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The faculty is restarting its European travel pool

Academic staff at Health can now apply for funding for an inspirational trip to one of AU’s six partner universities in the European Circle U. University Alliance. The Vice-Dean for Education is pleased that it will soon be possible to resume travel activities in the university alliance – now with a pool of DKK one million.

2021.05.06 | Simon Byrial Fischel

A new pool of one million kroner will boost health's commitment to the European University Alliance Circle-U.

Berlin, Belgrade or Brussels? If you need some inspiration from your European colleagues, here is the opportunity to apply for funding from the faculty's new travel pool, which is earmarked for stays at the universities in Circle U., a university alliance that Aarhus University entered into in 2018 with six other research-intensive universities.

Over the next two years, the faculty management team will make one million Danish kroner available annually to finance visits for networking and finding inspiration for academic staff. You can apply for DKK 20,000 per person, and the grants are given to individuals or groups of up to four. Academic staff who are at least at postdoc level and with at least fifty per cent employment at Health can apply. If you apply as a group, up to one student and one non-academic employee can also be granted funding for a visit.

You can read more about the pool and how to apply here

Teaching in focus

Although applications can be made for funding from the pool for both educational and research activities, Vice-dean for Education Lise Wogensen Bach hopes to see many applications focusing on education and teaching within the faculty's subject areas. "We’ve chosen to first and foremost utilise the pool in support of the internationalisation of our degree programmes and teaching and I encourage members of boards of study and groups of teaching staff within the same subject area to apply for funding for group trips," she says.

"Health must continue to offer degree programmes of the highest international level, and we can only do that if we continually pay attention to the world around us and see what our most talented colleagues do," she says, adding: "Whether you use the funds for short visits lasting a couple of days or as a subsidy for a longer stay, I'm certain that it’ll be a really beneficial investment. So I want to really encourage everyone to make use of this opportunity to build new relations and bring valuable inspiration back to Health.”

Delayed by the pandemic

Back in February 2020, the faculty was ready to open for applications for the pool with the intention of boosting Health's engagement in the Circle-U alliance. However, it quickly became clear that 2020 was not the time for travelling abroad. Despite the fact that the pandemic is not yet over, Lise Wogensen Bach believes that it is again time to think long-term – also when it comes to international collaborations.

"The past year has forced us to be reactive on many fronts, and if there is one thing we’ve learned, it’s that circumstances can change quickly. That being said, we in the faculty management team believe that the time has come for us to start planning this kind of travel activity again in a sensible way. We must exploit the enormous potential that the university alliance offers to share experiences with our international peers," says the vice-dean.

In addition to Aarhus University, the Circle U. University Alliance comprises:

Read more about the Circle U. alliance.

 

Contact

International Advisor Tanja Hansen
Dean’s Secretariat, Health
Mobile: (+45) 9350 8108
Email: tanja.hansen@au.dk

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