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The rector's annual report

The most important development in 2003 was the new University Act, which took effect on 1 July following prolonged debate. The University of Aarhus subsequently had to implement the act and make the best possible use of the new legal framework. The conclusion of deliberations among university management and in the Senate was that it would be best to implement the act as soon as possible with due respect for the election periods set out in the previous University Act. In autumn 2003, much work was therefore put into finishing a draft for new articles, appointing the six external members of the University Board, electing the five internal members and appointing heads of department in advance of the changeover date of 1 February 2004.

All in all, the university completed this exercise successfully. Many problems were solved before and immediately after New Year 2003. The University Board was formed, the Senate approved a draft for new articles in mid-January as its last task, and heads of department were appointed for the period until mid-2006. However, the university will not fully implement the new University Act until 2004 and 2005, when new players and new procedures will become a part of daily life at the university.

The University Act is a management reform involving a board with a majority of external members and managers employed at the university. Time will show what changes this new management structure will bring about, but the university's fundamental objective to provide high-quality research and education is not affected by the change in management structure. The change in the edu­cation system as such, which is also part of the new University Act, is probably more important. In addition to the structural changes in the education reform (the 3+2 model in all degree programmes) and the built-in flexi­bility (easier access to transfer of credits upon change of degree programme or department), it is particularly the act’s focus on quality assurance and student guidance that is worth noticing. We are not talking about new activ­ities at the university, but the act emphasises the importance of assessing and developing these areas.

The impact of the changes to the education system brought about by the new act will be particularly noticeable because of the change in the upper secondary education that took place in 2003. The many changes will complicate the enrolment of new students at the university in the coming years and pose special challenges to the future degree programmes for teachers in the upper secondary education system. These challenges can only be overcome through close cooperation between the universities and the educational institutions concerned. It is therefore extremely important to strengthen the cooperation with the upper secondary schools and the professional associations of upper secondary school principals and teachers about the process of change.

Some of the major changes to the long-term physical structure of the university are nearing completion. In that regard, the last two months of 2003 were particularly eventful. In November, the university took over the Aarhus Museum of Fine Arts in the Vennelystparken park, and the museum will now be rebuilt to house most of the university’s geological environment. The extension to the  IT City Katrinebjerg  was completed towards the end of the year with the result that Computer Science and Information and Media Studies can now be located side by side. The departments will continue to be divided between several buildings to accommodate the needs of researchers and students, but a significant regrouping will be possible in 2006, at which stage a planned IT Science Park will have been completed in the area.

Two large projects were completed in December 2003. The extension of the Nobel Park has finally been built, and at the turn of the year 2003-2004, the Department of Psychology was able to move into modern buildings next to the areas used for arts and social sciences. The most important change in the Nobel Park, however, was that a completely different educational institution - the School of Social Work - moved into the university environment at the same time. It will be interesting to see how these very different institutions will influence each other. Finally, the Biomedical Science Park at Skejby Sygehus was completed at the end of the year. The close cooperation between the university and the Aarhus Science Park makes us very positive about this new development in the innovative environment of East Jutland. This also fits in well with the university's increased focus on how to strengthen efforts aimed at innovation.

2003 was the final year in the university's four-year development contract with the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Development. It is not easy to sum up the results. Cynics would say that the results failed to match the resources spent over five years in an attempt to put the many different aspects of the agreement into words and reports. Optimists would say that working with the contract caused us to focus on and speed up certain deliberations and activities that would otherwise have been less advanced by now. The objective assessment is that the contract attracted more attention to a number of university activities, but that it did not change much in its own right.

The university now faces the task of preparing a new contract, which the University Board will enter into with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Development. In any case, one thing that is perfectly clear is that the new contract must focus to a greater extent on the level of the university than the first contract did. It must also be worded in such a way that it allows the maximum amount of freedom in research and innovation.

The University Act of 2003 stipulates that the universities have four tasks: research, education, dissemination of knowledge and exchange of knowledge. The latter two tasks are only new in theory because the university has worked with these aspects for many years. The researchers at the university have also contributed to public debate. However, in the years to come, we will no doubt see more activities in these areas - some are already in the pipeline. In conclusion, I would like to highlight two examples of the university's traditional, but also future core areas: research and education.

Researchers normally communicate by publishing reports, typically in magazines that target the academic environment. It is therefore a great pleasure to see that the number of research-related articles published in 2003 was higher then ever before and that research-related articles represent 75% of all published items as per the university’s annual report. That does not mean that we are perfect, but it is an impressive result.

In the area of education, I would like to mention that the Ministry of Science, Technology and Development authorised the university in principle to use the title graduate engineer (Master of Science) for future graduates from the Centre for Engineering Master’s degree programmes. It also appears that the Ministry of Science, Technology and Development will approve the actual engineering degree programmes (3+2 years) at the University of Aarhus, which would give students an additional and very relevant reason to study at the university. This would add some interesting perspectives to the university's collaboration with the business sector and the University College of Aarhus, which will no doubt be very productive. 

Looking east along Nordre Ringgade (the northern ring road). On the right of the picture are the old main building, the Lecture Theatre and the University Park. The first red buildings to the left, the former Orthopaedic Hospital, now house the Faculty of Theology. The flat-roofed buildings in the background are the Nobel Park, which houses modern languages and psychology.

The flags are all raised when ceremonies are held in the university's Lecture Theatre. The Tree of Knowledge, a relief by the Danish sculptor Olaf Stæhr-Nielsen, has been hanging above the main entrance since 1949. The individual faculties are represented by symbols hanging between the leaves.

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