Newsletter July 2023

Lagt online: 05.06.2023

IN THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER YOU CAN READ ABOUT:

Summer Seminar: Confirm Participation and New Pick-Up Points
Department Summer Meeting (16 June)
Who’s who: Timo Kirwa
Energy Saving Measures at Laboratory Facilities
Changes Regarding Bread and Fruit During the Summertime
Power Outage: 2 August (Fredrik Bajers Vej 5)
Get Public Research Impact – Learn by the Best in English or Danish
News About Researchers and Students
New AAU Research Indicator Approved
The Department Report 2023 (2018-2022)
VBN Courses Fall 2023
Requisition of Teaching
New Guidelines For Teachers
Funding For Educational Mobilities with Partners Outside EU
Hiring Process for Future Head of Secretariat
Administration’s Holiday Calendar
Changes In the Communications Area
Future events
Minutes and Agendas from Department Committees

SUMMER SEMINAR: CONFIRM PARTICIPATION AND NEW PICK-UP POINTS

As a consequence of the financial situation, it has been decided to adjust the Summer Seminar down to one day in Horsens: Thursday, 17 August 2023. We sincerely hope that you will still be able to participate. If you haven't already confirmed your attendance, we kindly request that you do (we have sent an email with a new sign-up link) or you can sign-up her:

To confirm your attendance (Aalborg), simply click here
To confirm your attendance (Esbjerg), simply click here
If these changes make it possible for you to participate despite a previous cancellation, you have the opportunity to sign-up here. (no later than 6 July 2023)

The Summer Seminar Committee is currently finalizing the program for the Summer Seminar, and we are eagerly anticipating an exciting day filled with enjoyable company and valuable insights.

If you have any questions regarding registration or the Summer Seminar in general, please don't hesitate to contact Louise Bak Søndergaard at lbak@bio.aau.dk.

DEPARTMENT SUMMER MEETING (16 JUNE)

The Department Summer Meeting took place on Friday the 16th of June. During the meeting, our interim Head of Department, John, provided the latest updates on various topics, including the ongoing project examination, the process of appointing a Head of Department, an update on the Department Summer Seminar, the modified hiring freeze. Finally, ice cream was served, and people wished each other a great summer vacation. Thank you for participating both online and in person.

Who's Who: Colleague spotligHt

Name: Timo Kirwa
Profession: Craftsman

We have asked Timo Kirwa a few questions, to get to know him better.

When did you start at the department, and what is your background?

- I started at AAU on the 15th of August 2018. My educational background comes from an apprenticeship as a pipefitter at a shipyard and 3 years at a marine engineering school. Before I started at AAU, I worked at Alfa Laval, Aalborg for ten years in their boiler service department. I started there as technical sales support. The job consisted of assisting the global sales teams with technical advice and quotations for repairs, upgrades and replacements of boilers and related systems for the marine and offshore business. The last 6 years at Alfa Laval I spent with processing and delivery of orders and projects around the world. Prior to my work at Alfa Laval, I worked as a marine engineer for DFDS sailing on different kinds of ferries and cargo vessels mainly in the northern part of Europe.

Why did you choose the path you did regarding your education?

- I have always been fascinated by engines and big constructions so working within the marine business seemed quite natural.

What does your role at BIO entail?

- I have a lot of minor tasks at BIO. It ranges from making sure that there are enough technical gasses available in the laboratories to assisting students and employees in the workshop or in the laboratories with issues related to test setups or laboratory equipment just to mention a few.

Is there a fun fact about you that would surprise your colleagues at the department?

- I do not have any Finnish relatives. I have a Danish mother and German father. My last name comes from my father.

ENERGY SAVING MEASURES AT LABORATORY FACILITIES

We would like to inform you about the energy-saving measures that are in process in our buildings and laboratory facilities. Morten Lykkegaard Christensen and Kåre Lehmann Nielsen work together with energy coordinator Fleming Dalberg Pedersen to identify and implement improvements that can reduce our energy consumption, lower costs, and a more sustainable profile. Our building stands out on campus with one of the highest energy consumption rates, exceeding 1.4 million kilowatt-hours per year. This significant usage is primarily attributed to the operations of our laboratory.

One of the measures that has been studied is an increase in the temperature of our -80°C freezer to -70°C. This change can actually have a significant effect on our energy consumption but have no effect on the quality of storage. For the five tested freezers in room 3.145 (Aalborg), the savings potential is estimated to vary between 10-30% or in total 14.000 kWh (23,000 kr.). For water containing samples, such as our biological samples, the 1st recrystallization temperature of water (-60°C to -63°C) is the relevant parameter. -70°C is still comfortably below this temperature and therefore we have decided to raise the temperature throughout the department of the ultralow freezer to -70°C to lower our energy consumption. A popular information regarding this with references can be found here. Timo will implement this in the near future. In addition, energy measurements of the energy consumption of our -150°C freezer in room 3.145 (Aalborg) show that there is a saving potential of approx. 60% of the current electricity consumption if other options for storage is considered. We are looking into this in more detail.

An important part of our efforts to save energy also includes good behaviour in the laboratory and awareness of energy consumption in everyday life. Among other things, the team has discussed the use of various equipment such as freezer, refrigerator, heating cabinets, fume cupboards and LAF benches. It is essential that we are all involved in the effort to incorporate energy consumption into our daily routines.

Our objectives are clearly defined. We want to save energy with a focus on the laboratory's work processes and behavior. Not only will this help us mitigate additional energy costs, but it will also meet the state's demand for energy reduction by 2030. At present, we have to use AAU's equity for this purpose. It is important to note that all departments are obliged to participate in the selection and implementation of energy projects. In addition, we will strive for payback periods of 3-5 years for the implemented energy-saving measures.

We hope that you will support our efforts to implement energy-saving measures in our buildings and laboratory facilities. At the summer seminar there will be an exciting presentation on that very topic and time for a short group discussion.

CHANGES REGARDING BREAD AND FRUIT DURING THE SUMMERTIME

During the summer holidays, there are a few changes regarding bread and fruit.

Unfortunately, there will be no bread available on Wednesdays and Fridays in weeks 29 and 30 (17 July - 30 July).
There will be no fruit in weeks 28, 29, and 30 (10 July - 30 July)

Furthermore, the student assistants are on summer break, so we kindly ask for your assistance in handling the coffee machine, emptying the dishwasher, and changing dish towels, etc. Thank you in advance for your help.

Note: Please be aware that only the canteen at FIB15 will be open all summer with a limited selection of food. The other canteens in Aalborg will be closed during weeks 27-34 (July 3 - August 25).

The canteens in Esbjerg are closed during weeks 27-32 (July 3 - August 11)

Power outage

In connection with statutory testing of HPFI relays, there will be periodic power outages in Fredrik Bajers Vej 5 on Wednesday, 2 August from 7 AM to 4 PM

News from research

Get Public Research Impact – Learn by the Best in English or Danish

Have you heard about The Academy of Science Communication and what they can offer you as a researcher?

The Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters launched in 2021 a three-year program called The Academy of Science Communication funded by Carlsberg Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The Academy's purpose is to increase the amount and quality of in Denmark through two courses being held in fall of 2023: a Danish course with eight days of in-person training (deadline 3 September) and an English course with five online sessions (deadline 2 July).

Last year two Associate Professors from the Department participated, and they were very happy with what they learned. You are welcome to e-mail Casper Steinmann for more information.

Check out the links for more information and also explore free access to lectures, publications, news, and a Danish podcast:

Read more about the Danish course here
Read more about the English course here
If you are interested, The Royal Academy also offers free access to lectures, publications, news and a podcast in Danish.

News about researchers and students

David Graff, Sophie Lund Rasmussen - Kysset er oldgammelt, og det smitter!, Aktuel Naturvidenskab
Michael Toft Overgaard - Morddømt kvinde i Australien benådet med dansk eksperthjælp, Jyllands-Posten
Michael Toft Overgaard & Mette Nyegaard - Australsk mord-dømt kvinde løsladt på baggrund af danske forskningsresultater, Videnskab.dk
Michael Toft Overgaard & Mette Nyegaard - Hun fik 40 års fængsel for at dræbe sine børn, men efter dansk forskning blev hun løsladt, Berlingske.dk
Michael Toft Overgaard & Mette Nyegaard - Science was heard': Woman who was convicted of killing her children pardoned after inquiry, Nature
Niels Madsen - Eksperter om ny havplan: ''Ikke tilstrækkeligt til at vende tabet af biodiversitet til fremgang”, Altinget.dk
Niels Thomas Eriksen - Submission + - Insects could help turn beer waste into beef, slashdot.org

New AAU Research Indicator Approved

On Monday June 26th, Aalborg University’s (AAU’s) board considered and approved the new AAU Research Indicator. With the approval from AAU’s board, the AAU Research Indicator has now been through the final organizational approval and replaces the old BFI model in the strategic funding allocation.

You can read more about the new research indicator via the following link.

THE DEPARTMENT REPORT 2023 (2018-2022).

The Department Report contains elements that are relevant for the calculation of publication points (part A of the AAU Research Indicator). In addition, The Department Report serves as inspiration and data basis for the target agreements (part B of the AAU Research Indicator).

Here you can find information about parts of our scientific output in 2022 (and previous years)

VBN Courses Fall 2023

If you have plans to participate in a VBN course, here are the fall courses from the VBN team.

Courses	Date	Time	Venue
Introduction to PhD submission (video)	Available online	16 min.	Online
Onboarding VBN/PURE	13.09.23	9:00-10:00	Online
Onboarding VBN/PURE	22.11.23	9:00-10:00	Online
Open Access and publication strategy	20.09.23	9:00-10:00	Online
Open Access and publication strategy	23.11.23	9:00-10:00	Online
Scival - et administrativt værktøj til forskningsanalyse og afrapportering	4.10.23	13:00-15:00	Aalborg
Boost your researcher profile	4.10.23	9.30-12:00	Aalborg
Scholarly Communication for PhD Students in an Open Science Perspective: Online Profiles, Dissemination and Metrics (sign up via PhD Moodle)	9.11.23	9:00-14:30	Copenhagen
Scholarly Communication for PhD Students in an Open Science Perspective: Online Profiles, Dissemination and Metrics (sign up via PhD Moodle)	15.11.23	9:00-14:30	Aalborg

News from education/studies

REQUISITION OF TEACHING

At the ENG faculty, we have norms for how much time we devote to various study activities. At the same time, the standards form the financial basis for requisition of teaching in other institutes. The standards have been established taking into account the overall economics of education and a strategy that teaching is requested at the most academically relevant department. The norms also form the basis for the hour requisitions at BIO and are shown in the table below.Teaching requisitions are made in the Resource Management System, RES approx. 3 months before the start of the semester. However, the requisition for the individual courses and projects depends on the number of students, which is not finally determined until after the semester has started. Therefore, the requisitions are carried out as percentages of the total requisition for a course or project module. Then, when the final number of students is determined on 1 Oct. or 1 March, the final hour requisition is automatically calculated. However, teachers can calculate roughly how much time they should devote to an activity, as long as they know what proportion of the total requisition they have to cover.

For a course with e.g. 50 participants, request: 130 hours + (50 ∙ 0.8 hours) = 170 hours, plus 20 min. per student for the exam. If there is an oral exam, an additional 20 minutes per participant must be requested from the internal examiner.
For a 15 ECTS project (as well as BEng internship) with e.g. 6 participants, request: 6 ∙ 15 ECTS ∙ 0.7 hours/ECTS = 63 hours. If it is a project with internal censorship, an additional 2 hours per student is requested for external examiner.
For 60 ECTS theses are requested per student: 60 ECTS ∙ 0.7 hours/ECTS = 42 hours.

Only teaching on our ordinary BSc and Master's programmes is requested through RES. Other activities, such as PhD courses and teaching at other universities, are taken into account by the education committees themselves in the overall teaching planning.

The hour requisition includes both confrontation time as well as preparation. At BIO, courses are generally conducted with 12 half-days of scheduled teaching, where the teacher is available. However, this may vary, e.g. if the course includes field trips, laboratory work, digital teaching, workshops or other. We expect our students to experience approx. 48 hours of planned teaching per course (courses of 15 ECTS are planned after students spend a total of 150 hours on the course). In most courses, trainers have a little more than 2 hours to prepare the course and exam for each confrontation hour and must adapt the course content according to what can be achieved within this time. Every year, we report the amount of planned teaching on each programme to the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, where the 48 hours per course are included as a basis, unless otherwise known. At the same time, AAU has decided that BSc programmes must deliver a minimum of 150 hours of teaching/supervision per semester and 110 hours per semester in our Master's programmes (at BIO, however, we have followed the same standards on all types of programmes).

The practical planning of teaching distribution at BIO is carried out by the department's 2 teaching committees in collaboration with the department's management and study administration. The figure below shows the annual cycle for the central processes involved in teaching staffing. In April/October, a preliminary distribution is made, which is sent out at the beginning of June to all teachers, who then have the opportunity to make comments and corrections. In August/January, a revised plan for the coming semester's teaching will be issued. However, the distribution of project supervision in particular will continue to be surrounded by uncertainty until we know the number of students and the students have chosen projects.

NEW GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS

A new menu item has just been added to the Department’s website (click here) which includes updated guidelines for semester coordinators, project supervisors, course instructors, and exam supervisors. We hope that these guidelines will make your various roles more manageable and provide you with the necessary guidance.

FUNDING FOR EDUCATIONAL MOBILITIES WITH PARTNERS OUTSIDE EU

Within the Erasmus+-programme it is possible for Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) in EU countries to establish partnerships with partner institutions in non-EU countries, within the areas of student and staff mobility. This part of the Erasmus+-programme has the formal title “International outgoing and incoming mobility supported by external policy funds” but is also known as “International Credit Mobility” or “KA171”.

The first call was in February 2022. Next call is expected to have application deadline in February 2024.

Note: First meeting is 14 September about Presentation and Q&A for AAU staff interested in KA171 and who haven’t previously participated in an application for this key action. Sign up here

For further information and to see more meeting dates click here.

NEWS FROM the administration

HIRING PROCESS FOR FUTURE HEAD OF SECRETARIAT

In continuation of the recruitment process for a new Head of Department, a similar process has been initiated for the recruitment of a future Head of Secretariat.

During June, the Dean's Secretariat's draft job description has been submitted for comments to the management team and the Consultation Committee (Samarbejdsudvalg). The Recruitment Committee will consist of representatives from the Secretariat, the Department Management, the Dean's Secretariat, and the Head of Department. The preliminary timetable is to post the position in July, so that the Head of Secretariat is in place by November.

Administration’s holiday calendar

The BIO Administration is operating with reduced staff during the summer period.

HR: Holiday week 30-31 - BIO-HR@bio.aau.dk
Studies: Holiday week 29 - bachelor-studyadm@bio.aau.dk / master-studyadm@bio.aau.dk
Department team: Holiday week 29
Economy team: Available throughout all weeks - oekonomi@bio.aau.dk / projektadm@bio.aau.dk (NOTE: It is not possible to make purchases with Mastercard from 24 July to 1 August!)

CHANGES IN THE COMMUNICATIONS AREA

As you may already be aware, there will be some changes in the communication’s area at AAU, and it has been decided to bring all the university's communications resources together in a new shared area from 1 October. More information will come after the summer break. In light of this restructuring, Niels Krogh Søndergaard has become part of the new social media team - Congratulations to him!

Future events

If you want to stay updated on events and guest lectures organized by the Department, please visit the Department web for more information. If you plan to host or coordinate an activity yourself, please forward the information to Ane Louise Vendelin Olesen (alvo@bio.aau.dk) or Niels Krogh Søndergaard (nks@bio.aau.dk) who will provide the relevant information on the web.

UPCOMING EVENTS AT BIO:

30/6: Graduation
11/8: Rasmus Christensen 11-month status seminar (Room: 2.503-9 at 10:30-12:30)
17/8: Department Summer Seminar
30/8: DHL relay race
30/8: Åbent hus for nye studerende
31/8: Amirhossein Fadavi Firooz 11-month status seminar (Room: 2.503-9 at 10:30-12:30)

MEETING SCHEDULE FOR THE DEPARTMENT COMMITTEES

Here is the schedule for each department committee's next meeting, as well as the agenda and minutes from previous meetings. if you have any questions, you can find the representatives of the committees here.