Aarhus University

Aarhus University (Danish: Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Utrecht Network of European universities and is a member of the European University Association.

The university was founded in 1928 in Aarhus, Denmark. It comprises five faculties - Arts, Natural Sciences, Technical Sciences, Health, and Business and Social Sciences - and a total of twenty-seven departments. It is home to over thirty internationally recognised research centres, including fifteen centres of excellence funded by the Danish National Research Foundation.

The university's alumni include Bjarne Stroustrup, the inventor of programming language C++; Queen Margrethe II of Denmark; King Frederik X of Denmark; and Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former prime minister of Denmark and secretary general of NATO.

Nobel Laureate Jens Christian Skou (Chemistry, 1997) conducted his groundbreaking work on the Na/K-ATPase in Aarhus and remained employed at the university until his retirement. Two other Nobel laureates, namely Trygve Haavelmo (Economics, 1989) and Dale T. Mortensen (Economics, 2010), were affiliated with the university.

History

Early developments

Initially, Aarhus University was founded on 11 September 1928 as Universitetsundervisningen i Jylland ("University Studies in Jutland") with a budget of 33,000 DKK, and an enrollment of 64 students, which rose to 78 during the first semester. The university was founded as a response to the increasing number of students at the University of Copenhagen after World War I. Classrooms were rented from the Technical College and the teaching corps consisted of one professor of philosophy and four associate professors of Danish, English, German and French. Along with the Universitets-Samvirket ("University Association") which consisted of representatives of Aarhus' businesses, organisations, and institutions, the municipality of Aarhus had fought since 1921 to have Denmark's next university located in the city.

In 1929, the municipality of Aarhus gave the university land with a landscape of rolling hills. The design of the university buildings and 12 ha campus area was assigned to architects C. F. Møller, Kay Fisker and Povl Stegmann, who won the architectural competition in 1931. Construction of the first buildings began a year later, but the campus was developed in stages and is still under development as of 2017. Since 1939, C. F. Møller Architects has been responsible for the architectural design of Aarhus University in accordance with the original functionalist design key, perhaps best exemplified by the characteristic yellow brick and tile.

The first buildings were finished in 1933 and housed the Departments of Chemistry, Physics and Anatomy. These departments later moved to newer buildings at the campus and the original building complex now house Department of Psychology and Department of Political Science. The construction of the first stage was funded solely by donations which totaled 935,000 Dkr and the buildings covered an area of 4,190m2. One of the most generous contributors to the first stage was De Forenede Teglværker i Aarhus ("The United Tileworks of Aarhus") led by director K. Nymark. Forenede Teglværker decided to donate 1 million yellow bricks and tiles worth c. 50,000 Dkr and later decided to extend the donation to all bricks needed. The inauguration on 11 September 1933, marked the first official use of the name Aarhus University and was celebrated in a tent on campus, attended by King Christian X, Queen Alexandrine, their son Crown Prince Frederik and Prime Minister Stauning together with 1000 invited guests. On 23 April 1934, Aarhus University was given permission to hold examinations by the king and on 10 October 1935, Professor Dr. phil. Ernst Frandsen was appointed the first rector of the university.

Campus

Aarhus University's main campus is located in central Aarhus, encircling the University Park (Universitetsparken).

The campus master plan competition was won in 1931 by the collaborative scheme of Danish architects Kay Fisker, C. F. Møller and Povl Stegmann in collaboration with landscape architect Carl Theodor Sørensen. The design includes a wide variety of buildings in a large area, but each building is constructed of the same yellow brick and roofing tile and with a common design key, providing the whole campus with a unified appearance. Construction commenced in 1932 and has continued into present times, lately in 1999-2001 (Søauditorierne) and 2014-17 (AU Health). The original main building was one of the first Danish functionalist public buildings and has been included in the Ministry of Culture's canon of Danish architecture; it is acknowledged as one of the twelve most significant architectural works in the cultural history of Denmark. In a harmonic interplay with the park, the yellow buildings form a campus that has received international recognition for its aesthetic values and it has been protected by law since 1993, in order to conserve its unique design. C. F. Møller and his company, C. F. Møller Architects have continued as architects of the campus ever since, except the new department of AU Health currently under construction, designed by Cubo. The park and campus has been expanded throughout the years, in 1957 the old park of Vennelystparken, just south of the university park was included.

Apart from the main campus, Aarhus University has several smaller campuses and departments throughout Aarhus. This includes the campus on Fuglsangs Alle in Aarhus V, hosting a large part of Aarhus BSS, and campus Nobelparken, adjacent to the university park and built in 1997–2004 in red brick, also by C. F. Møller Architects, but in a different design, parts of the research park IT-byen at Katrinebjerg, where the Department of Computer Science also teach and do research, and more recently (still under construction), the buildings of the former municipal hospital across the street from the university park. Archaeology and anthropology takes residence in Moesgård Manor, an old manor house at the new Moesgård Museum.

Aarhus University also has locations outside of Aarhus. In the city of Herning, there is a small campus where a few of the university's business, engineering and technology programmes are taught, called the Department of Business Development and Technology. In Copenhagen, part of the Danish School of Education is located at Campus Emdrup.

Organisation and administration

The university is governed by the university board which has 11 members: six members recruited outside the university form the majority of the board, two members are appointed by the academic staff, one member is appointed by the technical/administrative staff, and two members are appointed by the university students. As required by Danish law, the rector is appointed by the university board. The rector in turn appoints deans and deans appoint heads of departments. There is no faculty senate and faculty is not involved in the appointment of rector, deans, or department heads. Hence Danish universities has no faculty governance.

Main academic areas

Since 1 January 2020, the university has been organised into five main academic areas:

Technical Sciences – consists of the subjects of environmental sciences, agricultural science, and engineering from the former Faculty of Science and Technology.

Natural Sciences – consists of the remaining departments which were part of the former Faculty of Science and Technology.

Arts – consists of the former Faculty of Humanities and the former Faculty of Theology.

Aarhus BSS – consists of the former Faculty of Social Sciences and the Aarhus School of Business.

Health – consists of the former Faculty of Health Sciences.

Academics

As of 1 October 2021, more than 32,000 students were enrolled in Aarhus University. Each year more than 1000 international exchange students come to Aarhus University to study for one or two terms. In 2009 close to 3000 international students were enrolled in full degree programmes. Aarhus University is an international university with a large proportion of students at the post-baccalaureate level: over half of its students are enrolled in master's degree and PhD programmes. In 2011, 59 of the university's 113 Master's degree programmes were taught in English. Talent development of young researchers has been identified as one of the university's core activities. This means that highly qualified students have the option of starting their PhD studies before completing their master's degree. The university's doctoral programmes allow talented students to enroll in a combined Master's/PhD programme either right after completing the master's degree (the 5+3 track) or one year into their master's degree programme (the 4+4 track). Since 2006 the number of PhD students has risen from approximately 1000 to approximately 1700 in 2010.

International Centre

The International Centre maintains international partnerships and combines a wide range of services for exchange students, international full-degree students, PhDs and visiting scholars. The International Centre is often the first stop for foreign students at Aarhus University, since the centre offers advice on finding housing and living in Denmark.

AU Summer University

Starting in 2011 all summer courses and summer schools offered by Aarhus University for bachelor's, master's and PhD students will be gathered together and expanded to provide more diversity in a new framework: AU Summer University. In the summer of 2011 more than 80 courses were offered within the fields of humanities, theology, social sciences, health sciences, natural sciences, agricultural sciences, business and educational sciences. Summer courses are open to both Danish and international students.

Degree programmes

Aarhus University has seen some deep administrational changes since the turn of the century and now also includes several large sub-departments such as Aarhus BSS, AU Engineering and others. Each of these sub-departments offers undergraduate or graduate programmes specific to their own field of study. The core academic degree programmes of Aarhus University include the following fields:

The university offers eight undergraduate and about 60 graduate programmes in English.

Cheminova controversy and academic freedom at AU

Since 1944, Aarhus University owned Cheminova, a chemical manufacturer which, among other controversies, has been selling methyl parathion pesticide to Brazil farmers. In 2009, senior researcher Mette Jensen emailed her colleagues at AU, asking whether they thought Cheminova should stop selling the controversial pesticides. For this, the university threatened her with dismissal. The university's Pro-Vice-Chancellor Søren E. Frandsen denied that the university had made any mistakes or threatened the freedom of speech and academic freedom of its staff.

Major research centres

Aarhus University is home to 15 Centres of Excellence supported by the Danish National Research Foundation and a considerable number of major research centres.

The 15 Centres of Excellence are:

• Centre for Membrane Pumps in Cells and Disease (PUMPKIN)
• Centre for Insoluble Protein Structures (INSPIN)
• Centre for Geomicrobiology
• Centre for Materials Crystallography (CMC)
• Centre for DNA Nanotechnology
• Centre for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN)d
• Centre on Autobiographical Memory Research (CON AMORE)
• Centre for Massive Data Algorithmics (MADALGO)
• The Water and Salt Research Centre
• Centre for Carbonate Recognition and Signaling (CARB)

Centre for Research in Econometric Analysis of Time Series (CREATES) which is one of the best econometrics center according to Economics Field Rankings: Econometrics | IDEAS/RePEc. Currently this center is positioned as second best center of research in econometric time series analysis.

• Centre for Oxygen Microscopy and Imaging (COMI)
• Centre for mRNP Biogenesis and Metabolism
• Centre for Quantum Geometry of Moduli Spaces (QGM)
• Centre for the Theory of Interactive Computation
• Center for Theoretical Chemistry (qLEAP)
• Centre for the Experimental-Philosophical Study of Discrimination （CEPDISC）

Some of the university's other major research centres include MindLab and iNANO.

MINDlab

MINDLAB was established with a DKK 120 million grant awarded by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. At MINDLab neuroscientists, psychologists, biologists, statisticians and researchers from other fields work together to understand the brain, its disorders, and its development through physical and social interactions – and vice versa.

iNANO

The Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (founded in 2002 by Professor Flemming Besenbacher) offers a degree programme in nanoscience with an interdisciplinary curriculum covering a broad spectrum of introductory, advanced and specialised courses, aimed at providing the student with a sufficiently broad basis to conduct interdisciplinary research within nanoscience and at the same time achieve disciplinary depth and specialised skills in selected areas. Hence, the programme encompasses physics, chemistry, biology, molecular biology, mathematics and computer science.

Danish Centre for Environment and Energy (DCE)

In 2011 the National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark (NERI) was organisatorically moved from the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy and merged into AU, under the new name Danish Centre for Environment and Energy (DCE). DCE consists of two departments: department of Ecoscience and Department of Environmental Sciences, as well as a common secretariat, all under the Faculty of Technical Sciences. The core obligations of DCE continues to be to provide research based monitoring and advice to the Danish Government on environmental issues and conduct independent research and education within the same fields.

Student life

Students from different fields meet in the numerous Friday bars and at various events organized by student organizations. The Friday bars are often organised by students from the different departments who set up a small, local bar in a canteen or classroom where beers and non-alcoholic drinks are served. The university also offers the Student bar (Studenterbaren) though Studenterhus Aarhus.

The university also has a number of libraries, some of which are open around the clock with student or employee cards. Almost every department has its own library, but the main library is the State and University Library. It has an extensive electronic journal database which students and staff can access either at the library or from home.

Aarhus University Sports (AUS) is open to all university students and organises a wide range of activities from badminton, to fencing and chess.

Student organisations

The largest student organisations at Aarhus University are the Student Union (Studenterrådet ved Aarhus Universitet) and Studenterlauget. The Student Union represents the main student body at Aarhus University in many boards and forums, while Studenterlauget is a mainly social organisation at School of Business and Social Sciences. The Student Union has both student seats on the university board. The Student Union also arranges annual concerts and seminars, and publishes the student magazine Delfinen (The Dolphin).

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)