News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office
No. 34, 2 October

Clear distinction between research and politics

At the time of writing, the media are portraying an image of the way NERI (National Environmental Research Institute) employees are under pressure from the Ministry of the Environment to make changes to an assessment of the state of the Danish woodlands in 2007. The case is based on the so-called habitat directive, according to which Denmark and the other member countries of the EU are obliged to make extra efforts to save threatened animal and plant species.

NERI has not changed the figures or research results in any way at all, but – in spite of an agreement to the contrary – is listed as the submitter of a report to the EU containing potentially controversial political priorities.

The university’s attitude is clear. There must be a clear distinction between research and politics – or else we will lose our credibility. Public sector consultancy must be exclusively based on research and data. Any political prioritisation and evaluation must take place exclusively within the ministries. The parties must understand each other’s assignments and respect them. We are perfectly capable of managing this at Aarhus University. Read more (in Danish only) at www.dmu.dk.

Subject to competition

Aarhus University is currently involved in constructive dialogue with the Ministry of the Environment regarding the code of conduct for public sector consultancy services subject to competition. In our opinion, the problem is that the Ministry of the Environment does not live up to the requirements previously agreed on between the universities and the ministries.

Subjecting services to competition is a ministerial invention, and the Vice-Chancellor’s Office does not believe that anything has been gained by putting out research-based public sector consultancy to tender. On the contrary, it appears to be a very resource-heavy task that has no synergy effects with the remaining specialist research in the environmental field. This serves no purpose for anyone.

Student Entrepreneurship Incubator a reality

On 28 September 2009, the Student Entrepreneurship Incubator at Aarhus University (StudenterVæksthus Århus) became a reality, thereby establishing a specific knowledge workshop bridging the gap between the knowledge institutions in Aarhus and the entrepreneur business community. The tools include computers, smartboards and interesting software, the mechanic is disguised as a coach or mentor from a company or organisation in the city, and the inhabitants are enterprising students with an ambition to transform their knowledge into entrepreneurial companies.

One of the most important prerequisites for this entrepreneurship to be a success is that we get interdisciplinary collaboration to flourish. The Student Entrepreneurship Incubator has therefore also been set up as a collaboration between the educational institutions in Aarhus.

The fact that the Student Entrepreneurship Incubator is now a reality is not least due to the Central Denmark Region, which showed vision when it entered into the project, well aware that the companies of the future are created by making the means available to carry out projects such as this. Read more (in Danish only) at www.studentervaeksthus.au.dk.

International Centre established

On 1 October, Aarhus University officially launched the International Centre (IC). The main task of the centre is to support the aims and objectives of the university’s Internationalisation Strategy 2009–2013 and to provide all nine main academic areas with non-academic services in the international area. The centre includes the former International Secretariat and is organised in four areas covering strategy and partnerships, student mobility, researcher mobility, and housing and logistics. Read more at http://www.au.dk/en/adm/internat.

Kind regards
The Vice-Chancellor’s Office
2 October 2009 

The Vice-Chancellor’s Office publishes News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office 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.
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You can read previous editions of News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/rectorate/newsletter/2009 .