The following bodies of external examiners may be used at Faculty of Natural Sciences or Faculty of Technical Sciences (Nat-Tech). 

(websites in Danish only) 

• Biology
• Bioinformatics - external examiners can be used from the following body: Biology
• Computer Science
• Data Science - external examiners can be used from the following body: Mathematics
• Physics
• Geology
• Engineering (CensorNet)
• Agricultural Sciences
• Chemistry
• Food Science (Molecular Nutrition and Food Technology)
• Mathematics
• Molecular Biology – external examiners can be used from the following body: Biology
• Molecular Medicine - external examiners can be used from the following body: Biology
• Nanoscience – external examiners can be used from the following bodies: Biology, Physics and Chemistry  

The Ministry of Higher Education and Science’s list of chairs of external examiners (in Danish only)

• Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriets kontaktliste over censorformænd 

In order to be an external examiner, you must be appointed in a body of external examiners. Appointments are made every four years, and the next round is in 2026.

If you are asked to be an external examiner outside the application period, you can apply for an ad hoc appointment. A substantiated recommendation is submitted to the relevant chair of the external examiners, who states why the need cannot be covered by the existing body of external examiners. Requirements regarding this statement can vary from body to body.

Please note that external examiners may not be appointed at the university that has a co-examination requirement – see below:

Executive Order no. 1062 of 30/06/2016 on examinations and co-examination of university degree programmes specifies in section 53:

Section 53. External examiners may not be employed or have been employed during the last two years at the university where they will work as an external examiner. Members of the university board may not work as external examiners at the university. An honorary professor or honorary associate professor may not work as an external examiner at the university where he or she is an honorary professor or honorary associate professor. It should be avoided as far as possible that examiners carry out external examiner tasks for each other (mutual co-examination).

Subsection 2. The work of external examiners is covered by the Danish Public Administration Act, including the regulations regarding disqualification and duty of confidentiality.

Subsection 3. On the recommendation of the chair of the external examiners, the Danish Agency for Higher Education can give dispensation from section 1, sentence 1, when exceptional circumstances exist.

The annual reports are prepared by the chair, and are available on the websites of the relevant bodies of external examiners.

After each examination period, the chair of the external examiners must receive a report of how the examinations progressed.

Science examinations:

This takes place when the external examiners after each examination fill in the questionnaire ‘External examiner’s assessment of the examination’, and record their evaluation/assessment of the examination. The link to the questionnaire can be found in the information about the exam in Digital Eksamen.

Nat-Tech Studies Administration collects all the reports and forwards them to the relevant chair of the external examiners.

MSc in Engineering or Bachelor of Engineering examinations:

At the MSc in Engineering or Bachelor of Engineering examinations, CensorNet is used for evaluation of the exam.

Important information to non-EU/EEA external examiners holding a residence- and work permit to work at a specific university, company etc. in Denmark

You cannot work as an external examiner before having obtained a permit for sideline employment for this specific job. If you work as an external examiner without holding a permit for  sideline employment for this position, it is considered as illegal work, and both you and the educational institution can be subject to a fine.

Note that you have to submit an application for a permit for sideline employment for every job as an external examiner. Applications are to be submitted to the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI). The processing time can be up to one month from the date SIRI receives a fully completed application, so you have to apply in due time. There is no fee for submitting the application for sideline employment. 

Please be aware that you need to contact the institution, where you are to work as an external examiner before submitting the application for sideline employment to SIRI, as the institution is part of the application process, so you need to contact them for further details.

Here at Nat-Tech, please contact:

Nat-Tech PhD Administration gradschool.scitech@au.dk

You can find more information on permit to sideline employment on New to Denmark https://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_to_dk/work/Sideline_employment.htm

When you take on tasks as an external examiner, you should be aware of the existence of a 125-hour rule.

As an external examiner, you may only carry out exam-related tasks amounting to a maximum of 125 hours per semester.

If you are an external examiner at a number of institutions in one semester, the total number of hours may not exceed 125 hours.

The rule is available (in Danish only) in the Circular on teaching paid by the hour and circular on external examiners’ remuneration – please pay particular attention to appendix 3, section 6. 

From now on, the chairmanships will interpret the regulation in the above circular as a 250-hour limit per year, as more exams are held in the summer semester than in the winter semester.

• Overview of the standards for external examiners as of 1 November 2022 

• Rates of remuneration can be found in "Medarbejder- og kompetencestyrelsens lønoversigter" (see section 8.2. The latest version can be found through this link)

You will receive your fee on the basis of the exams you have graded. Your fee will be paid automatically to your NemKonto* when you have given you grades in the system Digital Eksamen. 

Your payslip will be send to your e-boks. Under PAYMENT DATES you can see, when to expect your fee.

Please note: Payment of examiner’s remuneration and reimbursement of travelling expenses are unlikely to be at the same time, as the payments are not made by the same department.

*If you do not have a NemKonto please contact censor.nat-tech@au.dk to get information about thow to receive your fee.

Expected payment dates* for Exams that ARE run on the Digital Exams system:

Summer exams: End May, End July, End October

Winter exams: End November, End December, End February, End March

 * Expected payment dates after entering the result in DE by the first of the month.

NOTE. For exams are NOT held via DE, examiner’s remuneration will be paid on an ongoing basis after receipt of completed examiner packages from examiners.

For all exams, the examiner’s remuneration will be deposited in the examiner's NemKonto, and the payslip will be is sent to the examiner's e-Boks.

Note, payment of examiner’s remuneration and reimbursement of travelling expenses are unlikely to be at the same time, as the payments are not made by the same department.

Nat-Tech has implemented a digital examination (DE) system. If you are to co-examine one of the digital examinations, you will be notified by e-mail

DE is part of the public digitisation strategy, and the system will ensure the digital support of all working procedures concerning examinations from beginning to end.

Information for external examiners:

• Information for external examiners

Travel allowance

If there was any travel activity in connection with the co-examination, you will be reimbursed.

You must fill in a travel reimbursement form, which you will find on the individual exam in Digital Eksamen.

If you cannot find the form in Digital Eksamen, you must contact the responsible examination administrator.

If you lose receipts from your trip, you must fill in a solemn declaration. It is available under the item "Forms and Guidelines" on this page.

Aarhus University covers travel expenses corresponding to the cheapest standard fare by public transport.

Hourly and daily allowance rates 

If the exam lasts several days, or if the external examiner is unable to return home on the same day the exam is held, overnight accommodation may be necessary. In this case, an hourly or daily allowance can be paid if the following rules are complied with: 

• An hourly or daily allowance is only paid for official trips involving overnight accommodation, and only for trips that last a minimum of 24 hours.
• A daily allowance is paid for each complete 24-hour period the official trip lasts. For any hours exceeding the 24-hour period, an allowance is paid for each commenced hour. 
• An hourly or daily allowance can never be disbursed at the along with additional expences (actual expences). This means that expenses for taxis, buses, refreshments, etc. during your stay cannot be reimbursed together with the payment of hourly or daily allowance. Is is either or. However, expenses for transport between the external examiner's private address and the hotel/AU are refundable.

Additional expenses:

If the external examiner’s official trip lasts less than 24 hours or does not involve overnight accommodation, reasonable additional expenses can be reimbursed for meals, provided documentation is submitted. 

Undocumented night supplement:

If the external examiner chooses private accommodation an undocumented night supplement can be granted. This must be registered in the travel reimbursement form.

Employee parking 

Register your car in order to park on AU's parking spaces

Booking hotel accommodation

If you are unable to arrive at the examination or home on the same day the examination is held, expenses are covered for overnight accommodation.  It is important that you comply with the supply contracts and you should be aware that the hotel allowance has a maximum of DKK 1,000 per overnight stay valid from 1. January 2022.

Hotels with supply contracts in Aarhus:

CABINN Aarhus, Kannikegade 14, 8000 Aarhus C

• E-mail booking: aarhus@cabinn.com
• Phone booking: 86 75 70 00

Hotel Scandic Aarhus City, Østergade 10, 8000 Aarhus C

• E-mail booking: aarhuscity@scandichotels.com
• Phone booking: 89 31 81 00:

Hotel Scandic, The Mayor Hotel, Banegårdspladsen 14, 8000 Aarhus C

• E-mail booking: themayor@scandichotels.com
• Phone booking: 87 32 01 00 

Hotel Scandic, Aarhus Vest, Rytoften 3, 8210 Aarhus Vest

• E-mail booking: aarhus@scandichotels.com  
• Phone booking: 86 15 68 44

Wakeup Aarhus, M.P. Bruunsgade 27, 8000 Aarhus C

• E-mail booking: bruunsgade@wakeupaarhus.dk
• Phone booking: 44 80 00 00

Zleep Hotel Aarhus Viby, Viby Ringvej 4B, 8260 Aarhus S

• E-mail booking: aarhus@zleephotels.com 
• Phone booking: 70 23 56 35 

Hotels with supply contracts in Herning:

Best Western Plus Hotel Eyde, Torvet 1, 7400 Herning

• E-mail booking: info@eyde.dk
• Phone booking: 97 22 18 00

Hotel Scandic Regina, Fonnesbechsgade 20, 7400 Herning

• E-mail booking: herning@scandichotels.com
• Phone booking: 97 21 15 00

Examiner packages:

• Forms are in Digital Eksamen for the relevant exam under the tab "Show exam information".

Examiner packages for PhD exams:

• For forms for the qualifying examination or PhD defence - contact: gradschool.nat@au.dk

Guidelines: 

• Guidelines for completing specification and travel reimbursement forms 

Other forms: 

• Solemn declaration  Please press the download button (marked below) to fill out this form.

• Appointment form: you can find forms and information under the relevant body of external examiners.

External examiner’s obligation to make notes

Executive Order no. 1062 of 30/06/2016 on examinations and co-examination of university degree programmes specifies in section 23:

Section 23. During their deliberations, the external examiner and the examiner must take notes about the performance and grading assessment for use in processing any appeal. The notes must be stored for at least one year and, in addition, until any appeal case is closed. 

Complaints and board of appeals

As an external examiner, you can find that students complain about the examination or the grade, and your appointment as an external examiner means that you also have an obligation to take part in processing a complaint.

To find out the rate of remuneration for complaints and appeals work, please contact ST Studies Administration about the specific case.

Cheating and plagiarism

Cheating and plagiarism are a growing problem in connection with higher education programmes.

The chairs of the external examiners take this problem seriously and are working to determine common regulations at the universities to deal with cases of cheating and plagiarism.

Aarhus University has a website for cheating and plagiarism

See also stop plagiat nu!

Executive orders

• Executive Order on Examinations including regulations for co-examination (in Danish only)
• Executive Order on Grading Scales (in Danish only)
• Executive Order on Degree Programmes (in Danish only) 

Academic regulations

• You can search for relevant academic regulations here

Course descriptions

• You can search for relevant course descriptions here