Olympic gold medallist Anne-Marie Rindom, award-winning entrepreneur Simon Rossen and Olympic steeplechase runner Anna Emilie Møller are among the students that the university will pay tribute to on Thursday 28 October for their exceptional results as either elite athletes or entrepreneurs. In fact, AU has been singled out as one of the best European universities for elite athletes who also want to take an advanced degree.

2021.11.04 | Anders Hylander

Photo: Søren Kjeldgaard/AU Foto

Over the past year, a large number of AU students have made a name for themselves by winning medals as elite athletes or awards as entrepreneurs. These students all have one thing in common; they are all part of AU'S Dual Career programme, which helps make it possible for them to pursue a career in entrepreneurship or elite sport alongside their studies.

Thursday 28 October, the Dual Career students who have won medals or awards or who have completed their degree during the past year are invited to the annual celebration of their achievements. The event takes place in Stakladen at Aarhus University with the participation of Pro-rector Berit Eika will participate.

“I am so glad to see that we have an increasing number of students with dual careers at Aarhus University. Over the past year, our Dual Career students have both garnered medals and won awards. Others have also finished their Master’s thesis – as the crowning glory. Each and every one of them is an example of accomplishing something special. And that’s something we’d like to celebrate,” says Berit Eika.

One of the students who will be celebrated at the event on Thursday is the sailing icon Anne-Marie Rindom, who won gold at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer – and who is also taking her Master’s degree in sport science at Aarhus University.

“The opportunity to study while simultaneously being an elite athlete means a lot to me. It is a privilege for me to be able to pursue my sport while also getting an education at Aarhus University at the same time,” says Anne-Marie Rindom.

Emma Hostrup has the award-winning start-up business Textile Change together with Simon Rossen and Ditte Højland, who both are alumni from AU. She explains what the Dual Career programme has meant for her:

“The Dual Career programme has made it possible for me to live out two of my dreams at the same time – getting an education and becoming an entrepreneur. Without the programme, it would not have been possible to do both simultaneously,” says Emma Hostrup, who is pursuing a MScEng degree in chemistry and biotechnology.

AU is ‘European champion’ in educating elite athletes

300 elite athletes are currently taking an advanced degree at AU – and the number increases each year. At the same time, the elite athlete-students are well represented among Danish medalists. 

In a European research project from 2020, Aarhus University was highlighted as one of the best universities in Europe for elite athletes who also want an education at the highest level.

Runner Anna Emilie Møller, who is originally from Zealand, is one of the athletes who chose Aarhus University on the strength of the the Dual Career programme.

“I had to find a place where I could combine my sport and my degree programme, and I know that Aarhus University does a good job of giving elite athletes flexible conditions, while the city also has good training facilities,” she said to Team Danmark last year.

About AU’s Dual Career programme:

• Gives information, student guidance and advice about academic support services to current and future students with parallel careers at a high level within elite sport and entrepreneurship.
• The programme assists them by offering advice and guidance, administrative assistance, personal support and access to training facilities or the entrepreneurship incubator.