Århus University
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Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...
. Its main campus is located in
Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the
Coimbra Group The Coimbra Group (CG) is an international association of 40 universities in Europe. It was established in 1985. It works for the benefit of its members by promoting "internationalization, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and rese ...
, the Guild, and
Utrecht Network The Utrecht Network is a network of European universities. Founded in 1987, the network promotes the internationalisation of tertiary education through summer schools, student and staff exchanges and joint degrees. It is operated by the Universit ...
of European universities and is a member of the
European University Association The European University Association (EUA) represents more than 800 institutions of higher education in 48 countries, providing them with a forum for cooperation and the exchange of information on higher education and research policies. Members of ...
. The university was founded in 1928 in
Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. 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 Bjarne Stroustrup (; ; born 30 December 1950) is a Danish computer scientist, known for the development of the C++ programming language. He led the Large-scale Programming Research department at Bell Labs, served as a professor of computer sci ...
, the inventor of programming language C++;
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 52 ...
; King Frederik X of Denmark; and
Anders Fogh Rasmussen Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the prime minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He became ...
, former prime minister of Denmark and secretary general of NATO. Nobel Laureate
Jens Christian Skou Jens Christian Skou (; 8 October 1918 – 28 May 2018) was a Danish biochemist and Nobel laureate. Early life Skou was born in Lemvig, Denmark to a wealthy family. His father Magnus Martinus Skou was a timber and coal merchant. His mother Ane ...
(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 Trygve Magnus Haavelmo (13 December 1911 – 28 July 1999), born in Skedsmo, Norway, was an economist whose research interests centered on econometrics. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1989. Biography After attendi ...
(Economics, 1989) and
Dale T. Mortensen Dale Thomas Mortensen (February 2, 1939 – January 9, 2014) was an American economist, a professor at Northwestern University, and a winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Early life and education Mortensen was born in Enter ...
(Economics, 2010), were affiliated with the university.


History


Early developments

Aarhus University was founded on 11 September 1928 as ''Universitetsundervisningen i Jylland'' ("University Studies in
Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
") 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 The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...
after
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. 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 Kay Otto Fisker (14 February 1893 – 21 June 1965) was a Danish architect, designer and educator. He is mostly known for his many housing projects, mainly in the Copenhagen area, and is considered a leading exponent of Danish Functionalism. ...
and
Povl Stegmann Povl Christian Stegmann (1888–1944) was a Danish architect remembered for designing Aarhus University in collaboration with Kay Fisker and C. F. Møller. His name is included in the Danish Culture Canon. Early life Born in Aarhus, Stegmann a ...
, 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 . 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 Christian X (; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 until his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, holding the title as a result of the personal union between Denmark and independent Ice ...
,
Queen Alexandrine Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Alexandrine Auguste; 24 December 1879 – 28 December 1952) was Queen of Denmark from 1912 to 1947, as well as Queen of Iceland from 1918 to 1944 as the spouse of King Christian X. Alexandrine was a daughte ...
, 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. Shortages of materials and a stressed economy postponed and delayed further development of Aarhus University. In 1941, construction of the Main Building (''Hovedbygningen'') commenced, a complex to house the university aula (assembly hall) and canteen among academic and administrative purposes. The stringent minimalist and uncompromising functionalistic design of the first university buildings from 1933 had stirred some local dissatisfaction and it was decided that the Main Building should possess more traditional romantic and classical architectural inspirations - although in agreement with the original architectural plan - and also make use of more lavish and expensive materials. The Main Building was finished in 1946 and still stands out from the rest of the university campus as somewhat different in its architectural design. In comparison with the original 4,190m2 floor space of the first buildings, Aarhus University now holds a floor space of 246,000m2 in the University Park alone. A series of buildings outside the main campus adds an additional floor space of 59,000m2.


Faculties

From 1928, Aarhus University offered courses in languages and philosophy, but the students were unable to finish their studies without going to the University of Copenhagen for their final examinations. By request of the Ministry of Education, the Teachers' Association made a draft of how to conduct the final examinations in the humanistic subjects in Aarhus and in the draft, the association proposed that the faculty was named the Faculty of Humanities by analogy with the corresponding faculties in
Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...
,
Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and
) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...
and
Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...
. After negotiations between the faculties in Aarhus and Copenhagen, the king declared on 8 May 1935 that the final university examinations could be held at the Faculty of Philosophy in Copenhagen as well as at the Faculty of Humanities in Aarhus. This was the first final examinations Aarhus University was allowed to hold, but on 24 July 1936 the king granted the Faculty of Humanities the right to hold examinations for the magister degree and in 1940 for the
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
. Aarhus University had offered courses in basic medical subjects from 1933 and on 10 October 1935 the Faculty of Medicine was formally established. The establishment of a Faculty of Medicine in Aarhus was met with some opposition from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Copenhagen. The professors thought that the state should not establish a new faculty until the shortcomings of the old one had been solved. In the end, the professors agreed to sign a recommendation for the new faculty as long as improvements to the old one were not delayed. By 1953, the Faculty of Medicine had been fully built, complete with lectures, professorship chairs, final exams, research facilities and the hospitals of Aarhus had been expanded to meet the demands of clinical training. In 1992, the Faculty of Medicine merged with the dental school and changed its name to Faculty of Health Sciences. In 1998, the new faculty emphasized clinical training for students of the third semester who have frequented one year of anatomy and cell biology, and introduced a new not assessed curriculum of pre-clinical skills laboratory (two hours per week for nine weeks) followed by two weeks of
social medicine Social medicine is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the profound interplay between socio-economic factors and individual health outcomes. Rooted in the challenges of the Industrial Revolution, it seeks to: # Understand how specific soci ...
and an eight-week clinical clerkship at county hospitals. The university established its Faculty of Economics and Law in 1936, but when it offered courses in political science and in psychology (1959 and 1968, respectively), the faculty changed its name to the Faculty of Social Sciences. The faculty had to be funded solely on private donations and once the university demonstrated it had the needed financial means, the Minister of Education recommended the Finance Committee to approve the establishment of the faculty on 27 January 1936 since the state did not have to grant financial support. The Committee approved and by declaration of the king on 5 November 1937, the faculty could hold examinations in economics and law. Courses had been offered in theology since 1932 at the Faculty of Humanities, but in 1942 the Faculty of Theology was formally established. Already on 22 June 1928,
Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...
Balslev of Aarhus had proposed that Universitetsundervisningen i Aarhus (not yet university) taught basic courses in theology. Though the proposal was greeted by the management, the Faculty of Theology in Copenhagen pointed out that it would take three full-time teachers of the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
,
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
and
ecclesiastical history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the ...
, respectively as well as education in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
,
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
by the Faculty of Humanities. At this time, Universitetsundervisningen i Aarhus did not have the financial means to meet these criteria so the case was shelved for the time being. In April 1931, the case reopened, this time by
Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
Skat Hoffmeyer who proposed free teaching in the required subjects. The management asked the faculty in Copenhagen if this was acceptable, but because the teaching was free, the faculty saw it as tutoring rather than actual teaching and they neither approved or disproved of such an approach though they did not see it as actual university teaching. The municipality of Aarhus did not aid with funds and the management deemed a request of the state to be futile so they decided to disregard getting the teaching approved and start it anyway under the supervision of Skat Hoffmeyer. On 5 September 1932 the Reverend Asmund held the first lecture in theology. This private education in theology continued until the university could hire its own professors in 1938, and in 1942 Aarhus University could at long last establish the Faculty of Theology. The Aarhus New University Hospital shares Masonic architectural elements related to its history of seat of the
Danish Order of Freemasons The Danish Order of Freemasons (, abbr.: ''DDFO''), in English also known as the Grand Lodge of Denmark, is a governing body of some Masonic Lodges in Denmark. The Danish Order of Freemasons was founded on 16 November 1858. The Danish Order of F ...
.


Main Building and World War II

In 1938, the university management acknowledged it was time to consider an expansion due to lack of space and overcrowding of the auditoriums. The solution was the Main Building (''Hovedbygningen''), containing both rooms and facilities for new academic areas, as well as housing for the general administration, an assembly hall and a canteen. The building was to be organized according to a principle of institutes so that teaching and research took place in certain rooms with their own library and study for the professor. The construction of the building took place during the
German occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral, but that neutrality did not prevent Nazi Germany from occupying the country soon after the outbreak of war; the occupation lasted until Germany's defeat. The ...
(1940–45) in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, which affected the process in more than one way. No state funds had been involved in the construction of the first university building and a second building for
physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...
,
biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...
, and a
high voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant sp ...
laboratory, but because the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
were against civil use of materials and work forces, the state contributed to the main building. In 1943, the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
,
Sicherheitsdienst ' (, "Security Service"), full title ' ("Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''"), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the Schutzstaffel, SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence ...
,
Geheime Feldpolizei The ''Geheime Feldpolizei'' (; ), shortened to GFP, was the secret military police of the German ''Wehrmacht'' until the end of the Second World War (1945). Its units carried out plainclothes and undercover security work in the field. Their ope ...
and
Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...
set up their regional headquarters in the five student halls of residence on campus. Fearing that the same would happen to the new main building, its completion was delayed. C. F. Møller later wrote that for once there was plenty of time to work on the details of the building, like patterned brickwork, acoustic screens and furniture. Furniture designer Aage Windeleff, designed the furniture specially for the main building, while
Børge Mogensen Børge Mogensen (13 April 1914 – 5 October 1972), was a Danish furniture designer. He was one of the most important among a generation of furniture designers who made the concept of “Danish Modern” known throughout the world. Together wit ...
's industrially produced furniture designs are the most commonly used elsewhere on campus. The presence of the Gestapo in Aarhus led to multiple arrests of Danish resistance fighters and the resistance movement soon realized they needed outside assistance. On 15 October, the leader of the illegal Danish underground army in Jutland, Niels Bennike, sent the following telegram to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
: On 31 October 1944, the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
bombed the Gestapo's headquarters in residence halls 4 and 5, also killing ten civilian workers. 2 Group Bomber Command carried out the bombing by using 25 Mosquito planes. The air strike on the University of Aarhus took place in a heavily populated area and the campus was surrounded by three hospitals. To avoid civilian casualties, the RAF prepared with a model of the campus, shooting at residence halls 4 and 5 with chalk bags. The architect C. F. Møller was in the main building during the air strike but survived and was later dug free from the rubble. The reconstructed main building opened on 11 September 1946.


Since 1970

Aarhus University was an independent institution until 1970, but with management representatives from the city council and the organization of Universitets-Samvirket. Hereafter, the university became a state-run institution under the first University Act. With the next University Act in 1992, external organizations were once again represented in the administration and under the 2003 Act, all Danish universities are governed by a nationwide university board. This board appoints the rector, deans and heads of departments instead of the students. It commenced in January 2004 for the first time and in August 2005, a new rector was appointed. In 1994, the university was a scene of a shooting; three people (including the perpetrator) were killed and two more were injured. Aarhus University has hosted significant musical events. The
Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
played there on April 16, 1972; the recorded performance was part of the group's Europe '72 tour. In the current century, several higher education institutions have been merged with Aarhus University. Following the Danish University reform of 2006, AU merged with the Business and Engineering School in
Herning Herning () is a Denmark, Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 51,782 (1 January 2025)
(now part of faculty of Business and Social Science) and the Danish School of Education in Copenhagen (now part of Faculty of Arts), making the university nationwide and adding 6,000 students. In 2007, the National Environmental Research Institute (NERI), until then part of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, and the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences (DJF), until then part of the
Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
, were merged into AU. The two institutions initially formed separate faculties, which later merged with the Faculty of Science to form the Faculty of Science and Technology. In 2012, Aarhus University's School of Engineering was merged with the university proper, making it Denmark's largest. A major reorganisation of the university effective 1 Jan 2011 reorganised departments into four faculties: Arts, Science and Technology, Health, and Business and Social Sciences. A further reorganisation occurred effective 1 Jan 2020, where Science and Technology was split into two new entities: Faculty of Technical Sciences and Faculty of Natural Sciences.


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 Kay Otto Fisker (14 February 1893 – 21 June 1965) was a Danish architect, designer and educator. He is mostly known for his many housing projects, mainly in the Copenhagen area, and is considered a leading exponent of Danish Functionalism. ...
, C. F. Møller and
Povl Stegmann Povl Christian Stegmann (1888–1944) was a Danish architect remembered for designing Aarhus University in collaboration with Kay Fisker and C. F. Møller. His name is included in the Danish Culture Canon. Early life Born in Aarhus, Stegmann a ...
in collaboration with landscape architect
Carl Theodor Sørensen Søren Carl Theodor Marius Sørensen (24 July 1893 in Altona, Hamburg, Germany – 12 September 1979 in Copenhagen, Denmark) was a Danish landscape architect who is considered to be one of the greatest landscape architects of the 20th century. ...
. 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 Vennelystparken is the oldest park in the city of Aarhus, constructed in the years 1824 to 1830 between the streets ''Vennelyst Boulevard'' and ''Nørrebrogade''. Through the 19th century up to the Second World War the park was a social focal poin ...
, 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 Aarhus Vest (lit.: Aarhus West) or Aarhus V, is a postal district in the city of Aarhus, consisting of Hasle, Herredsvang, Møllevangen and Frydenlund. Quarters and neighborhoods Møllevangen Built primarily in the 1940s, Møllevangen has many f ...
, 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 Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
and
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
takes residence in
Moesgård Manor Moesgård is a former manor house and a listed building in Aarhus Municipality. The current buildings were completed in 1778 and was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places by the Danish Heritage Agency on 17 July 1918. ...
, an old manor house at the new
Moesgård Museum Moesgaard Museum (MOMU) is a Danish regional museum dedicated to archaeology and ethnography. It is located in Beder, a suburb of Aarhus, Denmark. MOMU cooperates with the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, Medieval and Renaissance Archaeolog ...
. Aarhus University also has locations outside of Aarhus. In the city of
Herning Herning () is a Denmark, Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 51,782 (1 January 2025)
, 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. File:Aarhus University, Aarhus (1931).jpg, The Main Building File:Efeu omkring vinduerne, facade mod Universitetsparken.jpg, Typical campus building facade File:Bogtårnet.jpg, The Book Tower File:Bakkehældet, vinter.jpg, Bakkehældet, the first university buildings from 1933 File:Institut for Biomedicin (Aarhus Universitet).jpg, Typical campus buildings, Institute of Biomedicine File:Bartholinbygningen (maj 01).jpg, The Bartholin building File:Søauditorierne (maj 01).jpg, Søauditorierne (The Lake Auditoriums) File:Internationalt Center (AU).jpg, International Center (AU), the Vennelyst Park File:Vennelystparken (maj) 05.jpg, The Vennelyst Park


Dormitories

A large part of the dormitories, e.g.
Børglum Kollegiet Børglum is a Danish village with a population below 200 (1 January 2011) in Hjørring municipality, Region Nordjylland (until December 31, 2006; Løkken-Vrå municipality, North Jutland County). History Børglum was the site of a royal ''gård ...
, and youth accommodation in Aarhus is administered by the non-profit
housing cooperative A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity which owns real estate consisting of one or more residential buildings. The entity is usually a cooperative or a corporation and constitutes a form of housing tenure. Typically hou ...
of Kollegiekontoret or though the public web-platform Ungdomsboliger.dk providing access to student and youth accommodation all across Denmark. Only the (full name: ) dormitories are located on campus and run by Aarhus University; other dormitories are located elsewhere, all across the city. It is also the only dormitory exclusively for students at Aarhus University.


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 Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match * Technical advisor, a person who adv ...
'' – consists of the subjects of environmental sciences, agricultural science, and engineering from the former Faculty of Science and Technology. *''
Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...
'' – consists of the remaining departments which were part of the former Faculty of Science and Technology. *''
Arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...
'' – 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 The Aarhus University School of Business and Social Sciences (in short Aarhus BSS) is one of four faculties of Aarhus University in Denmark. The school consists of seven departments: Economics and Business Economics, Management, Political Science ...
. *''
Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
'' – consists of the former Faculty of Health Sciences.


Academics

, 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. File:Langelandsgades Kaserne (facade) 01.jpg, Aarhus University, School of Communication and Culture, Arts File:Moesgård hovedbygning.jpg, Moesgård Manor, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Arts File:DeptCompSci.jpg, Department of Computer Science, AU, Science and Technology File:Navitas Park 01.JPG, AU Engineering, Science and Technology File:Sektion for Idræt 01.jpg, Section for Sports, Faculty of Health Sciences


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 AU Engineering (Danish: Ingeniørområdet ved Aarhus Universitet) is an umbrella organisation of engineering under Aarhus University. It was established in 2011 and AU Engineering is anchored in four departments: Department of Civil and Architectura ...
and others. Each of these sub-departments offers
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...
or graduate programmes specific to their own field of study. The core academic degree programmes of Aarhus University include the following fields: *Agricultural Sciences *
Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
*Biology *Chemistry *Chinese *Classical
Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
*Classical
Philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
*
Cognitive Science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...
*Cognitive Semiotics *Comparative Religion *
Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
*
Dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...
*Digital Design *
Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
*
Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
*European Studies *Food Science *
Geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
*Geophysics *
History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
*History of Ideas *Information Studies *IT/IT Product Development *
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
*
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
*Law *
Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
*Management *
Mathematical Economics Mathematical economics is the application of Mathematics, mathematical methods to represent theories and analyze problems in economics. Often, these Applied mathematics#Economics, applied methods are beyond simple geometry, and may include diff ...
*Mathematics *Media Studies *Medicine *Prehistoric, Medieval and Renaissance Archaeology *Modern Languages *Molecular Biology *
Musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...
*
Nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...
*Nordic Language and Literature *
Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
*Physics and Astronomy *
Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
*
Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
*Religious Studies *
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
*Scandinavian Studies *
Sports Science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...
*
Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
*The Religious Roots of Europe The university offers eight
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...
and about 60 graduate programmes in English.


Cheminova controversy and academic freedom at AU

Since 1944, Aarhus University owned
Cheminova Cheminova is a Denmark, Danish global company that primarily produces agrochemicals. Its main activities are the identification, development, production, registration and marketing of pesticides for the management of weeds, insects and fungal di ...
, a chemical manufacturer which, among other controversies, has been selling
methyl parathion Parathion methyl, or methyl parathion, is an organophosphate insecticide, possessing an organothiophosphate group. It is structurally very similar to parathion-ethyl. It is not allowed for sale and import in nearly all countries around the world, ...
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. On 30 April 2015, Cheminova was sold to the
FMC Corporation FMC Corporation is an American chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which originated as an insecticide producer in 1883 and later diversified into other industries. In 1941 at the beginning of US involvemen ...
for DKK 8.5 billion, a controversial issue in itself.


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 Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
,
chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
,
biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
,
molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...
,
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
and
computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
.


Danish Centre for Environment and Energy (DCE)

In 2011 the
National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark The National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark, abbreviated NERI, (, abbreviated DMU) was an independent research institute under the Ministry of the Environment. It was created in 1989 by merging the existing laboratories of the Environ ...
(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 Bioscience 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.


Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture (DCA)

Also in 2011 the Agricultural Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture was merged into AU. First as a separate faculty for Agricultural Research, later as part of the Faculty of Technical Sciences. The former departments are now organised as Departments of Agroecology, Animal Sciences, and Food Science, together with a common secretariat: Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture (DCA). The core obligations of DCA is to provide advice and supporting research to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, while the departments also engage in independent research and teaching. The Global Rust Reference Center provides testing and investigation services of new and difficult cases of wheat stem rust/black stem rust.


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 A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizatio ...
(''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). Besides the Student Union, there are political student organisations at the university often connected to the Danish political parties, the largest of which include the Social-Democratic Students (''Frit Forum''), Conservative Students (''Konservative Studenter''), and Liberal Students (''Liberale Studerende''). The Conservative Students union publishes the student magazine ''Critique''. The Liberal Students union publishes the leaflet Minerva.


Clubs and societies

Aarhus University offers many activities and services for foreign and Danish students. Several "Friday Bars", clubs organized and crewed by students at the university offer cheap beer and drinks, which has a wide appeal to the student body.


Students House

Studenternes Hus (The Students House) was built in 1964 at the central campus to accommodate students organisations, activities, festivities and gatherings. Among many other things, the buildings are headquarters to the students organisation ''Studenterhus Aarhus'', and Aarhus University offers a free membership to all exchange students. The Students House is a meeting place for international and Danish students in Aarhus and ''Studenterhus Aarhus'' organize social and cultural activities throughout the year, ranging from parties and road trips, to language classes and weekly international nights (a popular dinner club). The Students' House including the Student bar used to be run by the independent Studenterhusfonden, but was taken over by the university itself in 2020.


Aarhus University Sports (AUS)

AUS is the official sports club of Aarhus University, and is open to all university students. It is an umbrella organisation consisting of 18 independent member clubs, which host a wide range of activities, from badminton to fencing to chess. In addition, AUS also offers independent activities such as indoor soccer tournaments, badminton facilities, and surfing trips.


Dale's Café

Dale's Café is a meeting place for international students and the university's PhD students that opened in 2011. The café offers coffee, sandwiches and a wide selection of beers. It has an informal lounge area where students and young researchers can relax while enjoying snacks and beverages. Like the main building, Dale's Café is named after Aarhus University's 2010 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Dale T. Mortensen. The Dale T. Mortensen Building houses the International Centre, the PhD House and the IC Dormitory, which contains 28 dorm rooms and two apartments dedicated to recently arrived international PhD students.


Klubben

Klubben (in English 'the club') is a bar located at the former ASB (Aarhus School of Business), now under the faculty of School of Business and Social Sciences. The bar is open during regular school hours and weekdays, but hosts larger parties during Fridays and in relation to major sports events. Admittance is usually restricted to students of the School of Business and Social Sciences.


Studenterlauget

Studenterlauget, School of Business and Social Sciences (at the former ASB) is currently the largest student organisation in Denmark. The organisation has approximately 4,000 members whom they service through nine smaller "business units". Studenterlauget has around 300 student employees.


University museums

Aarhus University operates a number of museums, both in and outside the university campus: *
Moesgaard Museum Moesgaard Museum (MOMU) is a Danish regional museum dedicated to archaeology and ethnography. It is located in Beder, Denmark, Beder, a suburb of Aarhus, Denmark. MOMU cooperates with the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, Medieval and Renaiss ...
(MOMU) * Steno Museum * Ole Rømer Observatory * Aarhus Botanical Gardens and greenhouses *
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...
*
Museum of Ancient Art A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...


Notable faculty and alumni, and students


Former and current faculty

*Torben M. Andersen, professor, former chairman of the Welfare Commission * Lars Arge, Danish computer scientist *
Ole Barndorff-Nielsen Ole Eiler Barndorff-Nielsen (18 March, 1935 – 26 June, 2022) was a Danish statistician who has contributed to many areas of statistical science. Education and career He was born in Copenhagen, and became interested in statistics when, as a ...
, Danish statistician *
Susanne Bødker Susanne Bødker (born 1956 in Randers, Denmark) is a Danish computer scientist known for her contributions to human–computer interaction, computer-supported cooperative work, and participatory design, including the introduction of activity theory ...
, Danish computer scientist * Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard, Danish astronomer *
Ivan Damgård Ivan Bjerre Damgård (born 1956) is a Danish cryptographer and currently a professor at the Department of Computer Science, Aarhus University, Denmark. Ivan is the co-founder of CryptomathicPartisiaand Sepior. Ivan is a Professor and head of the ...
, Danish cryptographer *
Jennifer Kewley Draskau Margaret Jennifer Kewley Draskau (died 21 October 2024) was a Manx historian, linguist, teacher, political candidate and prominent figure in Isle of Man culture. She published several books, with her most notable work being the 2008 grammar, sp ...
, Manx historian, linguist, teacher and political candidate *
Tom Fenchel Tom Michael Fenchel (born 19 March 1940, in Copenhagen) is a Danish marine ecologist and professor first at the University of Aarhus, later at the University of Copenhagen. He is a highly cited scientist and known for, among other things, Fenche ...
, Danish marine ecologist * David Field, physicist * Albert Gjedde, Danish-Canadian Neuroscientist *
David Gress David Richard Gress (born 29 January 1953) is a Danish historian, known for his 1998 survey ''From Plato to Nato'' on Western identity and grand narratives. Life He was born in Copenhagen, the son of R. W. B. Lewis, an American literary histo ...
, Danish-American historian *
Poul Jørgensen (chemist) Poul Jørgensen (born 2 March 1944 in Silkeborg, Denmark) is professor of chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University (AU), Denmark and director of the qLEAP Center for Theoretical Chemistry at AU, which was established in April 2 ...
, Director of the qLEAP center for theoretical chemistry * Selin Kara, full professor and head of Industrial Biotechnology section *
Kai Larsen Kai Larsen (15 November 1926 in Hillerød – 23 August 2012) was a Denmark, Danish botanist. Kai Larsen was professor of botany (Emeritus from 1-12-1996) at University of Aarhus, Århus University, Denmark. He was the Danish editor of Flora ...
, Danish botanist *
Knud Ejler Løgstrup Knud Ejler Løgstrup (2 September 1905 – 20 November 1981) was a Danish philosopher and theologian. His work, which combines elements of phenomenology, ethics and theology, has exerted considerable influence in postwar Nordic thought. More re ...
, Danish
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
and
theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
,
Pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...
at Sandager-Holevad from 1936 to 1943, professor at
University of Aarhus Aarhus University (, 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 Utr ...
from 1943 to 1975 * Ib Madsen, Danish mathematician * Birte Melsen, Danish Orthodontist *
Bertel Møhl Bertel Møhl (2 January 1936 – 13 September 2017) was a Danish marine zoologist and physiologist. He contributed significantly to the understanding of auditory physiology and bioacoustics of bats and marine mammals. Bertel Møhl was born in C ...
, Danish marine zoologist and physiologist * Jeremy Morris, British ethnographer and political anthropologist *
Helmuth Nyborg Helmuth Sørensen Nyborg (born 5 January 1937) is a Danish psychologist, writer, far-right politician and former Olympic canoeist. He is a former professor of developmental psychology at Aarhus University. His main research topic is the connect ...
, Danish professor of developmental psychology *
Kristen Nygaard Kristen Nygaard (27 August 1926 – 10 August 2002) was a Norwegian computer scientist, programming language pioneer, and politician. Internationally, Nygaard is acknowledged as the co-inventor of object-oriented programming and the programming ...
, Norwegian computer scientist (1975-1976), Turing Award *
Kjeld Philip Kjeld Løwenstein Philip (3 April 1912 in Copenhagen – 27 October 1989) was a Danish economist and politician representing the Danish Social Liberal Party. He was Trade Minister from 1957 to 1960 as member of the Cabinet of H. C. Hansen I ...
, Danish economist and politician * Rubina Raja, Professor of Classical Archaeology and leader of The Danish National Research Foundation's Center of Excellence for Urban Network Evolutions * Katherine Richardson, Biological oceanographer *
Jens Christian Skou Jens Christian Skou (; 8 October 1918 – 28 May 2018) was a Danish biochemist and Nobel laureate. Early life Skou was born in Lemvig, Denmark to a wealthy family. His father Magnus Martinus Skou was a timber and coal merchant. His mother Ane ...
, Danish chemist and Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry 1997 * Johannes Sløk, Danish philosopher and theologian *
Benjamin K. Sovacool Benjamin K. Sovacool is an American and British academic who is director of the Institute for Global Sustainability at Boston University as well as Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University. He was formerly Director of the Danish Ce ...
, director of the Center for Energy Technology at AU-Herning and a professor of social sciences *
Harald Thamdrup Harald Mogensen Thamdrup (17 May 1908 – 13 November 1998) was a Danish people, Danish biologist and science organizer. Thamdrup was a professor of zoology at Aarhus University 1959-1975 – the first in that chair. He also served as a director ...
, Danish zoologist * Gunnar Svane, Danish linguist


Alumni

*
Yildiz Akdogan Yildiz Akdogan (born 29 April 1973) is a Turkish-Danish politician, who was a member of the Folketing for the Social Democrats from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2014 to 2019. Along with Özlem Cekic, she was one of the first female immigrant poli ...
, (MSc in political science 2006) Danish politician, Member of the Danish Parliament since 2007. * Morten Albæk, (MA in history (minor in philosophy) former group senior vice president i Vestas Wind Systems, named one of the 100 most innovative marketing leaders in 2011, 2012 and 2013 by the magazine, The Internationalist. * Svend Auken, (MSc in political science 1969) Danish politician. Chairman of the
Danish Social Democrats The Social Democrats ( , , S) is a Social democracy, social democratic list of political parties in Denmark, political party in Denmark. A member of the Party of European Socialists, the Social Democrats have 50 out of 179 members of the Danish p ...
1987–1992. *
Dorete Bloch Dorete Bloch, married name Dorete Bloch Danielsen, (14 June 1943 in Rungsted – 28 February 2015 in Tórshavn) was a Danish zoologist, former director of (the Faroes Natural History Museum), editor of ''Fróðskaparrit'' and author of numerous ...
, (MSc in zoology 1970) Danish zoologist. *
Tim Bollerslev Tim Peter Bollerslev (born May 11, 1958) is a Danish economist, currently the ''Juanita and Clifton Kreps Professor of Economics'' at Duke University. A fellow of the Econometric Society, Bollerslev is known for his ideas for measuring and foreca ...
, (MSc in economics and mathematics 1983) Danish Econometrician. Inventor of the
GARCH In econometrics, the autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) model is a statistical model for time series data that describes the variance of the current error term or innovation as a function of the actual sizes of the previous time ...
model. *
Jens-Peter Bonde Jens-Peter Rossen Bonde (27 March 1948 – 4 April 2021) was a Danish politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) with the June Movement. He resigned as an MEP in May 2008. Bonde was elected to the European Parliament in the ...
, Danish journalist, author, politician, and Member of the European Parliament 1979–2008. * Michael E. Caspersen, (MS 1987, PhD 2007), Danish computer scientist and educator * John Degnbol-Martinussen (PhD) political scientist. * John Frandsen, (MA in music 1982) Danish composer, organist and conductor. * Aage Frandsen, Danish politician, Member of the Danish Parliament 1971–1975, 1987–1990, and 1994–2005. *
King Frederik X Frederik X (Frederik André Henrik Christian, ; born 26 May 1968) is King of Denmark. He acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2024. Frederik is the eldest son of Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. He was born during the ...
, (MSc in political science 1995),
King of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional political system, institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous administrative division, autonomous territories of the Faroe Is ...
since 2024. *
Søren Gade Søren Gade Jensen (born 27 January 1963) is a Danish politician who has been list of speakers of the Folketing, Speaker of the Folketing since November 2022, representing the Liberalism, Liberal party, Venstre (Denmark), Venstre. He was a Liberal ...
, (MSc in economics 1990) Danish politician, Minister of Defence and Member of the Danish Parliament. *
Lene Hau Lene Vestergaard Hau (; born November 13, 1959) is a Danish physicist and educator. She is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics at Harvard University. In 1999, she led a Harvard University team who, by use of a Bose–E ...
, (MSc 1986, PhD 1991 in physics) Danish physicist. *
Bertel Haarder Bertel Geismar Haarder (born 7 September 1944) is a Danish writer, teacher and politician, who was a member of the Folketing for the Venstre political party. He has served as minister several times, including Minister of Education from 1982 to 1 ...
, (MSc in political science 1971) Danish politician, Member of the Danish Parliament. *
Niels Jacobsen Niels Jacobsen (14 September 1865 - 31 January 1935) was a Danish architect and politician who worked primarily in Odense. Biography Born in Aabenraa, Jacobsen was the son of shipbuilder Niels Jacobsen and Marie Kjaer. Jacobsen initially trained ...
, (Msc in economics 1983) CEO of William Demant *
Dan Jørgensen Dan Jannik Jørgensen (; born 12 June 1975) is a Danish politician of the Social Democrats who has served as the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing since 2024. Within Danish politics, he most recently served as Minister for Development ...
, (MSc in political science) Danish politician. Member of the European Parliament since 2004. *
Naser Khader Naser Khader (  Levantine pronunciation: ; born 1 July 1963) is a Syrian-Danish politician and member of the Folketing 2001–2011 and again 2015–2022. Until 2021 he was a member of the Conservative People's Party. He was first electe ...
, Danish-Syrian politician and Member of the Danish Parliament. Chairman of the Liberal Alliance 2007–2009. *
Lars Knudsen Lars Ramkilde Knudsen (born 21 February 1962) is a Denmark, Danish researcher in cryptography, particularly interested in the design and cryptanalysis, analysis of block ciphers, cryptographic hash function, hash functions and message authentic ...
, (MSc 1992, PhD 1994) Danish cryptographer. *
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp Jørgen Vig Knudstorp (born 21 November 1968) is a Danish businessman who is the current executive chairman of The Lego Group. He succeeded Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen as president and CEO of the company in October 2004, holding the position for over ...
, (MSc 1995, PhD in 1998 in Economics) CEO of the
Lego Group Lego A/S, also known as the Lego Group, is a Danish construction toy production company based in Billund. It manufactures Lego-branded toys, consisting mostly of interlocking ABS plastic and rubber bricks. The Lego Group has also built several ...
*
Johannes Lebech Niels Johannes Lebech (born 12 September 1948) is a Denmark, Danish politician. He is former Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs of Denmark, Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs for the Danish Social Liberal PartyBjørn Lomborg Bjørn Lomborg (; born 6 January 1965) is a Danish political scientist, author, and the president of the think tank Copenhagen Consensus Center. He is the former director of the Danish government's Environmental Assessment Institute (EAI) in ...
, (MSc in political science 1991) Danish author, academic and environmentalist. *
Nils Malmros Nils Malmros (born 1944), a Danish film director and screenwriter, is considered a leading auteur of realism in Danish cinema.Nissen, Dan, ''Malmros, Nils'', International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Gale Group, (2001) retrieved 2 Augus ...
, (MD 1988) Danish film director and screenwriter. *
Madhavan Mukund Madhavan Mukund is the Director and a professor of computer science at Chennai Mathematical Institute, a research and education institute in Chennai, India. He has served as President of Indian Association for Research in Computing Science (IARCS ...
, Director of
Chennai Mathematical Institute Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) is a higher education and research institute in Chennai, India. It was founded in 1989 by the SPIC Science Foundation, and offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in physics, mathematics and compute ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. *
Ebbe Nielsen Ebbe Schmidt Nielsen (7 June 1950 – 7 March 2001) was a Danish entomologist influential in systematics and Lepidoptera research, and an early proponent of biodiversity informatics. The journal ''Invertebrate Systematics'' was established with si ...
, (MSc in Zoology 1976) Danish entomologist. *
Kjeld Philip Kjeld Løwenstein Philip (3 April 1912 in Copenhagen – 27 October 1989) was a Danish economist and politician representing the Danish Social Liberal Party. He was Trade Minister from 1957 to 1960 as member of the Cabinet of H. C. Hansen I ...
, (MSc in economics) Danish economist and politician. *
Anders Fogh Rasmussen Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the prime minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He became ...
, (MSc in Economics 1978)
Prime Minister of Denmark The prime minister of Denmark (, , ) is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Before the creation of the modern office, the kingdom did not init ...
from 2001 until 2009.
Secretary General of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance with 32 member states. The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinat ...
from August 2009 until October 2014. *
Lars Rasmussen (software developer) Lars Eilstrup Rasmussen is a Denmark, Danish computer scientist, technology executive, and the co-founder of Google Maps. He was later the director of engineering for Facebook, Inc., Facebook in London.Hutcheon, StephenWhy I quit Google to join ...
, (MSc in Mathematics and Computer Science 1990) Danish computer scientist, software developer, and co-founder of
Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...
. *
Høgni Reistrup Høgni Reistrup (artistic name ''Högni Reistrup'', born 1984) is a Faroese singer, musician, writer and scientist from Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. He is the co-writer of the book ''Exit Føroyar'' (which means ''Exit Faroe Islands''); he wrote it ...
, (BA in Media studies and Organisational Development 2008 from Aarhus University and MA in Media Studies 2010 from the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...
), co-writer of the book ''Exit Føroyar'' which created debate about the declining population in the Faroe Islands. * Jan Beyer Schmidt-Sørensen (Msc in Economics 1983 from Aarhus University and PhD in 1990 in Economics from Aarhus School of Business) former Rector of
Aarhus School of Business The Aarhus University School of Business and Social Sciences (in short Aarhus BSS) is one of four faculties of Aarhus University in Denmark. The school consists of seven departments: Economics and Business Economics, Management, Political Science ...
(now Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Sciences) and Director of Business Development at
Aarhus Municipality Aarhus Municipality (), known as Århus Municipality () until 2011, is a ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'' in the Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and ...
. *
Tøger Seidenfaden Tøger Seidenfaden (28 April 1957 – 27 January 2011) was a Danish journalist and political scientist, and, from 1993 until his death, editor-in-chief of the broadsheet newspaper ''Politiken''. His father, Erik Seidenfaden, was also a journali ...
, (MSc in political science 1983) Danish journalist. Editor-in-chief at
Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...
1993–2011. *
Bjarne Stroustrup Bjarne Stroustrup (; ; born 30 December 1950) is a Danish computer scientist, known for the development of the C++ programming language. He led the Large-scale Programming Research department at Bell Labs, served as a professor of computer sci ...
, (MSc in Mathematics and Computer Science 1975) Danish inventor, designer and original implementer of the C++ programming language. * Folmer Wisti, founder of the Danish Cultural Institute *
Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 5 ...
, the
queen regnant A queen regnant (: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort, who is married to a reigning ...
of Denmark from 1972 to 2024, studied archaeology and political science during 1961–1962. * Jens Peter Christensen, (MSc in Political Science in 1982 and Doctor of Law 1997). President of the Supreme Court since the 1st of November 2022.


International recognition

Aarhus University is highly ranked by international organizations and maintains its own page listing its current rankings. It is ranked 71st by the
Shanghai Ranking The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...
(2021), 89th by National Taiwan University Ranking (2018), 95th by the '' U.S. News & World Report'' (2018), 106th by ''
Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...
'' (2021), and 155th by ''
QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...
'' (2021).


Partner universities and membership

Aarhus University is a member of the
Coimbra Group The Coimbra Group (CG) is an international association of 40 universities in Europe. It was established in 1985. It works for the benefit of its members by promoting "internationalization, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and rese ...
and of the
Utrecht Network The Utrecht Network is a network of European universities. Founded in 1987, the network promotes the internationalisation of tertiary education through summer schools, student and staff exchanges and joint degrees. It is operated by the Universit ...
. Aarhus university is also an active member of the
University of the Arctic The University of the Arctic (UArctic) is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arcti ...
. UArctic is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of more than 200 universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arctic region. The university participates in UArctic's mobility program north2north. The aim of that program is to enable students of member institutions to study in different parts of the North.


See also

* Annual Regatta at Aarhus University *
List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945) The list of modern universities in Europe (1801–1940) contains all University, universities that were founded in Europe after the French Revolution and before the end of World War II. Universities are regarded as comprising all institutions ...


References

; Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * * * *


External links

*
Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus UniversityNational Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus UniversityDanish School of Education, Aarhus UniversityAarhus University, Institute of Business and Technology
{{authority control
Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
Public universities Universities and colleges established in 1928 Functionalist architecture Modernist architecture in Aarhus Kay Fisker buildings Danish Culture Canon 1928 establishments in Denmark Functionalist architecture in Aarhus 1930s architecture in Denmark