These months, it is two years since 47 professors from foreign universities were formally made Honorary Skou Professors at a ceremony in the Lakeside Lecture Theatres.

The initiative to award honorary professorships to a number of top researchers was launched by the Dean’s Office in 2018 as a strategic effort to strengthen collaboration with leading research units abroad – for example by establishing more joint research projects and funding applications, providing new perspectives on teaching and PhD supervision, and generally creating better and closer relations with researchers from some of the world’s best universities.

This has succeeded in full, according to the evaluations of the so-called ‘champions’: researchers at Health who act as the Honorary Skou Professors’ academic contacts and primary collaborators.

Read more about the experience of the cooperation between the HSPs and the champions.

The Dean’s Office has therefore decided to select new Honorary Skou Professors, or ‘HSPs’ as they are colloquially abbreviated.

The process starts with a nomination from the academic communities:

• The nominations must be agreed and approved by the head of department, and must also include the name of the ‘champion’ who will act as the academic contact person for the Skou professor.
• Nominations must be made using the nomination form (in English) and sent in a single collated submission by the department to tanja.hansen@au.dk by 10 October 2022. The head of department and secretariat manager has the nomination forms.
• The Dean’s Office will assess the nominations – bearing the overall gender balance in mind – and provide a final response in early November.

Honorary Skou Professors are appointed for a five-year period. The honorary period for many of the current Honorary Skou Professors expires in 2023, but reselection is possible. However, this takes place in a separate process.

The Dean’s Office is also planning to hold an official inauguration day in 2023 for new and current Honorary Skou Professors.

See the list of the current 47 Honorary Skou Professors

Requirements for nominating new Honorary Skou Professors

• The nominee must be from a foreign university in the top 100 worldwide, or a similar high-prestige, specialised institution
• Must be employed as a professor at their home university
• The processing by the Dean’s Office will substitute for academic assessment (i.e. no assessment committee will be appointed)
• Must have a ‘champion’ (academic contact person)
• The honorary award triggers a one-off payment of DKK 20,000 to the Department, to cover travel expenses, etc.
• An honorary title for five years – not an appointment
• The title may lapse if the person’s university employment abroad ceases.

See the guidelines on the Faculty website

Contact

International Advisor Tanja Hansen
Aarhus University, HE Administrative Centre – Dean’s Office
Mobile: +45 9350 8108
E-mail: tanja.hansen@au.dk