Status regarding the split of the Faculty of Science and Technology
AU’s board of governors has approved the proposed split of ST into two smaller parts, but there is still no consensus about the names of the two new faculties. Part of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics will transfer to AGRO.
As has been mentioned previously, Rector Brian Bech Nielsen has desired that the very large Faculty of Science and Technology be split into two more manageable sizes. The rector has presented his proposal round about in the departments, including at AU Foulum and AU Flakkebjerg, and now it has been presented to AU’s board of governors. The board has approved the split of the faculty, so we now can proceed to the next stage in the process.
- The AU Board has approved the division of Science and Technology along disciplinary lines. This means that the process of recruiting two new deans can begin and the administrative division of the faculty can be initiated, including the establishment of working groups for each administrative area as well as for shared functions, for example the PhD programmes, the structure of the boards of studies, and ST Learning Lab., says Brian Bech Nielsen.
MBG researchers will transfer to AGRO
By and large, the structure of the various departments in ST will not be affected, but there are a few exceptions, one of which will affect AGRO. Most of the researchers in the section in Molecular Biology and Genetics (MBG) located in Flakkebjerg have expressed a wish to become part of AGRO, and both AGRO’s and MBG’s management teams are positive about this wish. The sections finances will be integrated in AGRO’s finances.
- I am happy about the section’s decision because that will give AGRO greater focus on New Breeeding Techniques (NBT) and will provide opportunities for synergy with AGRO’s existing research.
The section in question, Crop Genetics and Biotechnology (CGB), will with effect from 1 January 2020 become the seventh section in AGRO, and will have Professor Henrik Brinch-Pedersen as its section manager.
- After the plans about the splitting up of ST became known, a good and constructive dialogue between MBG and AGRO has led to the situation where we will transfer to AGRO with effect from 1 January 2020. We are already familiar with our colleagues in Flakkebjerg and look forward to getting to know more about AGRO’s work, says Henrik Brinch-Pedersen.
One group from the section, under the leadership of Professor Torben Asp, will not be moving over to AGRO, since their research area is more connected to MBG’s Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG) in AU Foulum.
- Integration of the section Crop Genetics and Biotechnology in AGRO will strengthen our connection to and funding from the Ministry of Environment and Food, simplify communication via DCA regarding the policy support tasks, make the future status of MBG’s plant research in Flakkebjerg more secure, and simplify many practical details in Flakkebjerg, says Erik Steen Kristensen.
What will we be called?
There is yet another task to be solved in connection with the splitting up of ST: to find a suitable name for the two new faculties. Here and there in the ST system there has not been total enthusiasm about the two proposed names ”Faculty of Science” and ”Faculty of Engineering and Life Sciences”.
There has been a hearing about the process regarding the splitting up of ST in LSU, Department Forum and the management in AGRO, and a meeting was held on 3 May 2019, where there was also a lot of discussion about the names. Our proposal from AGRO was that the two new faculties be called ”Faculty of Applied Science” and ”Faculty of Natural Science”.
The Faculty Management will now initiate a new process and find names that sit well with a broad group. Proposals for new names will be presented and approved by the university management.