Summer greetings from the Dean

Dear all,

The summer holidays are approaching for most of us. And they are well deserved. We have had another eventful and busy year, so it’s important that we take time to recharge and spend time with our loved ones.

Tech is still growing and we are a visible and competent partner both in Denmark and internationally.  The field of education is not exactly characterised by stability, but we have now – nonetheless – reached the point where the Master’s reform is to be implemented. In the are of science-based policy advice, the government has announced a possible competitive tendering in two of the contract areas, but we have strong competences and I know that a lot of efforts are going into ensuring that we will continue to solve tasks here.

This year, we will be celebrating our fifth anniversary as a faculty, but the qualifications gathered in the faculty have been built up over many decades.

• The Zealand section of the government research centre Danish Institute of Plant and Soil Science (Statens Planteavlsforsøg) relocated and became AU Flakkebjerg in 1997
• The National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark in Roskilde, Silkeborg and Kalø merged with AU in 2007
• Research Center Foulum (later AU Viborg) was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 1984 when the national research centres National Institute of Animal Science and Danish Institute of Plant and Soil Science (Statens Husdyrbrugs- og Planteavlsforsøg) was moved to Jutland. And merged with AU in 2007.
• Aarhus Polytechnic (teknikum) and the Engineering College of Aarhus housed engineering before the merger with AU in 2012.

I could also mention Food in Skejby, Research Centre Auning and the research station in Greenland.

We are a faculty with a wide range of strong disciplines and locations across Denmark – and that is one of our greatest strengths. We are held together by shared missions, a desire to collaborate and a commitment to deliver solutions to society through our consultancy, study programmes and research.

We also have a diverse workforce and we work proactively with inclusion. For Tech, diversity is not only about gender and age, but also about geography, academic scope and researchers and lecturers with an international background.

Tech is an international faculty, which is why we are feeling the geopolitical balance shifting in our everyday lives. We have many international research partnerships where the global situation can cause uncertainty about the future of research projects. We also have new guidelines to follow when hiring researchers and PhD students from so-called risk countries, and we must pay special attention to research that can be used for military purposes. Navigating this new complexity is difficult, so I encourage all of us to continue working towards being a great international workplace characterised by trust and mutual understanding of our different nationalities and viewpoints. 

A year ago, I was extremely excited about how we would get started with our new degree programmes at AU Viborg. It has been incredibly exciting to follow the work with this “Pioneer class” and see how teaching now goes hand in hand with research and consultancy to further develop AU Viborg.

That’s why it was also fun to watch the Royal Run on Whit Monday, when one of our students, Josephine Møller Sørensen from the veterinary programme, was selected to welcome Crown Prince Christian in Viborg and follow him around the streets before the race started. That clearly demonstrates how quickly our students have made their mark on the city.

This year we can look forward to a new pioneer class again. After the holidays, we will start a pilot project that welcomes students at the first Professional Master’s Programme focusing on water technology at the Department of Biological and Chemical Technology. And in 2026 a Professional Master’s Degree will follow at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. A huge amount of work has gone into the development of the new programmes, and I can only thank everyone for embracing this task – both on the programmes and in the businesses that are willing to try something new and are crucial to getting the new Professional Master’s programmes off to a good start.

We have not only been busy at home, we have also taken two big steps into Europe.

Tech coordinates and heads up the international consortium Allwaters, which has just submitted an application to head up the leadership of the upcoming European Water KIC innovation collaboration. If Allwaters wins, Denmark will be home to both the overall headquarters and one of the eight European co-location centres.

I’m really impressed that we have received so much support from international partners. It is, among other things, thanks to your hard work that Aarhus University is a qualified and sought-after partner – in this case in the field of water.

In May, we also formalised our collaboration with four leading European research institutions in agriculture, food and life sciences and founded the European Science Alliance for Agriculture and Food (ESAAF). The aim is to support the transformation of the agri-food sector in Europe and work to ensure that political decisions are based on scientific evidence.

For us, ESAAF is a natural extension of our strength in science-based policy advice. Our research environments within nature, the environment, climate and agriculture have contributed greatly with key data and knowledge about biodiversity, nutrients and greenhouse gases, among other things, so that decisions can be made on as informed a background as possible.

Our internationalisation is underlined by the impressive funding we receive from the EU. In 2024 the Department of Environmental Science received 35 % of its external funding from the EU. For Electrical and Computer Engineering the number is 39 %. We are fortunate in Denmark that we have a tradition of involving science-based policy advice in the political decision-making process, and we are good at finding a common direction between research, business, authorities and political wishes for the development of society. I believe this is the kind of collaboration that can put Europe back in a position as a strong, competitive and innovative continent. And we need that.

I’m generally pleased that innovation is given a prominent role in AU’s new 2030 strategy. Innovation is a natural theme for Tech – we’re used to collaborating with the outside world and bringing our research to life. This applies both to the environment, food systems and engineering, and we will follow up in our own Tech 2030, which many in the organisation are contributing to right now, so we can continue the faculty’s positive development.

Before we all go on our summer holidays, I would like to share a piece of advice from our IT security professionals: For some holiday destinations, it’s better to leave your AU computer and phone at home. It may not be the most cheerful holiday advice – but it’s given with the best intentions. There are actually a number of strict rules about using PCs and mobile phones in other countries. Read more here: Working remote

Thank you for your dedicated efforts. I hope you have a great summer break – and return with new energy for what lies ahead. I and the rest of the faculty leadership team look forward to seeing you at this year’s Tech Summer Hangout in August.

An excellent summer to you all!

Kind regards,

Eskild