News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office
No. 39, 19 November

The Danish Forest and Nature Agency admits mistake

In a statement from the Danish Forest and Nature Agency, officials now admit to having “borrowed” a bit too much of the National Environmental Research Institute’s (NERI) credibility in connection with a report on the state of the Danish forests submitted to the EU. Despite the fact that NERI had informed the Danish Forest and Nature Agency that the institute did not agree with the interpretation of the data presented by the Danish government in the context of EU’s effort to protect environmental diversity, the DFNA issued a press release claiming that NERI was behind the figures in the report. See the report here (in Danish only).

Aarhus University at COP15

Aarhus University will participate in a range of events during the COP15 summit in Copenhagen in December. A delegation from AU follow negotiations directly from Bella Center, the COP15 venue, together with representatives from the Technical University of Denmark, while other AU researchers and students will participate actively in COP15 events.

Senator Cristovam vam Buarque, the former education minister of Brazil, is a member of Brazil’s COP15 delegation. On 10 December Senator vam Buarque will guest Aarhus University, where he will lecture on his country's position on the COP15 agenda.

Read more about Aarhus University’s participation in COP15 activities at  www.klima.au.dk

Elections at Aarhus University

Aarhus University elections will be held on 23–26 November 2009. Students are eligible to participate in the elections to the AU Board, Academy Councils, PhD Committees and Boards of Studies. Academic staff are eligible to participate in the elections to the Boards of Studies, as well as to the Academic Councils at the Aarhus School of Business and the Danish School of Education. The Vice-Chancellor’s Office would like to encourage everyone to participate in the elections, which will take place via the Internet. Place your vote at www.au.dk/election on 23-26 November.

Staff Christmas event in the Lakeside Lecture Theatres

The annual staff Christmas event will be held on 18 December from 9 am to 11 am in the Lakeside Lecture Theatres on the Aarhus campus. The Vice-Chancellor will hold his traditional Christmas speech, which will review the highlights of 2009 and the budget for 2010. Members of the AU staff will comment on the speech in order to set the stage for subsequent debate. The Christmas speech will be transmitted online, which will give everyone an opportunity to follow the event and contribute their questions. After the speech and debate, ”gløgg” and ”æbleskiver” will be served. We hope that many faculty and staff members will take this opportunity to engage in the debate and wish each other happy holidays.

Calendar of Events

• 23-25 November: ”The November meetings”: The Vice-Chancellor’s Office holds budget negotiation meetings with the main academic areas
• 3 December: Publication of the international evaluation panel's report on the 2009 evaluation of the university sector
• 7 December: University management meeting
• 17 December: Board meeting
• 18 December, 9 am-11am: The Vice-Chancellor’s Christmas speech in the Lakeside Lecture Theatres

Kind regards
The Vice-Chancellor’s Office
19 November 2009

The Vice-Chancellor’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 Vice-Chancellor’s Office, please go to http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve/index.asp?sprog=en . The English version of News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office is available at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/rectorate/newsletter . You can read previous editions of News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/rectorate/newsletter/2009