Staff-related issues

Hiring

Hiring procedures

The hiring of scientific and administrative staff is handled by AU HR, Health in close collaboration with the Department's secretariat.

All hirings must be initiated through the secretariat. Below you will find templates to begin the procedure.

Please note that hirings take a minimum of 1 month for scientific assistants and up to 8-14 months for professors. Therefore, please plan ahead, as otherwise the desired/promised start date may be postponed.

Scientific staff for external research projects

Administrative staff (TAP)

External lecturers, teaching assistants, instructors (DVIP) and Part-time Administrative Staff and Student Helpers (DTAP)

See also Employment Procedures at Health (au.dk).

Maternity or paternity leave

This form for inspiration (in Danish) contains an overview of suggestions for tasks that can be performed both before and after an employee goes on maternity or paternity leave.

The form is completed in collaboration with the immediate supervisor, and a small note is made on the agreed-upon tasks.

Supplementary education

Activities regarding supplementary education

All employees at the Department of Public Health may apply for financial support from the Department to participate in supplementary education activities. Please note that as a general rule applications from employees with access to other resources, such as annual grants or project grants, will not be considered.

Resources for supplementary education activities are allocated during the annual budgeting at the Department.

Priority is given based on the following criteria: Professional or personal outcome in relation to the individual's current work situation, based on an evaluation of which skills are needed at the Department. Importance is attached to whether the activity has been discussed during staff development dialogue (SDD).

The daily Department management team prioritizes applications in collaboration with the applicant's immediate manager. Priorities are made based on whether and to which extent the applicant has previously received support.

Form for applying for co-financing for supplementary education.

Holiday

Planning for the upcoming holiday year takes place annually during October/November.

The Secretariat distributes the holiday rules and guidelines from Health along with a form for registering the dates where you wish to take your holidays. Holiday Registration Form for holiday year 2023/2024. You must fill in the form, have it approved by your immediate manager and send it to the Secretariat, Lone Sand Simonsen.

If you are hired during the holiday year, you may use the same form for registering the dates where you wish to take your holidays. This form should also be sent to the Secretariat, Lone Sand Simonsen.

Please direct any additional questions regarding holidays to:

You can get an overview of the vacation days available to you in MitHR:

https://medarbejdere.au.dk/en/administration/hr/hr-systems/mithr/for-employees

Guides:

Please note that we will only start using the self-service solution during spring 2024. You will only have access to the overview in MitHR.

Other information regarding holidays:

https://medarbejdere.au.dk/en/administration/hr/holiday-1

New colleague / Onboarding

If you are going to introduce a new colleague to the workplace, or if you are a new colleague, additonal information is available here:

Buddy

A buddy is a colleague who engages in close companionship with the new employee to provide the best possible start. The buddy typically takes responsibility for welcoming the new employee on their first day, having lunch together, answering questions about informal rules and norms, introducing colleagues, etc.

The arrangement lasts approximately 1-3 months. A buddy should not be confused with a mentor, so it is  important that the person taking on this role is not the one responsible for the employee's professional development.

When selecting the right buddy, it is important to find an colleague who:

  • is motivated for the role
  • has a high degree of empathy and can put themselves in the new employee's shoes
  • has good communication skills

It is important to allocate the necessary resources to establish a good relationship, and the arrangement should be characterized by a high degree of voluntariness.

Offboarding

Offboarding checklist (locally for The Department of Public Health, in Danish)

Sabbatical

Contact one of the Department's ambassadors: Cecilie Nørby Lyhne, Viola Burau, Jörg Krieger or Christina Catherine Dahm.

Definition

An academic sabbatical is time away from regular teaching and administrative duties. The department can grant sabbaticals to academic staff to enhance scholarly accomplishments by undertaking research and/or teaching activities at another university abroad or in Denmark.

Aims
The purpose of an academic sabbatical is to support the research, teaching, and broader intellectual development of academic staff, and to provide opportunities for consolidating and extending international research collaborations. An academic sabbatical is an opportunity rather than an obligation.

Benefits
Developing knowledge and skills as a part of academic sabbaticals is a great benefit for the department, Aarhus University, and individual academic staff members.

Academic sabbaticals benefit the department because sabbaticals usually improve the quality of publication output. Research has also shown that academic sabbaticals enhance the quality of teaching after academics return. For Aarhus University, academic sabbaticals contribute to the university’s strategic goal of internationalisation and collaboration. Sabbaticals also support the department’s strategic goal to recruit and retain academics with an international profile.

For individual academics, a sabbatical provides the flexibility of extended stays at other research institutions and the benefit of immersion into reading and writing activities. Underlying rationales include exploring new ideas, developing methodological proficiency, cultivating existing research networks, and contextualising own work in a broader framework.

Target group
The primary target group for sabbaticals is tenured academics - professors and associate professors. The department recognises its responsibility to support non-tenured academics in their efforts to qualify for tenured positions. The department therefore considers assistant professors as the secondary target group for academic sabbaticals.

Periods of academic sabbaticals
Professors and associate professors can apply for a 3-6-month academic sabbatical after every three years of full-time employment, or an academic sabbatical for 6-12 months after six years of full-time employment. The maximum length of an academic sabbatical is 12 months; there is no minimum length. Full-time assistant professors can apply for one 3-month academic sabbatical during their appointment period. Part-time staff members with at least 50% of a full-time position can apply for an academic sabbatical when they have reached the equivalent of three/six years of employment.

Application for academic sabbaticals
Academic staff initiate a pre-application dialogue. They express a wish to apply for an academic sabbatical to the head of research section at a staff development interview where this is documented in the meeting summary. The meeting is also an opportunity to discuss and agree on a preliminary timeline based on a list of the regular teaching and administrative duties during the proposed academic sabbatical period. The head of research section brings the request up with the chair of the employee’s teaching team and, if necessary, the vice head of department for teaching, to discuss how to cover teaching and administrative activities. This will most likely involve a higher teaching load for the applicant later or additional teaching responsibilities for other members of the teaching team. In principle, if it is not possible to cover teaching activities for the applicant in the semester of the planned sabbatical, all parties will explore possibilities for a sabbatical in the following semester.

Based on the agreement in the pre-application dialogue, the academic staff member sends the application for an academic sabbatical to the head of department. The application includes

1) a cover letter outlining the goals/objectives for the planned academic sabbatical, the significance of the work planned, and its anticipated impact;

2) a CV; and

3) a letter from the host institution, if applicable. The application must be submitted 10 months before the start of the semester where the academic sabbatical begins.

Procedure for granting academic sabbaticals
The head of department has the formal responsibility to ensure that teaching and administrative responsibilities during the planned academic sabbaticals are appropriately covered. The chair of the relevant teaching team and the vice head of department for teaching will assist the head of department with this assessment. The ambassadors? of the policy on academic sabbaticals can offer advice on relevant funding opportunities and other aspects of planning academic sabbaticals. The department does not offer financial support to staff members to cover any additional expenses incurred during academic sabbaticals.

Reporting on completed academic sabbaticals
Within six months of returning to the department, staff members must report on their completed academic sabbatical. Typically, this could be organising of a research event (e.g., a research seminar, panel debate, lunchtime talk, or a skills development session) of interest and relevance across the department.

Illness and other absence

In case of illness or your child's first or second day of illness, please call or send an e-mail to your immediate manager and to Lone Sand Simonsen, ls@ph.au.dk, no later than 9am.

When you are back at work, please send an e-mail to Lone Sand Simonsen.

In case of long-term illness, please contact head of Secretariat Annette Bachmann at 2498 8585.

You may find additional information on illness and other absence here.