Tech collaboration on creating green, digital and technological impacts on society

Tech’s strength lies in the broad expanse between basic research and practice-oriented research. Our academic breadth ranges from engineering disciplines to the areas of food, agriculture and the environment as well as public sector consultancy. This unique combination of disciplines facilitates interdisciplinary collaborations that through education and research can provide innovative solutions to the challenges of the future, thereby achieving a major societal impact.  

Technical Sciences is a faculty supported by a collaborative culture across the departments, faculty management and administrative centre. It is in the spirit of cooperation that Tech's strategy will now be put into action at the individual departments.  

Technical Sciences' strategy in practice 

Tech’s strategy has been underway for a while. At the beginning of 2020, management began its first initial discussions of the direction and ambitions of Tech. In the autumn of 2020, four focus groups, composed of the faculty management team and representatives from the administration, departments and centres, began working on four strategic themes: Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship, Green Transition and Identity and Profiling. The results of the many productive discussions, input and recommendations were submitted to the faculty management team in the form of four whitepapers, which were used to further develop Tech’s strategy.  

A shared identity is created internally – and communicated externally  

The Faculty of Technical Sciences is a young faculty that is made up of a variety of locations and disciplines. An important part of the faculty's strategy is therefore to describe a joint profile that reflects who we are, and which can be used to clearly characterise the faculty in its external communication.  

The faculty's profile has been under development since 1 January 2020. The reorganisation of the engineering area has determined the organisational structure for part of the faculty. We will unify our academic disciplines and establish a Tech Green Hub on the Aarhus Campus, and we will continue to focus on strengthening inter-faculty collaborations, regardless of location. We look forward to moving into and working in our new locations and to getting to know each other better.  

The process of creating a shared identity and profile began when the faculty was born, and this process will continue to evolve. Becoming part of a larger community is created through our interactions. The lockdowns have made this difficult. As we implement the strategy this autumn, we will have a particular focus on describing our profile and collaborative culture at the individual departments and centres, as well as in the faculty management team, so that the strategy, and our profile and collaborative culture will align.  

Communication across Tech is essential for cohesion. Everyone should feel included. Inclusion is the prerequisite for participating in academic collaborations, reaping the benefits of synergies, and thereby becoming a preferred partner for the business community, government agencies and knowledge institutions. 

When will Tech’s strategy be ready? 

Over the past year, the faculty management team has been developing a joint understanding of Tech’s future direction based on AU’s 2021-2025 strategy. To support this, focus groups consisting of employees and managers across the university have been set up to provide inspiration for the faculty management team as they determine the strategic direction for the faculty. Furthermore, at the administrative level, efforts have been made to establish a common understanding of administrative collaboration, coordination and prioritisation.   

In May 2021, the faculty management team convened for a strategy seminar to discuss the strategic ambitions and benchmarks of the Tech strategy. It is now time to test these ambitions and benchmarks by converting the strategy into actions and activities at the departments. The departments are at very different stages in relation to the local strategy processes, and a “self-assessment process” will take place from August to October, where each department considers Tech’s strategy and AU’s action plan and activities for 2022, based on everything that is already taking place at the departments. In doing so, we hope to merge current activities with the overall new direction for the faculty. The Faculty Liaison Committee (FSU) and the academic council will also be consulted on the implementation of the strategy. In January 2022, we expect to be able to kick-start Tech's strategy with a joint seminar for the faculty.  

Strategic themes are part of our DNA 

The three strategic themes of Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and the Green Transition are baked into the DNA of Tech. This gives us the opportunity to create strong interdisciplinary research environments that can make a difference in the world. Here are some examples of how we work with these three strategic themes in practice: 

Digitalisation: 

Technical Sciences will contribute with computer-based and data-intensive solutions for the green transition and other societal challenges. This is what we are doing in the Cattle Feed InTake (CFIT) research project. Read more about CFIT and our work with digitalisation at Tech here > >

Entrepreneurship:  

Technical Sciences will be a leading, research-based entrepreneurial faculty. Many new companies have already emerged from the faculty, such as Consibio, a biotech company. Read more about Consibio and our work with entrepreneurship at Tech here>>

Green transition: 

Technical Sciences will have a high level of ambition, taking outset in a close collaboration between science, businesses and stakeholders. The interdisciplinary SeaSus protein project is a good example of this. Read more about SeaSus and our work with the green transition at Tech here >>