For the latest announcements and guidelines released by AU, please see the regularly updated webpage Corona information from Aarhus University.
All employees at AU must work from home, with the exception of employees who perform essential functions.
Essential functions are defined as functions necessary to the operation of labs, clinics, research infrastructure and so on. With regard to research, there may be research projects which require the physical presence of essential employees to prevent the loss of critical research data.
No one may access the affected locations without prior agreement with their manager/supervisor.
Below we are collecting answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding coronavirus/COVID-19 and PhD studies. The answers are specifically relevant for PhD students at Graduate School of Natural Sciences, GSNS. The list is updated on a regular basis.
For more general questions, please refer to the links on the right (or below if you're using a mobile device). Our FAQ should be seen as supplemental to the info given by AU's other outlets.
Your defence must be conducted online.
We recommend that you use Zoom when conducting your PhD defence digitally. If you are more comfortable using one of the other AU-supported platforms, you are of course welcome to do so.
If you have any questions regarding functionality and setup of the system, please contact your local IT-support for technical support.
OBS! PhD defences must be publicly available.
This means that for online PhD defences, interested parties should upon request be able to get a link to access the defence. Therefore, please submit to your PhD partner a name and e-mail address for the person in charge of distributing the link. This information will be added to the online announcement of the defence.
The contact person can be the supervisor, the chairman of the assessment committee, or the programme secretary, and he/she may also instruct audience members in proper online etiquette (e.g. muting microphones and turning off cameras). If no such arrangement can be made, please contact your PhD partner to find an alternative solution.
First of all, make sure to update your PhD partner about your plans for conducting your defence.
We recommend that you use one of these four digital platforms:
Please read the guides carefully. Aarhus University has licenses for all platforms and can provide IT-support, if needed.
The platforms have different strengths and weaknesses. We recommend that you use the platform, with which you are most comfortable. All four platforms support the following functionalities:
(With Adobe Connect and Zoom you can also make breakout sessions within a meeting.)
If you have any questions regarding functionality and setup of the system, please contact your local IT-support.
Please note when conducting a digital defence:
Your diploma will be sent within 2 months of a successfully completed PhD defence.
All diplomas will be sent digitally through e-boks.
If you urgently need documentation of your PhD degree, please ask your PhD partner to prepare a letter confirming your successfully completed PhD defence.
Currently, all qualifying exams must be conducted online.
Digital solutions
We recommend that you use one of these four digital platforms:
Please read the guides carefully. Aarhus University has licenses for all platforms and can provide IT-support, if needed.
The platforms have different strengths and weaknesses. We recommend that you use the platform, with which you are most comfortable. All four platforms support the following functionalities:
(With Adobe Connect and Zoom you can also make breakout sessions within a meeting.)
If you have any questions regarding functionality and setup of the system, please contact your local IT-support.
That is up to you, but we encourage you to carefully consider your situation. Please also consult your main supervisor.
Please stay informed at AU’s corona website and via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark’s guidelines for travelling abroad.
Special circumstances may apply for international PhD students travelling to or from Denmark. Please keep yourself updated on the International Academic Staff Service (IAS) website.
Yes, please ask your PhD partner to send you an enrolment/employment confirmation letter.
The Graduate School is following the current travel guidelines from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Please find more information regarding trips and stays abroad on the AU Corona-website and stay informed via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark’s guidelines for travelling abroad.
The decision as to whether an employee may travel to an ‘orange’ country on business is up to the head of the department.
Special circumstances may apply for international PhD students travelling to or from Denmark. Please keep yourself updated on the International Academic Staff Service (IAS) website.
If you cut your stay short in order to return to Denmark, you are still eligible to receive the full amount of the grant despite the 90 day-requirement. The grant may be used to cover expenses in relation to cancelling or changing your travel plans.
If your stay is postponed, please send an e-mail to GSSTgrants@au.dk with the new dates for your stay abroad. You do not need to submit a new application.
If you cancel your stay abroad entirely, please let us know by sending an e-mail to GSSTgrants@au.dk. You are welcome to send another application later on, when you make new plans for your research environment change.
If you are sent home due to the AU corona-restrictions it is expected that you continue to work from home, as far as possible.
We recommend that you, in consultation with your main supervisor, assess how you can approach the PhD project and what parts of the project you can work on during this period and under the given circumstances.
As usual, you should notify your manager of illness and absence in accordance with your department’s guidelines. You are not obliged to provide information about the nature of your illness, but in this special situation, you are encouraged to inform your manager if your illness is likely to be a result of coronavirus. This will make it possible for the university to apply for sick leave benefit reimbursement in connection with your absence.
Please check the course descriptions on the GSNS website to see any updates. If in doubt, contact the person in charge of the course.
We are working hard to prepare digital solutions in order to offer distance learning. We are currently testing the technology and expect to be able to offer distance learning on some PhD courses.
The university has never before had to apply this technology on such a large scale. Therefore, we ask for your patience.
AU has decided on a joint procedure for handling the challenges you as a PhD student are facing in relation to completing your PhD project as a direct consequence of COVID-19, including the physical lockdown of AU.
The joint procedure is based on the political agreements on the phased reopening of the country, in addition to the Circular on the agreement on the possibility of extending temporary employment contracts, as a consequence of delays occurring in connection with COVID-19 (in Danish)
The objective of the procedure is to ensure a common point of departure for all PhD students at AU, while at the same time granting the individual graduate school the flexibility to handle the challenges in individual students’ PhD projects in the most appropriate way.
Your application for extension will be processed on the basis of an individual, specific assessment. The assessment will be carried out by the graduate school management at your graduate school on the basis of the school's guidelines. The graduate school management will make the final decision in the case.
The joint procedure applies to PhD students whose progress has been directly affected by COVID-19:
You can apply for an extension if your PhD project has been delayed as a direct consequence of COVID-19, including the periods when AU’s campuses have been shut down.
It is possible to apply for an extension of your PhD project more than one time if the situation on the background of which you applied last time has changed.
Funding is not a prerequisite for applying for an extension. Your application will be assessed on an individual basis, and the head of the graduate school will make a decision in the case.
If an extension is deemed necessary, please follow the normal procedures described in section 7.3 of our Rules and Regulations with the “COVID19 exception”, that fellowships can also be extended; not just the study time. All applications will be individually assessed.
As usual, you should notify your manager of illness and absence in accordance with your department’s guidelines. You are not obliged to provide information about the nature of your illness, but in this special situation, you are encouraged to inform your manager if your illness is likely to be a result of coronavirus. This will make it possible for the university to apply for sick leave benefit reimbursement in connection with your absence.
Normally, you will only be granted an extension if you are sick continuously for more than 30 days. Special rules apply when it comes to COVID-19. Please contact the GSNS specialist team to learn more.
If you are sick, please follow the general guidelines and preventive measures outlined by AU.
Yes, it is expected that you continue to carry out teaching obligations through the available digital solutions (e.g. Blackboard/Zoom). Please consult the course coordinator regarding how best to continue your teaching.
To learn more, please see AU’s webpage on how to transition to remote teaching and learning.
