Summer greetings from the dean

Dear staff members,

We are unlikely ever to forget the spring of 2020, and as the new dean of a new faculty looking for a sharp and strong profile, it has been rather strange to have to run things from a distance. Fortunately, we are now back at our workplace, and once again the labs and research are buzzing with activity. This is very pleasing. Unfortunately, we will have to wait a little longer before you students can return to the lecture theatres, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

We have had a flying start at Tech, and corona made very sure that everything we ‘usually’ do is turned upside down. You have been no less than amazing at finding solutions, to continue your work at a distance, with everything from home teaching from your basement or attic via Zoom to creative home workplaces in the children's room, at the kitchen table or from the couch. Thank you for all your hard work, despite the challenging conditions.

During the spring, we have been working intensively on the public sector area to draw up action plans for stricter implementation of the quality management system. We have done very well with the formal framework for the quality management system, and I would like to thank you for your hard work in providing top professional advice for the public sector.

A short while ago, we at the Dean's Office could also unveil our thoughts about the future organisation of the engineering area, which have resulted in the proposal just submitted for formal consultation. In addition to the consultation, it is important for me that the employees affected by the proposal have an opportunity to enter into dialogue and contribute with input and experience so that we can forge the best set-up possible. Therefore, we will also initiate a parallel staff-involvement process after the summer holidays.

The development of a clear strategy for our new faculty is high on the list of priorities at Tech, and a strategy process will be launched in the autumn in which we will work together to translate AU's overall strategy into practice and set a common direction for our new faculty and its departments. The establishment of a new faculty has given us a unique opportunity to establish a strong, shared identity so that we can stand strongly and clearly externally.

The faculty's departments and units are already very prominent in the minds of researchers, students and the surrounding society, and we must build on everything that we have already achieved when we create this strong, shared identity.

I believe it is vital that the Tech faculty at Aarhus University can be a key player in creating solutions for the green transition and in creating fertile ground for entrepreneurship and innovation. We must be forward-looking. We must not only look for solutions to problems in what we already have, but we must also be visionary and look for solutions in what we do not yet know.

I am really looking forward to getting started on the strategy process and, together with you, making Tech even stronger in the future.

With these words, I wish you all a wonderful summer!

Best regards,

Eskild Holm Nielsen
Dean, Faculty of Technical Sciences