Aalborg University

History

Aalborg University (AAU) was founded in 1974 under the name of Aalborg University Center (AUC) as a result of a series of mergers between a number of institutions, which made it possible to create a single university with several faculties. At its establishment in 1974, AUC had a Faculty of Humanities, a Faculty of Social Science and a Faculty of Technical-Natural Science . In 1994, AUC changed name to Aalborg University (AAU). Although AAU is a young university in Denmark with its 40 years of history, the university has some even greater roots such as the Master of Science programme in Surveying and Mapping Programme, which is the oldest education at Aalborg University, originally created in 1768. The Surveying and Mapping programme still exists at Aalborg University and is offered both in Aalborg and at the university's department in Copenhagen. Aalborg University's roots can be traced back to e.g. a number of older institutions, which now are part of the university such as The Business School Department in Aalborg founded in 1920, National Building Research Institute established in 1947, Esbjerg Engineering College established in 1955, The School of Social Work in Aalborg founded in 1966, The National Engineering Academy established in 1967 and Copenhagen Business School Aalborg Department established in 1969. Since its establishment in 1974, AAU has been characterised by a problem-based and project-oriented teaching method. In 1995, AAU opened a department in Esbjerg by merging with Esbjerg Engineering College; in 1996, the School of Architecture & Design was created; in 2003, Aalborg University opened a department in Copenhagen; and in 2010, the School of Medicine was created.

Profile

Aalborg University differentiates itself from the older and more traditional Danish universities with its focus on interdisciplinary, inter-faculty studies; an experimental curriculum based on an interdisciplinary basic course with subsequent specialisation; a pedagogical structure based on problem-centred, real-life projects of educational and research relevance – which internationally has become known and recognised as The Aalborg Model. With the problem-based, project-organised model, semesters at AAU are centred around complex real-life problems which students attempt to find answers to in a scientific manner while working together in groups. In February 2007, the foundation of the UICEE Centre for Problem Based Learning (UCPBL) paid recognition to Aalborg University, which subsequently led to the appointment of AAU as UNESCO Chair in problem-based learning.

Administration and organisation

The university is governed by a board consisting of 11 members: 6 members recruited outside the university form the majority of the board, 2 members are appointed by the scientific staff, 1 member is appointed by the administrative staff, and 2 members are appointed by the university students. 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 the university has no faculty governance.

Faculties and departments

Aalborg University has five faculties with a number of departments, schools, centres and study boards. Since 1 January 2007, AAU has been divided into the following faculties;

Library

Aalborg University Library is a public research library for the North Jutland region. The library's primary mission is to support research and education at Aalborg University by providing appropriate information and documentation. The University Library is geographically located at Langagervej 2 in Aalborg, which is linked to smaller branches located on other campuses in Aalborg, Esbjerg and Copenhagen.

Campuses

Special action areas and cross-disciplinary research

AAU conducts research within all faculties. Aalborg University is among the leading universities in the world within health technology research, wireless communication, energy, computer science, innovation economics and comparative welfare studies. AAU has established centres for telecommunication at Birla Institute of Technology in India, at Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia, and at the University of Rome. Furthermore, AAU has established a research centre for health technology at Xi'an Jiaotong University in China.

AAU has conducted several experiments in the field of CubeSat technology. The first AAU CubeSat was launched on 30 June 2003, the second (called AAUSAT-II) on 28 April 2008 and the third will be launched in Q1, 2013. After launching AAUSAT3 the fourth will begin development.

AAU has always adopted a cross-disciplinary, problem-based approach to research which often requires contributions from a number of scientific disciplines. Aalborg University has five cross-disciplinary action areas:

International relations

Although Aalborg University has had strong regional ties since its establishment in 1974, internationalisation is a cornerstone in AAU's strategy and development. Thereby, AAU is a local university with an international outlook. AAU focuses on international collaboration within research and has, among other things, established a department for wireless communication and satellite navigation at University of Rome Tor Vergata, and the University of Calcutta in India and two centres for telecommunications, one at Birla Institute of Technology in India and one at Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia.

25% of the University's researchers are non-Danish and 10 per cent of the student body of Aalborg University is made up of international students.

Cooperative agreements with other universities and colleges

Notable alumni as well as persons current and previous associated with Aalborg University