the university. Being in a workplace characterised by uncertainty and change can be challenging. Everyone reacts differently. And our work environment needs to accommodate our different approaches, writes the dean of Arts, Maja Horst, in her management column.
COLUMN: Rector: "We’re facing tough decisions"
Opinion
Like all universities in Denmark, Aarhus University will have to educate fewer young people from 2025. This is a result of the political agreement behind the Master’s reform. AU must reduce its admissions by 545 student places, and 200 of its existing places must be converted to new ones. The senior management team has just decided how the reductions will be distributed across the faculties. Now the faculties have to decide how they will implement these enrolment caps at degree programme level. This is neither an easy nor an enviable task, writes Brian Bech Nielsen in this month’s column by the senior management team.
