Department meeting with the future rector Brian Bech Nielsen on Tuesday 21 May
Brian Bech Nielsen is on tour to all the departments at AU and will visit Biomedicine on 21 May. The plan is that he first meets the Department Forum and the management team (at approx.  8:00 - 08.45 a.m.) and then participates in the Department meeting at  8:45 - 9.30 a.m. where everyone will have an opportunity to ask questions. The Department meeting will take place in the Bartholin building’s auditorium 1. After the meeting with the new rector we will hold a short "ordinary" Department meeting. Further information will follow as soon as we have planned the meetings in more detail.

We have decided to cancel the Department meeting planned for 2 May due to the aforementioned meeting.

Employee Performance Interviews (MUS)
In 2013 all biomedical employees will be invited  to an employee performance interview. Our local cooperation committee has accepted the plan, which means that all permanent academic staff and managers will be invited to an interview in May, June and August. All other employees will subsequently be invited to an interview with their immediate supervisor. Read about MUS at AU.

Department economy
As mentioned in my former newsletter, the overall economic 2012 performance of the Department was better than expected as the result showed a modest deficit of approx. 1 million DKK (with adjustments for extraordinary, fixed asset investments that lessened the deficit). The result which is better than expected is mainly due to lower operating costs of the last quarter.

The quarterly financial statement for the first 3 months of 2013 unfortunately shows a higher deficit than budgeted, which is due to both our salaries and operating costs being higher than planned. The best estimate for 2013 shows a deficit of a few million DKK (without any exact figures), which should be seen in conjunction with the Department’s revenue of some 200 million DKK for the entire year. The quarterly financial statement indicates that we still need to exercise financial departmental restraint.
At the same time there is an increase in external funding. In 2011 external funding amounted to 88.1 million DKK; in 2012 the figure was 100.7 million DKK (an increase of 14%). Based on the first quarter and commitments from foundations the best bet for 2013 is approx 114 million DKK (an increase of 13%). The quarterly financial statement for 2013 shows a further rise in external funding with grants of 22.9 million DKK in the first quarter compared to 19.5 million DKK in the first quarter of 2012 (an increase of 17%).

1 May
On request, biomedical staff can apply for leave of absence on 1 May if work permits. Leave of absence on 1 May must be in agreement with your immediate superior.

Analysis of departmental purchases
The Head of Administration Steen Harrit and co-workers have examined our departmental purchases in 2012. The purchases include approx 14,000 invoices of an average of approx 3,000 DKK. AU's total administrative costs are estimated to 500-1000 DKK per invoice. The analysis shows that in most cases there are NO legal agreements with the suppliers and that a large proportion (approx 100 persons) of the departmental staff makes purchases (though seldom). The analysis therefore shows a potential for increased efficiency and cost savings. One possibility is to extend the model practiced in the Bartholin building to the entire Department (in the Bartholin building one person (Ole Frandsen) is in charge of purchases of the most common goods and administers/runs a local store). Further information will follow.

Delay of building projects
As mentioned in the email forwarded to all biomedical employees the construction projects (new construction plus renovation) will be approx six months delayed, meaning that the new building will probably not be ready until the autumn of 2016 – with the renovation to follow afterwards. The delay is mainly due to some uncertainty as to ventilation - whether capacity and flexibility will be sufficient - and nervousness as to the budget. The project group (Cubo and engineers) is in the process of developing a better description of the project together with an associated client advisor (COWI Consult).

Research Leader courses
Due to allocation of strategy funds the Department is enable to recommend up to four persons to participate in the research leader courses, which are described here.

The courses normally cost 36,000 DKK per person. A short application (form not required) should be forwarded to Anni Mandrup Høeg by 1 June.

Free half-day management courses
The AU competency and the research support units have developed a half-day course in management of staff whose projects are externally funded. The course provides the participants with an introduction to strategic management in relation to external financing. To learn more about the course you can read more here.

Artificial organs in DR2 Morning
As informed by Morten Pless in an email forwarded to everyone at the Department I was meant to be in a DR2 broadcast on 3 April. The feature, however, was postponed till 12 April.

Report from Sweden on research quality
A report from the Swedish KUNGL. VETENSKAPSAKADEMIEN  prepared by Gunnar Öquist and Mats Benner has by means of bibliometrics  compared research in a number of countries. The report praises the development in Danish research over the last 20 years, for example it says in the section entitled Danish miracle?: Over the past two decades, Denmark has made a commitment to boosting resources, adopting new modes of operation and providing dedicated support for renewal, international recruitments, structural change in the university system, resource concentration and career opportunities for younger scholars. Clearly, the policy has paid off and contributed to propelling Danish research from a modest performance into a globally leading position.
Read the report.

Holiday
The Secretariat is finalizing the current holiday year, which expires on 30 April. The holiday registration system shows that at the expiry many employees still have remaining holidays. It may be due to lack of reporting to the secretaries or simply unspent holiday(s). Next week you will be further informed as to the procedure for conclusion of the holiday year 2012-13.

In consideration of job satisfaction and the well-being of the employees it is important that the employees take their holidays. Therefore, we have discussed planning of the next holiday year in the local cooperation committee which agrees to the Department’s notification to all employees of earned holidays to be spent in the next holiday year. Of course you maintain the possibility, in collaboration with your superior and closest colleagues to plan your holiday at the most convenient time and period by contacting the local secretariat. The new issue is that you if you want to plan your holiday at another period/time than notified by the Department you must specify the exact dates that you want instead. More information as to the coming holiday and policies will follow next week.

Discovery of fissile material
During cleaning at the AU departments some fissile material (urantrioxid) was found. Fissile material such as uranium, plutonium and thorium are subjected to Safeguard restrictions - and must be monitored by international authorities IAEA and Euratom (the European Atomic Energy Community). The collected material was not registered, and all university departments are now asked for similar materials. If you have knowledge of any fissile material being used or that has been used once, it is important that you notify Birgitte Lüttge by 3 May so it can be reported to the AU.

Best regards

Thomas

Translation: ZGN