No. 43, 17 December 2008

Rector’s Christmas speech on Thursday 18 December

The rector is holding his Christmas speech in the Lakeside Lecture Theatre in Aarhus at 15.00, and will be reporting from the Board meeting that concludes the same day at 14.00. The most important topics are the budget for 2009, the position of director of administration, and the new design. The agenda for the Board meeting is available (in Danish only) at www.au.dk/da/bestyrelse. The most important conclusions from the Board meeting will also be mentioned in the newsletter of 23 December.

The rectorate hopes that as many people as possible will find time to attend this Christmas event, which – in addition to the speech – consists of short presentations from three AU researchers with subsequent debate. At approximately 16.00, light refreshments will be served and there will be an opportunity to chat with colleagues and wish each other a happy, well-deserved Christmas holiday. You can follow the event in the Lecture Theatre on the university’s website, and it will also be transmitted to the main academic areas outside Aarhus.

Read the invitation to the Christmas event (in Danish only).

Postgraduate upper secondary school teacher training

The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) and AU’s consortium has just won the tender for training upper secondary school teachers. This means that from 2009 to 2013, SDU and AU – in collaboration with the Engineering College of Aarhus and Aalborg University – will provide continuing education for upper secondary school teachers of the upper secondary school leaving examination (stx), higher preparatory examination (hf), higher commercial examination (hhx) and higher technical examination (htx) in the areas of theoretical education and professional didactics. During the course of the next couple of months, negotiations regarding the final contract and the academic regulations will be completed with the Ministry of Education, which is responsible for the tender. Numerous members of the AU staff have been involved in the tender application and the preparatory work. The rectorate would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their tremendous effort, which has great strategic and academic significance for the university.

Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation’s Research Communication Prize 2009

This prize is awarded annually in conjunction with the Festival of Research, which falls on 23 April in 2009. Everyone can nominate a winner of the prize. Read more about the Research Communication Prize (in Danish only).

University’s evaluation launched

The Danish parliament decided in 2006 that the university reform from 2003 would be evaluated in 2009. The Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Helge Sander, has therefore now appointed the independent international panel of experts responsible for the evaluation. Read the media release from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (in Danish only).

Aarhus University gets a share of the UNIK funds

Aarhus University has just become an important part of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation’s elite venture UNIK (Investment Capital for University Research) of DKK 500 million.

A quarter of this sum has been allotted to Aarhus University and will be used for brain research under the headings: brain, culture and disease.

Physicists, music researchers, anthropologists and doctors will increase our understanding of the brain and boost the possibility of maintaining and regaining cerebral function and quality of life following serious disease. The Danish universities submitted 28 applications, which were studied by an independent panel of experts. The panel consists of 11 members, and the chairman is Professor Jarle Aarbakke, Rector of the University of Tromsø, Norway. In charge of the project is Professor Leif Østergaard, DrMedSc, Director of CFIN (Centre of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience).

Read the media release from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (in Danish only).

Kind regards
The Rectorate
17 December 2008

The rectorate publishes Rectorate News every Tuesday – apart from holidays and public holidays. 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 Rectorate News, please go to http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve/index.asp?sprog=en. The English version of Rectorate News is published every Wednesday and is available at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/rectorate/newsletter.

You can read previous editions of Rectorate News at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/rectorate/newsletter/2008.