Strategy towards 2030

The 2030 vision of Computer Science at Aarhus University is to grow both in number of students and in number of faculty. We will continue our pursuit of research excellence in CS' core research areas and expand into more computer science research areas to develop an even stronger and more comprehensive CS department. By expanding the number of senior faculty members, we wish to consolidate existing research groups and to cover gaps core Computer Science research areas. The expansion of faculty will be balanced with an increase in the volume of students, albeit with the aim of reducing the student/teacher ratio to a fair level compared to the average at the Faculty of Natural Sciences.

We maintain the quality of our graduates, improve our research impact, and societal impact by targeting highly important challenges, also by engaging in interdisciplinary collaborations. We will provide support for industry collaboration and innovators/entrepreneurs amongst students as well as faculty.

We will continue to develop and maintain an attractive and vibrant work and study environment, through culture defining work and continued development of our physical infrastructure.

We will increase awareness of the department both nationally and internationally, and strive to make policy makers, potential students, and staff aware that CS at AU is a highly recognized department internationally.

Excellent level of scientific output and impact

Department of Computer Science is a department with an excellent level of scientific output and impact compared to similar departments, both nationally and internationally.

The department has a high level of external funding for basic research, with a large number of career grants such as ERC and Sapere Aude elite funding as well as funding for a few large center activities. The department has a rich tradition of being involved in strategic research with industrial and public sector institutions.

The department provides mentoring for all researchers who plan to apply for funding, and we utilize experienced past and present Danish Research Council members and experienced colleagues for mentoring and supervising new applicants. We emphasize that successes and failures are a collective responsibility.

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Research-based education

In order to increase our contributions towards the societal need for deep theoretical and technical competences in digital technologies, it is essential for the department to increase the output of graduates while maintaining the highest quality. This again implies that we have an obligation to increase the enrollment considerably and improve retention and graduation rates of our students. We will have to work creatively to achieve the needed growth within the complex landscape of reforms issued by the government.

Close collaboration with industry

Department of Computer Science has a long tradition for close collaboration with industry. Through numerous successful projects, our research has found its way into practice and contributes to Danish society and international welfare, presenting a source of growth and the creation of new markets, products and services.

The department has initiated and actively maintains activities with local companies to facilitate contacts between students, researchers and industry. In particular, we have an extensive collaboration with our RTO spin-out the Alexandra Institute on strategic research and innovation.

Further, the department has been the source of several spin-out companies, and our HatchIT Lab continually hosts a number of promising and innovative student start-up companies, along with a few faculty start-ups.

Recruitment, onboarding and retention

To realize the 2030 vision for department of computer science, including meeting the societal needs for computer scientists both for industry, the public sector, as well as for research, it is pivotal to recruit more highly qualified senior faculty.

CS will also in the future strive to recruit excellent computer scientists who publish in top tier venues within their fields. While we face a radical expansion, we have no intention of lowering the bar for hirings, thus we issue broad calls and choose only the highly qualified applicants, without tipping the internal balance between research groups too much.

Most of the recruitment potential is international, which means we are operating in a different and more competitive market.

To benefit from an increased diversity, we strive to attract more female faculty members which in the long run requires enrolment of more female students and PhD students.

Visibility nationally and internationally

In recent years, competition at the national level in Denmark has become fiercer. In a competitive market, visibility and differentiation is a prerequisite for attracting the attention of policy makers, potential students and staff, and major foundations. Thus, there is a strategic need to make CS and Aarhus University strong and visible to create more awareness of the computer science capabilities in the Aarhus Region as well as at the national scene. CS already hosts many activities that in and by themselves justifiably attract attention, but we wish to develop more streamlined narratives to increase visibility.

Digital technologies are high on the political agendas both in Denmark, EU and the rest of the world. Our profession becomes the epicenter for many political, economic, ethical and sustainability dilemmas and debates - often heated and polarized. This makes it important for the department to prepare faculty members to be able to participate in public communication and debates. We should contribute with factual public lectures debunking myths with deep insight, but we should also be able to participate in balanced debates bringing the needed nuances into the debates.

Organization and Work Environment

An attractive work environment is mandatory to recruitment and retention of students, faculty members and technical/administrative staff. We need to constantly pay attention to the work environment, department organization and governance model, to keep up with the growth in employees and activities.

The Department of Computer Science has a highly motivated and hard-working faculty and staff. We are proud of the results and contributions made by our department, and all faculty and staff are contributing to move the department forward on both the national and international scene.

To provide high-quality service to students and faculty members and to drive the department development forward, CS will maintain a team of highly qualified administrative staff who undertake the departmental tasks in areas like communications, outreach, international student recruitment, research support, onboarding, fundraising etc.

Moving forward, the department will benefit from a more diverse group of employees coming with different backgrounds from all over the world. It is our expectation that the entire staff will contribute equally to shaping the department and making it their own.

Revised 11.10.2024

Marianne Dammand Iversen