VERS
UNI
ITY
EVALUATION OF THE UNIVERSITY SECTOR 2009
Aarhus University, 22 April 2009
Enclosure 2.28CONTENT
FOREWORD... 4
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS... 5
A. FULFILLING THE PURPOSES OF THE MERGERS... 8
AARHUS UNIVERSITY AFTER THE MERGERS - A PRESENTATION... 8
A1. MORE EDUCATION ...20
A2. GREATER INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH IMPACT ...27
A3. MORE INNOVATION AND PRIVATE-SECTOR COLLABORATION...36
A4. ATTRACTING ADDITIONAL EU FUNDS...45
A5. COMPETENT RESEARCH-BASED PUBLIC-SECTOR CONSULTANCY ...48
A6. THE NATIONAL FOOD FORUM ...57
A7. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES AS A RESULT OF THE MERGERS ...60
B. CO-DETERMINATION FOR STAFF AND STUDENTS...67
C. FREE ACADEMIC DEBATE...74
D. FREEDOM OF RESEARCH ...78
FOREWORD
On 26 January 2009, the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation requested the universities to prepare a report on five specific themes to be submitted no later than 22 April 2009.
These themes relate to the latest mergers between a number of universities and governmental research institutions, as well as to the 2003 reform of the university Act. The reports submitted by the universities will each form part of the basis for the evaluation of the university sector, to be reviewed in the course of 2009 by an appointed international panel.
Aarhus University subsequently initiated a comprehensive process, concentrated in terms of the time available, in which its academy councils, boards of studies, student organisations, and the Main Liaison Committee were encouraged to enter into dialogue and debate. The aim was to allow staff and students to contribute to and influence the university’s overall report to the Minis-try. In addition, the Vice-Chancellor’s Office initiated focus group interviews cutting across the main academic areas, and a digital brainstorm on the university’s website that was accessible to everybody.
At the same time, the Vice-Chancellor’s Office set up a steering group under its own leadership. This group was responsible for preparing a report based on the response to hearings conducted throughout the university, as well as the assessment and experience of the University Board and the Vice-Chancellor’s Office regarding the mergers and the reform of the University Act.
This report is the complete reply drawn up by Aarhus University in compliance with the questions asked by the Ministry. The university’s answers concerning degrees of freedom – the fifth theme – will be delivered by 25 May 2009, the deadline for submission.
The university management would like to continue the current debate throughout the rest of the year. The aim is for the University Board to take advantage of this opportunity to examine the articles of the university and make any necessary adjustments based on the university’s experi-ence since 2007 and on the assessments and recommendations resulting from the current evaluation of the university area.
The university recommends increased stability regarding the legal framework, and that the Uni-versity Act of 2003 should therefore be continued in all essentials, referring to the detailed com-ments in this report. The feedback from academic staff members, technical and administrative staff and students – as well as the request from the Ministry – are all available (in Danish only) at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/university_evaluation
We hope the evaluation panel and other interested parties will enjoy reading the report, and that it can provide the foundation for excellent, constructive dialogue when the evaluation panel visits Aarhus University on 25 August 2009.
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Aarhus University’s ambition is for its staff and students to work in an en-quiring and critical manner in open, dynamic interaction with their sur-roundings, and the university’s staff are encouraged to take part in a free, open debate about both research and educational issues.
Freedom and independence are absolutely decisive ideals at Aarhus Uni-versity, which lives up to the Magna Charta of the European Universities. These ideals appear prominently in the university’s strategy where it is spe-cifically stated; ”The freedom and independence of the university are cru-cial prerequisites for it to be able to meet its obligations to society.” This wording shows that Aarhus University fully backs up Section 2 (2) of the Danish University Act, which embodies freedom of research: “The university has freedom of research and shall safeguard this freedom and ensure the ethics of science”.
Merger between the six institutions
New joint strategy and other common initiatives
An academic reorgani-sation per se will follow later
Aarhus University in the lead with the Bologna Process
A merger of no fewer than six institutions, including two governmental research institutions, Aarhus University is now an internationally oriented research university that offers a broad range of subjects and reaches out to all sectors of society. In addition, Aarhus University wishes to fur-ther strengthen its engineering degree programmes by merging with the Engineering College of Aarhus.
Since the mergers in 2007, Aarhus University has not yet carried out an actual restructuring of the university’s disciplinary and academic areas. Instead, the university has so far concentrated on:
• preparing a common strategy plan for the new university
• preparing a vision plan for expanding the university’s building infra-structure in Aarhus
• establishing committees cross-cutting the main academic areas
within the university’s four core activities: research, education, re-searcher recruitment and research-based public-sector consultancy and
• developing joint administrative platforms as a basis for its academic development.
After only two years, the full potential for synergies has not yet been achieved, but the potential for ground-breaking research and attractive degree combinations is there.
Aarhus University wishes to spearhead:
• a new higher education system in Denmark that matches society’s
Research-based public-sector consultancy as an equally important activ-ity
The Barcelona goal must be achieved
Aarhus University would like proper negotiations regarding the vision plan
The university would like to ensure stability re-garding the University Act
… but there is a need to … look at Aarhus Univer-sity’s articles again, and … adapt Danish legisla-tion to internalegisla-tional conditions
• European leadership in the next phase of the Bologna Process,
which aims to ensure relevant and flexible degree programmes with good opportunities for international mobility.
• an internationally unique, ground-breaking programme for the
de-veloping and nurturing the best international research talents and, at the same time,
• a strengthening of its current activities in the field of life-long learn-ing.
Research-based public-sector consultancy should be an integral and natural part of activities of the university, parallel with research-based teaching, and the independence and credibility of this work are strengthened by the transfer of the activity to the university. The univer-sity will work to promote greater internationalisation of its research-based public-sector consultancy, and in particular to develop its oppor-tunities for tendering for more of the international research-based analyses and advisory tasks offered by international organisations. Aarhus University is satisfied that research grants have increased in re-cent years as part of the Danish Globalisation Strategy, and that there is political agreement about achieving the Barcelona goal on research investment by 2010. This will provide the economic foundation for the ambitious development that Aarhus University is undergoing, and the university is looking forward to a proper negotiation with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation on realising the vision plan for the university’s building framework that was forwarded to the ministry in 2008.
Laws and rules
• Aarhus University recommends that there is a need for stability re-garding the legal framework for universities, and that the university Act of 2003 be continued in all essentials, and refers to the detailed comments contained in sections B, C, and D. The many different remarks and views expressed paint a picture of an organisation that has undergone major changes in a very short span of time and has yet to digest them. Rather than more changes, what is needed is stability and time to allow the university to develop its own internal structures and systems.
• Aarhus University will analyse and discuss whether there is a need to supplement the university’s articles in the light of the experience gained since 1 January 2007, so that the legitimate influence of staff and students in academic issues are ensured in the best possi-ble way.
• The university finds that in order to make it possible to full take ad-vantage of the internationalisation of the university’s activities, there is an acute need to harmonise national legislation with legislation in the countries of important foreign partners in the university area.
Need for better balance between basic research funds and competitive funding
… and for transferring the grant for the research component of research-based public-sector consultancy to the uni-versity
Need for more coopera-tion in higher educacoopera-tion, such as a research-based graduate teacher programme and gradu-ate programmes for engineers in Aarhus Need for more time for research
… less control and de-tailed regulation would strengthen trust in the University Act
Need for the ministry to re-evaluate procedures regarding competitive funding, and dealing with rules regarding competence
Financing the universities
• Aarhus University finds there is a need to re-establish balance be-tween basic research fund and competitive funding. Aarhus Univer-sity believes that a reasonable distribution would be 60/40. An in-creasing proportion of public research is directed towards the themes of the day. As a result, long-term risk-taking research is pri-marily financed by basic grants, and the general growth segment within Danish research is being starved. The combination of in-creased competition, more strategic research, basic funds subject to competition, and new mechanisms for the distribution of basic re-search funds, as well as embedding and co-financing require-ments, present problems for non-earmarked research and freedom of research.
• It is vital that the funding of the research component of the
re-search-based consultancy service be transferred to the universities as is the case with the other basic funds allocated to the universities. Relations with ministries and the research organisation
• Aarhus University believes that the collaboration between
educa-tional institutions that fall under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and those that fall under the Ministry of Education is inefficient. This has especially affected the attempts by Aarhus Uni-versity to establish a research-based degree programme for teach-ers, and the wish of both institutions involved to strengthen the graduate engineer degree programmes in Aarhus through a merger of the Engineering College of Aarhus and Aarhus University. • The university has noted that in recent years, staff members in gen-eral have experienced a limitation in the time available for non-earmarked research as a result of the changed distribution be-tween strategic and free funds, as well as the negotiations on the Finance Act for 2009 contributed to undermining the trust of many university employees in the government’s aims with the university reforms. At the same time, university employees have experienced an increase in the pressure of work, increased control and detailed regulation by the ministry, including the performance of many con-sultancy surveys.
• Aarhus University is working to ensure that public competitive fund-ing is distributed in accordance with transparent, open and fair prin-ciples, also as research funding subject to peer review are con-cerned. But the university has noted that changes appear to have been made in the way public competitive funding is administered. There is therefore a need for the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to re-evaluate procedures and the management of the rules for eligibility.
A. FULFILLING THE PURPOSES OF THE MERGERS
AARHUS UNIVERSITY AFTER THE MERGERS
- A PRESENTATION
Brief summary
As a result of the mergers, Aarhus University has changed from being a traditional university in the Humboldt style teaching humanities, theology, science, social sciences and health sciences to one that currently includes research and teaching activities within business, education, agricultural sciences and environmental research. The university wishes to further strengthen its engineering degree pro-grammes by merging with the Engineering College of Aarhus, with which the university already has close collaboration. Nationally, Aar-hus University reaches out towards all sectors of society, and interna-tionally, the university ranks as a leading European research univer-sity.
The work with Strategy 2008–2012 – Quality and Diversity has re-vealed the university’s many opportunities for synergy as well as its potential for research collaboration and the development of new degree programmes cross-cutting the university’s nine main aca-demic areas. To begin with, the university has decided to complete a comprehensive administrative change process with a view to es-tablishing new platforms that promote academic development. Af-ter that, the university will tackle the actual process of academic restructuring.
Strategy 2008 – 2012: Quality and diversity
The replies to the specific evaluation questions commence with a pres-entation of Aarhus University. It will be clear from this report that, since the mergers in 2006 and 2007, the university has become a research university at which all activities are based on the comprehensive re-search carried out at the university.
Introductory comments
In the following, Aarhus University will discuss the results of the mergers, most of which took effect during 2007. The discussion is based on the university’s strategic plan Strategy 2008–2012 –Quality and Diversity. The strategy, which was adopted by the University Board at the end of 2007, is the first overall strategic plan for the merged university.
On the basis of the strategy, the university will explain its long-term academic plans and their implementation. As part of the discussion, Aarhus University will explain its strategic choices and the status of the mergers today, approximately two years after they all took effect. In this context, it is important to note that Aarhus University’s priorities for
Big, new Aarhus Univer-sity
… also wishes a merger with the Engineering College of Aarhus
Academic breadth and depth
achieving the full potential of the mergers have been and still are to: 1. prepare of an overall strategy for the new and merged Aarhus
Uni-versity (completed in 2007)
2. prepare of a vision plan for expanding the university’s building in-frastructure (Aarhus Campus completed in 2007–2008)
3. implement an administrative change process (finalising the admin-istrative infrastructure, which will take place during the period 2008– 2010)
4. strengthen the academic development by setting academic
priori-ties and realising academic synergies in the long term
In addition, the framework conditions for the mergers will be explained. Finally, the university will describe the opportunities and challenges it expects to face during the next decade.
General overview of the mergers and their results
The most recent mergers that created the current Aarhus University be-gan with the merger with the Institute of Business and Technology in Herning in 2006, followed by the important merger with the Danish In-stitute of Agricultural Sciences, the National Environmental Research Institute and the Aarhus School of Business on 1 January 2007, and fi-nally the merger between Aarhus University and the Danish University of Education in mid 2007. In the opinion of the university, it would be expedient to supplement these mergers with a merger with the Engi-neering College of Aarhus in the next few years, cf. the summary of the mergers below, which also shows that Aarhus University is a “young” university.
The mergers reflect a conscious desire to ensure the necessary aca-demic breadth and depth that will enable the university to reach out to all sectors of Danish society and to distinguish itself internationally as a leading European research university. Combined, the university’s main academic areas now cover the entire research spectrum basic re-search, applied rere-search, strategic research and research-based pub-lic-sector consultancy.
New, interdisciplinary programmes
… strengthened re-search-based public-sector consultancy and knowledge transfer
… that reach out to all sectors of society
New, all-round university
As far as teaching is concerned, Aarhus University has taken some ma-jor steps to offer new, multidisciplinary degree programmes that utilise the university’s new potential. The implementation has not been with-out problems, which will be described later in this report. Since the mergers, the ratio between income from research and income from education activities is now approximately 2:1. Approximately 22% of the university’s income is directly related to education activities. It is therefore logical that Aarhus University is a graduate university, where the majority of the students pursue graduate degree programmes. As regards the research-based public-sector consultancy, the university now complies with national obligations, particularly in the fields of envi-ronment, agriculture and climate, but also as regards education and forensic medicine. Finally, the mergers have also contributed to ex-panding the university’s knowledge transfer with all sectors of society. This is illustrated by the figure below: the flower petals illustrate the uni-versity’s general research fields, and the sectors with which university research communicates and interacts are shown as a ring around the flower.
Aarhus University reaches out to all sectors of society.
On the succeeding pages, the following will be presented: • The university’s academic breadth after the mergers
• The effect of the mergers on the strategy of Aarhus University
• The administrative change process
• Internationalisation
The university’s academic breadth after the mergers
The mergers in 2006 and 2007 increased the diversity of Aarhus Univer-sity in terms of subjects, tasks, staff, students, structure and geographic location. The mergers gave the university academic strength in a wide range of subjects, supporting ground-breaking new collaboration be-tween different subject areas. Aarhus University is now the only nation-wide university with premises in more than 20 locations all over Den-mark – the map below indicates where the university’s activities are based. The core activities of the university remain in Aarhus, which is
… with national coverage
New strengths and de-velopment potential for:
… business and engineer-ing skills
… environmental re-search
the economic centre of West Denmark. Approximately 30,000 of the university’s students are taught in Aarhus, which also offers all the Bachelor’s degree programmes. By far the majority of researcher train-ing programmes are also in Aarhus. 20 % of university activities are now located on the island of Zealand.
Figure: Aarhus University is the only nationwide university with premises in more than 20 locations all over the country. The red dots show the locations of teaching activities.
The original Aarhus University with five faculties was a “complete” uni-versity in accordance with the Humboldt tradition: Humanities, Health Sciences, Social Sciences, Theology and Science. Each of the new main academic areas has contributed new strengths and development opportunities to the university.
• The Institute of Business and Technology in Herning contributes with a combination of business and engineering skills that are applied and developed in close collaboration with the business community. • The National Environmental Research Institute is the national envi-ronmental research centre and a focal point for the EU, and has contributed internationally recognised expertise within strategic re-search, environmental monitoring and research-based public-sector consultancy services with the clear aim of supporting political
… agricultural sciences
… business degree pro-grammes and research, and
… education research
… and close collabora-tion with the Engineering College of Aarhus
and administrative processes.
• The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences – the former Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences – has extensive nationally and internationally recognised expertise within basic, strategic and applied experi-mental research and innovation, with a clear commercial aim in the field of agricultural sciences.
• The Aarhus School of Business is a large business school in an inter-national context that has an attractive research and education en-vironment in the field of business, as well as a reputation for excel-lent and extensive collaboration with the Danish business commu-nity.
• The Danish School of Education – formerly the Danish University of Education – is one of Europe’s largest education research entities and contributes to knowledge transfer and contacts with the entire education sector.
In addition, Aarhus University works closely with the Engineering Col-lege of Aarhus in the context of the Aarhus Graduate School of Engi-neering:
• The Engineering College of Aarhus has approximately 2,500 stu-dents at undergraduate level (diploma stustu-dents). Due to the great demand for highly educated engineers, close collaboration has been established between the Engineering College of Aarhus and the Faculty of Science about the development of graduate engi-neering programmes in Aarhus. The Aarhus Graduate School of En-gineering now has 250 students, and the university is in the process of upgrading its engineering research. A merger between Aarhus University and the Engineering College of Aarhus in the near future would therefore be a logical next step and is recommended by both parties.
Aarhus University, the broadest university … with the most compre-hensive research-based public-sector consul-tancy
Doubling of turnover in only four years
35,500 students in 2008
Budget of EUR 710 mil-lion in 2009
… of which basic re-search accounts for 32 % … and teaching 22 %
As a result of the mergers, Aarhus University is the university with the broadest range of subjects in Denmark. In addition to all the traditional university disciplines, the university now has two university schools: the Aarhus School of Business and the Danish School of Education. In addi-tion, the university is now the institution in Denmark that provides the most comprehensive research-based public-sector consultancy ser-vices – in particular to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Ministry of Climate and Energy, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Justice and the health sector. AU also carries out extensive social analyses. In terms of turnover, Aarhus Uni-versity has grown from a turnover in 2006 of approximately EUR 336 million to EUR 644 million in 2008. The budgeted turnover for 2009 of a total of EUR 710 million is divided between the main academic areas as shown in the diagram below.
The merger also resulted in an increase in the number of students from just under 25,000 in 2006 to 35,500 in 2008. The distribution of students between the different main academic areas is shown subsequently. A summary of the university’s 2008 production of graduates with Bache-lor’s degrees, Master’s degrees, PhD degrees, diplomas and part-time Master’s degrees is also shown below.
Aarhus University is the most comprehensive university in Denmark and is a research university where approximately 60% of activities are project and ba-sic research.
257 PhD degrees in 2008
Comprehensive bottom-up strategy process
… in which 3-4,000 em-ployees took part
Mission and
… vision
Aarhus University is primarily a graduate university.
The effect of the mergers on the strategy
During the first year after the mergers, Aarhus University completed a comprehensive strategy process that involved all staff members at ma-nagement level, as well as an Internet-based bottom-up process that targeted all university staff. The result was an overall strategy for the newly merged university. The strategy process was an effective tool to map the synergies and potential for a broad collaboration in the or-ganisation across the university’s nine main academic areas. At the same time, university management had an opportunity to discuss and determine the main priorities of the new university. A number of strat-egy seminars were held at different management levels and a survey was carried out among all employees to map their visions for the future university. A total of 3,000–4,000 university employees participated in the strategic work.
The Aarhus University Board approved the procedure and was kept informed on an ongoing basis about progress with the strategy process. The Board discussed the strategy outline at a seminar in August 2007, and in November 2007 was able to adopt the Aarhus University Strat-egy 2008–2012 – Quality and Diversity. The stratStrat-egy determined the university’s mission and vision:
The mission is to develop knowledge, welfare and culture through re-search and rere-search-based education, knowledge dissemination and external advice.
The vision is to belong to the elite of universities and to contribute to the development of national and global welfare.
… manifested through four core activities:
Excellent research
Focused talent devel-opment
Inspiring consultancy and knowledge transfer
The university’s mission and vision are implemented via its four core activities:
• Excellent research
• Focused talent development
• Inspiring consultancy and knowledge transfer
• World-class education and knowledge dissemination
Excellent research
Aarhus University belongs to the international elite. The university is one of Europe’s leading research institutions and, among Danish universities, its research competence covers the broadest range of research fields. The university wishes to combine research in new ways – between fields and across traditional disciplinary boundaries – in greater depth and in new and unknown fields. Aarhus University offers all types of research from basic, applied and strategic research to research-based public-sector consultancy and knowledge transfer.
In the research field, Aarhus University aims to:
• stimulate new research development
• strengthen internationally acknowledged research
• have research groups within all of its subject areas contributing to front-line research
Focused talent development
Aarhus University offers research talent development of an interna-tional standard, and its PhD degree programmes are an essential basis for the university’s work. The university regards the development of re-search talent and the recruitment of rere-searchers as a task of high prior-ity to society.
Aarhus University aims to:
• ensure that the quality of the PhD degree programmes compares
favourably with the best in the world
• recruit top talents from Denmark and abroad to unique
environ-ments, where they feel free to pursue the unexpected
• double the number of researchers educated and developed at the
university from 2008 to 2012
• offer a consistent researcher development programme for the
greatest talents from the Bachelor’s degree level Inspiring consultancy and knowledge transfer
Aarhus University provides independent and inspiring knowledge as a basis for the development of society. The university supplies Danish and international authorities, institutions and companies with research-based public-sector consultancy and top-quality knowledge transfer. It is essential for progress in society that the entire knowledge base de-veloped at the university be made available and that the research car-ried out at the university can function as a gateway to the global knowledge market.
World-class education and knowledge dissemi-nation
Four committees for education, research, talent development and research-based public-sector consultancy
Establishment of an Inner Education Market … with 4,000 education modules on offer ready for ECTS accreditation
Aarhus University aims to:
• provide independent research-based consultancy services and
communication, and thus help ensure that decisions in the politi-cal/administrative process are taken on the best possible basis • develop user-oriented, holistic and internationally competitive
re-search-based consultancy
• work with the business community to develop new businesses and
strengthen Denmark’s competitiveness
World-class education and knowledge dissemination
In an international context, Aarhus University is a large and distinctive educational institution. The university constantly assesses and further develops its degree programme offerings and makes sure that new degree programmes are developed on an ongoing basis. These meet the requirements of both the outside world and the university’s quality standards, thus ensuring that the next generation is trained to face the challenges of the future. The university offers unique possibilities for subject combinations thanks to its academic diversity. It expects that the number of students applying for its degree programmes will in-crease in the forthcoming years.
Aarhus University aims to:
• offer top-quality degree programmes within all the university’s fields of competence
• utilise the entire range of its competence to develop new degree
programmes that reflect the needs of the future
• increase the scope, relevance and quality of its continuing and fur-ther education courses
• attract the best students and be an attractive choice for new groups of Danish and foreign students
• strengthen the knowledge society via independent and inspiring
public-sector consultancy and knowledge transfer
Framework for academic collaboration
The internal academic collaboration throughout the main academic areas at the university has been actively supported by the establish-ment of four permanent committees cutting across the nine main aca-demic areas within each of the four main strategic activities: education, research, talent development and public-sector consultancy.
These permanent committees are responsible for an important part of the contributions to the academic discussions about the further devel-opment of strategic areas and policy develdevel-opment.
As an example, the university has adopted a policy about the Inner Education Market, which is the first step towards a much more flexible and coherent education market spanning the main academic areas. A joint quality policy has been adopted, and the creation of a joint quality assurance system for the education area has been commenced. In addition, all 4,000 education modules have been reviewed with regard to ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) certification. In the field of
”Task forces”: interna-tionalisation and knowl-edge transfer
Administrative change process
… including the estab-lishment of a common platform for increased internationalisation
research and PhD degree programmes, representatives from all nine main academic areas participate in the university’s research commit-tee, which is responsible, among other things, for research-related tasks across the main academic areas. This includes recommendations for the distribution of Aarhus University Research Foundation funds which are earmarked for establishing new academic activities across the main academic areas, and the preparation of a joint PhD action plan. In addition, several task forces with representatives from all the main academic areas are working to prepare an action plan to promote the role of women in research, an international strategy and a strategy for knowledge transfer to private sector companies.
The administrative change process
To support the ambitious strategy objectives within the above-mentioned four core activities, Aarhus University has chosen to carry out a comprehensive administrative change process that aims to establish platforms for promoting academic development. The goal is to imple-ment a number of shared administrative IT systems and joint work pro-cedures for the entire university. The aims are even more ambitious because the goal is also for the administrative change process to en-sure the future compatibility of the administration via increased use of digital solutions, common standards and extensive use of standard sys-tems.
As one of the first steps in the change process, the university has em-phasised the establishment of a common platform for increased inter-nationalisation, which is regarded as an important element in ensuring that the university achieves its strategic goals. It has been a conscious decision to not yet undertake an actual academic restructuring process following the mergers. This restructuring will take place during the next period.
In principle, the administrative change process consists of five tracks. These five tracks and their main focus areas are described in detail in the following text box:
Good prerequisites for international visibility and influence
880 student exchange agreements
Greater efforts to attract foreign staff
The work to establish a coherent and system-based management in-formation system will also very soon be initiated as part of the adminis-trative change process. It aims to provide university management with up-to-date information about academic activities, students, and the university’s financial and technical resources.
Internationalisation
Aarhus University is of the opinion that the merger has created an ex-cellent framework for achieving the ambitious goals for its international work. Today, the university has the necessary prerequisites for achiev-ing international visibility and influence – thanks to its size and aca-demic breadth.
However, AU has not yet realised its full synergy potential. The university has therefore initiated the development of an overall strategy for its international work, which includes a large network of international re-search collaboration and no fewer than 880 student exchange agree-ments with universities around the world. The aim is to implement a number of organisational changes to the administrative support func-tions in the international area in order to strengthen the university’s in-ternational profile and provide a more coherent and uniform service to researchers recruited from abroad, as well as to international students. A specific example of this is the university’s participation in the Aarhus-based International Community, the aim of which is to attract and re-tain well-qualified foreign manpower by continuing to develop Aarhus as an attractive place for foreign employees.
Mergers are expensive
… and expenses up to now assessed as not less than EUR 27 million
Merger costs
It is obvious that the merger, which increased the university’s turnover by approximately 40%, entailed and still entails considerable costs. However, a precise calculation of the extent of the costs involved is associated with a number of practical difficulties. Some of the initiatives taken after the merger may have been brought about by the merger, but some initiatives were probably required anyway as a part of the ongoing modernisation and upgrading of systems and routines. Other costs directly related to the merger are no doubt hidden in the figures for ongoing operational costs.
However, related discussions with the merger negotiations between Aarhus University and the Aarhus School of Business give an idea of the costs involved. At that time, the costs related directly to this part of the merger were estimated at approximately EUR 6.5 million.
Immediately after 1 January 2007, a merger secretariat was estab-lished at the university. The secretariat’s budget for 2007 was EUR 1.3 million in addition to direct salary costs of approximately EUR 0.3 mil-lion.
As mentioned above, a complete programme called the “administra-tive change process” was established in connection with the merger and the adopted strategy. This programme aims to ensure coherence in the administrative systems of the university as well as common stan-dards and procedures throughout the university. The costs of this pro-gramme can be described with certainty as relating to the merger. In the 2008 financial year, expenses under the programme amounted to EUR 2.6 million and the direct internal working hours involved can be estimated at EUR 0.4 million. In 2009, expenses of EUR 8.1 million have been budgeted, as well as internal staff resources amounting to EUR 5.1 million. The costs for 2010 are estimated to be a total of EUR 9.4 million. Based on the above-mentioned conditions and subject to the mentioned reservations, a cautious estimate of the merger costs would be a minimum of EUR 27 million.
Following this initial presentation of Aarhus University after the mergers, the following sections will describe the effect of the mergers in the fol-lowing areas:
• A1. More education
• A2. Greater international research impact
• A3. More innovation and private-sector collaboration • A4. Attracting additional EU funds
• A5. Competent research-based public-sector consultancy
• A6. The National Food Forum
A1. MORE EDUCATION
Brief summary
Aarhus University has created a number of new degree pro-grammes, especially in the field of agricultural sciences, which are examples of the positive effects of the mergers. The university’s aim is to create an Inner Education Market with a more flexible and transparent framework for its multidisciplinary education initiatives. With this aim in mind, the university has applied to the EU Commis-sion for the ECTS label. The university wants to stress that the great differences between the levels of funding available to the different degree programmes can impede the development of an efficient Inner Education Market. In addition, the university’s geographical dispersion creates logistical challenges for students and staff.
The university has encountered a number of barriers that prevent full utilisation of the synergies created by the merger. The Danish ac-creditation body, ACE Denmark, has rejected innovative degree programme initiatives on the grounds that the need for new pro-grammes must be substantiated by historical documentation, which obviously does not exist. ACE Denmark also takes a relatively narrow view of academic progress within the degree programmes, which makes it difficult for students to change their specialisation between Master’s degree and Bachelor’s degree programmes.
Another barrier is the way the areas of responsibility are divided be-tween the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Ministry of Education, which has so far completely blocked the uni-versity’s attempts to establish a new degree programme for teachers in Denmark and to integrate and develop degree programmes for engineers in Aarhus within the framework of Aarhus University’s overall education and research portfolio.
Unique possibilities for combining fields of study
Introductory comments
In an international context, Aarhus University is a large and distinctive educational institution. The degree programmes offered by the univer-sity are continually developed, and new subjects are added to ensure that the university’s degree programmes meet the needs of society – current as well as future. As a result of the mergers, the degree pro-grammes offered by Aarhus University are extremely diverse and this makes it possible to create unique academic combinations.
35,500 students today … 3/5 of whom at graduate level
Wish: a degree pro-gramme for teachers and a full range of graduate engineering degree programmes Focus on life-long learn-ing
… through such means as collaborating with the Danish University Exten-sion
Initiatives to promote new degree pro-grammes
Establishment of the Inner Education Market
Educational objectives
Today, Aarhus University has approximately 35,500 students, and this number is expected to increase in the coming years. The university is very much a graduate university, with the majority of its students pursu-ing graduate degree programmes (Master’s, part-time Master’s and PhD degrees). Approximately 19,500 students are enrolled in Master’s and part-time Master’s degree programmes and approximately 1,500 in PhD degree programmes. Of the university’s 35,500 students only about 14,500 are enrolled in academic Bachelor’s degree programmes, and only relatively few students are enrolled in professional Bachelor’s de-gree programmes.
Aarhus University wishes to supplement its range of programmes by offering teacher education programmes in collaboration with one or more university colleges, and including a full range of graduate engi-neering degree programmes through a merger with the Engiengi-neering College of Aarhus.
Aarhus University aims to attract the best students and to be an attrac-tive university for new groups of Danish and foreign students. One of the aims defined in the university’s strategy is to offer high-quality degree programmes within the university’s fields of competence and thereby use its entire breadth to develop new degree programmes. The scope, relevance and quality of the university’s continuing and further educa-tion courses will increase, and the university also places great emphasis on its role in life-long learning (LLL) via its considerable involvement in the Danish University Extension. In 2009, approximately 40,000 people are expected to participate in the courses offered by the Danish Univer-sity Extension in Aarhus, which is twice the number of people who take courses at the Danish University Extension in other parts of Denmark. The aims of the strategy greatly support the possibilities for developing degree programmes crosscutting the merged entities and underlining the unique position in which the university finds itself after the merger, with opportunities for utilising its full breadth and the synergies resulting from the merger. To start utilising these opportunities, a number of meetings and seminars were held with the university management in 2007, in which the academic, research and administrative basis for multidisciplinary collaboration about the new degree programmes was discussed.
Due to the planning of the merger process, there was little time to de-velop, obtain approval and implement new degree programmes dur-ing the 2007–2008 period. The new educational initiatives were also subject to comprehensive new approval requirements, administered by the Danish accreditation institution, ACE Denmark, which was estab-lished in 2007.
Framework for new degree programmes
Based on the visions and aims of the strategy, the university has worked determined in recent years to create a framework for degree
pro-… with transparency and flexibility for students
… and with focus on quality in the work on degree programmes
New initiatives designed to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing
Rapid establishment of four new agricultural science degree pro-grammes
grammes spanning all main academic areas. The university’s Study Committee played an important role in this effort, including the prepa-ration of guidelines for educational collaboprepa-ration in the form of the general policy document “På vej mod Det Indre Uddannelsesmarked” (Heading towards the Inner Education Market). With the Inner Educa-tion Market, the university is heading towards a more transparent and flexible education system with improved conditions for multidisciplinary educational collaboration – on anything from complete degree pro-grammes to credit transfers. In this way, the merger will provide the stu-dents with specific benefits. The university’s work with the application for the EU Commission’s ECTS label contributed to the Inner Education Market by harmonising the university’s degree programme structures and its information about the programmes. Aarhus University hopes to be awarded the ECTS label in 2009.
In addition, the Study Committee has focused on policies and stan-dards for quality work in education and has prepared a common qual-ity policy that will be followed up by the implementation of a qualqual-ity control system throughout the university before the end of 2009.
The university has also launched the following initiatives, which provide general support for collaboration and knowledge sharing across the main academic areas:
• Increased collaboration and knowledge sharing about the
recruit-ment and retention of students – for example via student environ-ment surveys and recruitenviron-ment surveys at several faculties.
• Development of educational and didactic entities to support
edu-cation, including support for academic staff for whom Danish is not their first language.
• Systematic employment surveys among alumni.
Development of degree programmes in 2007–2008
A number of areas have worked on ideas for new degree programmes that cut across the merged institutions. Some of these ideas resulted in applications for new degree programmes or strengthened collabora-tion about subjects and modules in degree programmes offered by different faculties. Other ideas did not turn out to be viable or have not yet been approved by the accreditation institution ACE Denmark as new degree programmes.
New degree programmes
As an extremely visible result of the mergers, the university offered a number of new degree programmes in agricultural sciences with effect from September 2008. Most of these degree programmes are offered by the new main academic area, the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, in collaboration with one or more of the other main academic areas. All the degree programmes that were developed in this area after the merger were approved.
The following degree programmes have been approved and are be-ing offered in collaboration with other academic areas (the number of
New, innovative degree programmes that cut across the main aca-demic areas
… and in collaboration with the University of Southern Denmark
enrolled students for September 2008 is shown in brackets after the title of the degree programme):
• MSc in Molecular Nutrition and Food Technology (7): developed
jointly by the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Science and Aarhus School of Business. • BSc in Agriculture, Food and Environment (17): developed jointly by
the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and the Faculty of Science. • MSc in Biosystems Engineering (2): developed jointly by the Faculty
of Agricultural Sciences and the Faculty of Science.
• MSc in Agro-Environmental Management (Agriculture, Nature and
Environment) (5): developed jointly by the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, the National Environmental Research Institute, and the Faculty of Social Sciences.
The university has thus taken a decisive first step towards using the re-search potential at the former governmental rere-search institutions within the degree programmes.
Following the merger between the Institute of Business and Technology in Herning and Aarhus University in 2006, the Faculty of Social Sciences established a specialisation in “Innovation Management” within the framework of the MSc (Economics), as an advanced studies pro-gramme in continuation of the BSc (Economics and Business Admini-stration) at the Institute of Business and Technology in Herning. Teach-ing therefore now takes place at the Institute of Business and Technol-ogy in Herning. The research and education aspects of the teaching are the responsibility of the School of Economics and Management, and the planning and teaching are handled in close collaboration be-tween lecturers at the Institute of Business and Technology in Herning and the School of Economics and Management. A professor has been appointed at the Institute of Business and Technology in Herning to handle the coordination. In 2007 and 2008, approximately 20 students per year enrolled in the degree programme.
The Institute of Business and Technology in Herning also has another new Master’s degree programme, viz. a new graduate engineering degree in Technology Based Business Development – MSc (Engineer-ing). The degree programme is offered jointly by the Institute of Busi-ness and Technology in Herning, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science, and 29 students were enrolled in the first intake in 2008.
To this should be added a new Master’s degree programme in Public Management, developed by the University of Southern Denmark in col-laboration with the Faculty of Social Sciences and Aarhus School of Business at Aarhus University. The first students will be admitted in summer 2009.
In general, there is considerable collaboration across all sectors of Aar-hus University in relation to entire degree programmes, as well as at the level of the individual module or subject. Examples are collaboration
But unfortunately barri-ers hinder the estab-lishment of new degree programmes
Reasons for rejecting degree programmes cannot be attributed to lack of quality or rele-vance
about supplementary degree programmes and different types of mod-ules and subjects.
Degree programmes not yet introduced
In addition to the above-mentioned new and approved degree pro-grammes, Aarhus University has, since the merger, worked on a number of initiatives that have not yet been carried out. There are different rea-sons for this, but in general, the rejection of new degree programme applications by either the accreditation institution ACE Denmark or the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation because of ob-jections from the Ministry of Education has blocked innovative educa-tion initiatives that were intended to maximise the benefit of the merg-ers. In the opinion of the university, the authorities have been too con-servative regarding innovation and new developments in the educa-tional sector, and this conservative approach has hampered the reali-sation of the potential synergies presented by the merger, synergies which have the full backing of Aarhus University with its strength and emphasis on quality. This applies specifically to the following degree programmes:
• BSc in Education developed jointly by the Danish School of
Educa-tion, the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Science (accredi-tation granted, but rejected by the Danish Ministry of Science, Tech-nology and Innovation).
• MSc in Innovation and Technology Management prepared by
Aar-hus School of Business as a precursor to further development of de-gree programmes in collaboration with other main academic ar-eas, e.g. the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and the Faculty of Sci-ence (accreditation refused).
• MSc in Food Chain Management developed jointly by Aarhus
School of Business and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (ac-creditation refused).
• MSc in Human Security: Environmental Change and Conflict
Man-agement developed jointly by the Faculty of Humanities, the Fac-ulty of Agricultural Sciences and the FacFac-ulty of Science (accredita-tion refused).
These degree programmes were rejected for reasons that varied con-siderably.
The rejection of the BSc in Education cannot be attributed to a lack of quality or relevance, as it was accredited by ACE Denmark, but subse-quently rejected by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. The rejection can primarily be ascribed to the fact that the degree pro-gramme cut across the ministerial areas of responsibility of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Ministry of Education. If the BSc in Education had been approved by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, it would have broken the monopoly on teaching degree programmes currently held by the Ministry of Educa-tion and the university colleges. However, the university maintains its
… but have been justified with reference to a lack of academic progression
… and non-existent his-torical documentation
Rejections undermine the intentions of the mergers
Many new initiatives within a short period of time
The Inner Education Market and the quality policy are the points of departure for new de-gree programmes
vision for a degree programme for teachers, and continues to work on its development with relevant parties.
The rejections of the first two proposals for Master’s degrees were due to Aarhus University and ACE Denmark having different definitions and interpretations of the progression from the qualifying Bachelor’s degree programmes to the multidisciplinary Master’s degree programmes. In practice the accreditation institution’s rejection makes it very difficult to develop multidisciplinary Master’s degree programmes that include new subject areas at a Master’s degree level, which would in turn con-tribute to creating a more open and flexible educational system that allows the students to switch subjects when progressing from the Bachelor to the Master’s degree level.
The proposal for a Master’s degree programme in Human Security: En-vironmental Change and Conflict Management is an attempt, based on humanistic disciplines and in collaboration with researchers within science, social science and agriculture, at developing new interdiscipli-nary degree programmes that meet the need of the future international job market. The degree programme was rejected by ACE Denmark primarily on the grounds that the existence of this job market had been insufficiently documented. The field is very new, which makes it difficult to argue for the relevance of the degree programme and therefore for the job market for future candidates, especially as ACE Denmark re-quires historical documentation. However, Aarhus University is working on the submission of a new and amended application following a dis-cussion with ACE Denmark.
It is the perception of Aarhus University that the rejections are contrary to the intentions behind the mergers of the Danish School of Education, the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Aarhus School of Business with Aarhus University, as multidisciplinary collaboration about education within these areas was one of the reasons behind the mergers.
Opportunities and challenges
The opportunities presented by the mergers within the educational sec-tor have been approached with great vision and ambition. The univer-sity has launched significant initiatives within the short period of time since the mergers. Its vision is to become a leader within the develop-ment of degree programmes that meet the requiredevelop-ments of the future. Aarhus University therefore intends to further develop its degree pro-gramme portfolio in the coming years based on the experience ac-quired and the future needs of society anticipated by the university. In that context, it is important that the engineering degree programmes in Aarhus are fully integrated and developed.
The university has made a very ambitious and targeted effort to create the relevant internal framework with common educational standards and goals primarily in the form of “The Inner Education Market” and a clear policy on quality. However, considerable barriers have been pre-sented by the accreditation institution ACE Denmark’s handling of
ap-Need for new ACE view of academic progression
Need for uniform subsidy ratings
Geographical spread creates barriers and presents opportunities
… but the mergers clearly create international potential
plications for new degree programmes as well as the distribution of responsibility between the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innova-tion and the Ministry of EducaInnova-tion.
Aarhus University finds that the central government authorities fail to fully recognise the university’s capacities and qualifications. This lack of recognition locks the university into a traditional structure with degree programmes based on single subject areas. In particular, ACE Den-mark’s approach to progression within the educational system and its requirements with regard to documentation present challenges to Aar-hus University. The strategy of developing and offering new degree programmes that meet future needs and make full use of the univer-sity’s breadth and academic competences has therefore turned out to be more difficult to achieve than expected prior to the mergers.
Another very important challenge to the goal of interdisciplinary col-laboration is the existence of different levels of funding for the individ-ual degree programmes (taximeter level). In addition, there are no im-mediate financial incentives to collaborating across the main aca-demic areas because of a general situation of underfunding. In 2008, the university adopted principles for the Inner Education Market that aim to remove these obstacles and create a common understanding throughout the main academic areas of the direction of Aarhus Univer-sity’s education policy.
Although the mergers enable the university to draw on a wide range of research and teaching competences for educational activities across different main academic areas, the geographical distance between certain main academic areas constitutes a barrier to the effective use of these possibilities. Efforts are being made to overcome this problem. Basic logistics regarding transportation and lesson planning can be very complicated. This particularly applies to the collaboration be-tween the departments of the National Environmental Research Insti-tute in Roskilde, which is the reason for the continued collaboration between the National Environmental Research Institute and, in particu-lar, the University of Copenhagen. On the other hand, the geographical spread of the university’s activities all over Denmark gives the university an opportunity to create local relationships with future students and help ensure the continued relevance of the degree programmes through close contact with future employers of university graduates. These employers cover all major sectors in Danish society.
Outside Denmark, the merger and the university’s position as one of the top 100 universities internationally create excellent opportunities for recruitment of international students and academic staff members, benchmarking and international collaboration in the field of education. The university is of the opinion that its potential has not yet been fully realised and is endeavouring to strengthen its position by means that include a new international strategy. Danish legislation regarding inter-national collaboration in the area of education is, however, very con-servative and restrictive, and severely limits the university’s opportunities in the international education market.
A2. GREATER INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH IMPACT
Brief summary
The potential for ground-breaking, interdisciplinary research has been increased by the mergers. In the two most important interna-tional rankings, “The Times Higher Education World University Rank-ing” and “The Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities”, Aarhus University was the youngest university to achieve a position among the top 100. Other indicators of the high international stan-dard of research at Aarhus University are Centres of Excellence and external research grants and Aarhus University obtains more exter-nal research funding than any other Danish university. The number of external research grants increased from 876 in 2007 to 1,226 in 2008. In addition, Aarhus University today hosts eleven of the Danish National Research Foundation’s 36 Centres of Excellence.
Aarhus University is determined to maintain and expand its interna-tional position and influence. This will require, among other things, that the government ensure a reasonable balance between the non-earmarked and long-term basic funding of the universities and the often more short-term sources of competitive funding. The uni-versity is of the opinion that 60/40 would be a reasonable ratio. The university’s researchers perceive barriers to the full realization of the university’s international research potential not least because of the imbalance between basic funding and competitive funding. It is also absolutely decisive that a sustainable solution to the ranking of research publications be found. In addition, Danish regulations governing academic appointments are out of step with international practice, especially as regards PhD and postdoctoral research fel-lows.
Aarhus University is re-sponsible for 28% of the research results at the Danish universities
Introductory comments
After the mergers, Aarhus University has produced more than 28% of the total number of published research results from universities in Den-mark, and research at the university has great penetration, which is clearly shown in analyses performed by Leiden University. Significant new opportunities have opened up after the mergers for innovative, interdisciplinary collaboration of the highest international standard, in fields such as brain research, neurobiology, climate research, na-noscience and quantitative methods.
Research groups with international impact
International interaction necessary
… in relation to research and talent development
75 % of the resources for research
… with the focus on tal-ent developmtal-ent
Research objectives
The new opportunities are reflected directly in the university’s strategy for 2008–2012, which, as described above, contain ambitious objec-tives within the Excellent research and Focused talent development core activities. One of the objectives is to have research groups of an international standard within the entire range of university fields of in-quiry.
The international relevance and visibility of research is vital for the work of Aarhus University in general – especially as it is the most important parameter for the international research collaboration that the univer-sity wishes to take part in for such areas as researcher recruitment, knowledge accumulation and external funding. In this light, the new possibilities resulting from the merger can be summarised as an in-crease in:
• Visibility – Aarhus University now has even greater breadth and has achieved critical mass in a large number of subject areas and con-sequently has greater international visibility.
• Synergy – Aarhus University now has a broader spectrum of aca-demic subject areas under one management and within one or-ganisation, with new possibilities for strategic academic alli-ances/combinations – internal as well as external.
• Dynamics – Aarhus University now has an opportunity to make its organisational and academic development more flexible and more efficient.
General research initiatives
In order to achieve the ambitious objectives regarding Excellent re-search and Focused talent development defined in the strategy, the university has decided to support ground-breaking research by estab-lishing a framework for original and innovative research work, including research cutting across several main academic areas. It is vital for Aar-hus University to ensure the recruitment of the best international re-searchers and to support researcher mobility so that the research car-ried out at the university continues to be based on the latest interna-tional findings. In addition, the diversity of research staff as regards age, gender and nationality is of great importance, also in relation to in-creasing the number of articles published in recognised periodicals and ensuring that these publications focus on selected target groups.
Aarhus University intends to maintain its position as an elite university and desires to support it by allocating 75% of its resources – directly or indirectly – to research that strengthens the university’s international strategic alliances.
Developing talent is a high-priority area for Aarhus University and the university desires to create an economic framework to ensure that re-searcher training programmes are characterised by creativity and curi-osity. It is important for Aarhus University that its best researchers give
Rankings are a useful tool
Top 100 place in the two most cited rankings
25 % growth in the num-ber of peer-reviewed articles
658 foreign researchers work at Aarhus Univer-sity
Participation in many international networks
priority to the role of supervisor at the Master’s PhD and postdoctoral level.
Specific initiatives and effects
The following section contains selected examples of specific initiatives and already observed effects that are a result of the targeted strategic work.
1. International ranking of universities
A university’s international impact can be measured in many different ways – and is currently measured by a growing number of international rankings. The nature and weight of the parameters included in these rankings can be debated – and they are currently the subject of intense discussion in academic and research policy circles. In any event, uni-versity rankings are absolutely inevitable, and Aarhus Uniuni-versity per-ceives them as a useful tool in its work to achieve its strategy objectives in the field of research.
In the period since the merger, Aarhus University has experienced marked progress in the two most frequently cited international rankings: the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the Shang-hai Academic Ranking of World Universities. In 2008, Aarhus University was the youngest university in the world to number amongst the top 100 in both of these prestigious rankings, as reflected in the position of number 93 in the Shanghai list and number 81 in the Times Higher ranking (after being number 114 in 2007 and 126 in 2006).
Aarhus University has also experienced a marked increase in the num-ber of peer-reviewed scientific articles produced from approximately 3,250 in 2006 and approximately 3,600 in 2007 to approximately 4,000 in 2008, corresponding to a growth of just under 25%. These figures include all the institutions that formed part of Aarhus University in 2007. 2. Internationalisation
Aarhus University gives extremely high priority to its international visibil-ity, and the effect of the university’s initiatives is perhaps best measured, irrespective of relevant reservations, by the international university rank-ings. Since the merger in 2007, Aarhus University has experienced a satisfactory increase in international mobility. In 2007 and 2008 respec-tively 71 and 101 researchers from Aarhus University worked for exten-sive periods of time at foreign research institutions. In 2007 and 2008 there were respectively 574 and 658 foreign researchers who spent considerable time at Aarhus University.
Researchers and research environments at Aarhus University are in-volved in a large number of more or less formalised collaborations on research projects, the use of a broader infrastructure, and the mobility of young researchers. Aarhus University participates in several interna-tional strategic university networks. As an example, the university par-ticipates actively in the Coimbra Group, which consists of 38 European elite universities with the following declared purpose:
