News from the Rector's office no. 31/2010
IT problems at Aarhus University
Numerous university employees have experienced problems with IT infrastructure this week. Both mail programmes and CMS systems have been affected. AU IT technicians have been working night and day, and most systems are now operational again. Fortunately, no data have been lost.
The combination of a cooling system failure in AU IT's server room and a defect in the alarm which should have alerted technicians to the rising temperature caused the breakdown.
To avoid similar episodes in the future, IT infrastructure is being reorganised to improve emergency response measures and ensure more stable operations in the event of serious systems errors.
Aarhus University no. 84 in QS rankings
Once again, Aarhus University is ranked in the top 100 on the QS ranking of the world's leading universities.
The QS World University Rankings were published by The Times Higher Education until last year. After criticism of the weight accorded subjective statements on university reputations in the QS rankings, The Times Higher Education elected to begin publishing its own rankings, which will be announced in mid-September.
- Read the press release (in Danish only)
Pro-Rector Frandsen awarded prizes at student sports day
Pro-Rector Søren E. Frandsen and Mayor of Aarhus Nicolai Wammen awarded prizes to the winning teams in this year's student sports day, which is traditionally held in the University Park on the Aarhus campus on the occasion of the Aarhus University annual celebration.
Students compete intensely in established sports such as football and volleyball, as well as more exotic disciplines such as the 'frog cake toss'.
Denmark's largest Friday bar takes place in the University Park on the same day and evening.
Successful Student Fair
The record number of new students enrolled at Aarhus University was reflected in the number of visitors to this year's Student Fair. The greatest number of students ever - about 8,000 - paid a visit to the Main Hall over the three days of the fair. The fair gave students an opportunity to meet representative from unions, banks, travel bureaus, and many other relevant organisations and businesses.
Seventy-five organisations and businesses were represented at the fair. And thanks to the excellent attendance figures, eighty per cent of the stands for next year have already been booked.
Aarhus University at World Climate Solutions
Aarhus University will participate as a partner at the World Climate Solutions Conference at Bella Center in Copenhagen on 29 and 30 September.
The event, which focusses on solutions to the world's energy and climate problems, is a combined conference, exhibition and networking arena for business decision makers, politicians, researchers, experts, investors and journalists.
Topics include green building, smart grids, energy and transportation, and Aarhus University will host a stand along with Aalborg University, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen and the University of Southern Denmark. The conference will also feature 'the Green Gap Roundtables', round table discussions at which researcher and business leaders will debate topics such as biomass, bioenergy and intelligent energy systems.
Calendar
- 13 September: University management meeting
- 15 September: Staff meeting on the academic development process at TEO
- 15 September: Staff meeting on the academic development process at HUM
- 16 September: Staff meeting on the academic development process at SUN
- 16 September: Staff meeting on the academic development process at ASB
- 20 September: University Board meeting
- 22 September: EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Androulla Vassiolliou to visit DPU
- 23 September: Staff meeting on the academic development process at DPU
- 23 September: Staff meeting on the academic development process at DMU
- 30 September: Staff meeting on the academic development process at DJF
Kind regards
The Rector’s Office
September 2010
The Rector’s Office 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 Rector’s Office, please go to http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve/index.asp?sprog=en. The English version of News from the Rector’s Office is available at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/rectorate/newsletter. You can read previous editions of News from the Rector’s Office at http://www.au.dk/en/about/uni/rektorat/newsletter/2010/.