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Aarhus University

AU

Aarhus University is a leading research institution focused on education, science, and knowledge exchange.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Nienke Buisman (Head of Unit Research and Innovation)

2 Dec 2025 · to discuss the EU’s international cooperation activities in Research and Innovation with Africa.

Aarhus University urges systems-based approach for EU bioeconomy strategy

22 Jun 2025
Topic — Consultation on updating the EU Bioeconomy Strategy for a climate neutral economy.
Message — AU advocates for a systems-based approach integrating agriculture, energy, and industry sectors. They propose bridging the research-to-market gap by strengthening university-industry collaborations. Furthermore, they emphasize prioritizing interdisciplinary research in biorefining and sustainable proteins.123
Why — This would increase research funding and cement the university’s role in regional development.45
Impact — Synthetic fertilizer producers lose demand as agriculture transitions toward circular nutrient recycling.6
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Meeting with Agnieszka Skonieczna (Head of Unit Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs)

16 Jun 2025 · Presentation of the Danish Open Innovation in Science (OIS) model - a showcase example on how to accelerate the uptake of new knowledge in academia-industry collaborations.

Aarhus University leads call for comprehensive EU Biotech Act

11 Jun 2025
Topic — Commission consultation on a Biotech Act to create an enabling environment for biotechnology applications.
Message — The alliance calls for a cross-cutting Act that explicitly integrates bioeconomy-related sectors. They demand that universities be recognized as central innovation engines and biotech nurseries. The framework should ensure a seamless continuum from basic research to market deployment.123
Why — Recognition as innovation hubs would increase their access to funding and collaborative research opportunities.45
Impact — Fossil-based industries would face tougher competition from subsidized and regulatory-favored bio-based products.6
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Meeting with Maxi Espeter (Cabinet of Commissioner Christophe Hansen), Taru Haapaniemi (Cabinet of Commissioner Christophe Hansen) and

11 Jun 2025 · Water Resilience Strategy: water-related challenges and how to bring new innovations and skills onto the market

Meeting with Gijs Schilthuis (Director Agriculture and Rural Development) and

10 Jun 2025 · Science and policy

Response to European strategy on research and technology infrastructures

20 May 2025

EU's investment in cutting-edge Research Infrastructures (RIs) is critical to maintaining scientific leadership and tackling major societal challenges. However, these investments do not automatically translate into innovation. Strengthening collaboration between RIs and industry is essential to unlocking the full value of RIs, but persistent barriers including lengthy IP negotiations, bureaucratic hurdles, and cultural divides often hinder effective engagement. At the Aarhus University Center for Open Innovation in Science (OIS), we believe that the Danish OIS modelan IP-free, pre-competitive and open collaboration framework without membership fees could serve as a productive tool for enhancing RI-industry collaboration within RIs. Key features of the Danish OIS Model: - Community OIS programmes facilitate a community or network for relevant academic and industrial partners. This aims to strengthen ties between industry and academia and to provide opportunities for new collaborations to evolve. Furthermore, the community is a place of knowledge sharing where synergies between projects can materialize. - Co-creation projects funded by OIS programmes are co-created by industrial and academic partners to ensure that projects are user-driven and address the needs and challenges faced by industry. Co-creation may be supported in several ways, for instance through digital platforms, networking and ideation events. - Open principles partners in OIS-based projects must sign a non-negotiable legal framework (same legal framework for all projects) that states that all data and research results generated within the project must be made openly accessible to the public without restrictions on its further use (i.e. no IP-rights can be claimed). This means that OIS-based collaborations address fundamental research questions and are situated in a precompetitive space at early TRLs. Currently, a small independent study with literature review and interviews with selected stakeholders is being conducted. This study seem to identify a clear potential for OIS to complement existing mechanisms by offering low-friction entry points for industry engagement. Experiences from the OIS platforms ODIN and Plant2Food demonstrate that the OIS model lowers transaction costs, supports trust-based co-creation, and attracts a diverse mix of industry partnersfrom large firms to R&D-intensive startups. Importantly, OIS aligns well with the open science values embedded in many European RIs. It offers a structured mechanism to support industry engagement without compromising openness, and it may be especially relevant in areas where methods, standards, and early-stage technologies are being developed. However, OIS is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Its applicability depends on sectoral dynamics, the maturity of the local innovation ecosystem, and the type of industrial actors involved. A staged or flexible approach to opennesssuch as allowing for shared IPmay also be necessary in some settings. The above study recommends further exploration of the OIS model as a complementary tool for strengthening RIindustry collaboration, including: Piloting OIS-inspired initiatives in selected RIs under Horizon Europe or as part of the forthcoming EU strategy for RIs. Focusing such pilots on low-TRL, problem-oriented themes that cut across sectors and hold broad relevance. Ensuring sufficient and accessible funding to encourage participation from both large firms and SMEs, including no-fee RI access. Monitoring and evaluating pilot outcomes to identify enabling conditions and best practices for scaling. With targeted adaptation and thoughtful framing, OIS has potential to enhance translational impact of RIs while fostering a more open, inclusive, and agile innovation ecosystem. To hear more about the Danish OIS model or the above study, please contact, Head of the Aarhus University Center for Open Innovation in Science, Marie Louise Conradsen mlco@au.dk
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Aarhus University seeks broad scope for EU life sciences strategy

14 Apr 2025
Topic — The EU is developing a strategy to boost competitiveness in the life sciences sector.
Message — Aarhus University requests the strategy look beyond pharmaceuticals to include agriculture and biosolutions. The initiative should support technologies that improve agricultural productivity while protecting the environment. Research should focus on replacing fossil-based products with sustainable biological alternatives.123
Why — A broader scope increases research opportunities and funding for the university's diverse academic departments.45
Impact — Traditional fossil fuel industries face increased competition from bio-based chemicals, materials, and fuels.67
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Response to EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy

17 Mar 2025

We have a key concern regarding talent retention and more particularly in retaining third country academic researchers looking to transition into entrepreneurship. While its relatively unproblematic for third country researchers to obtain visas through their institutions to relocate to the EU and move into academia, they face significant challenges when they want to leave academia and move into entrepreneurship to establish their own businesses in a member state, because they do not meet the particular requirements for obtaining a work nor residence permit. We propose a streamlined Green Card-pathway for researchers transitioning into entrepreneurship across the EU.
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Meeting with Rasmus Nordqvist (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

18 Feb 2025 · Roundtable on unlocking European Food System Transformation

Meeting with Asger Christensen (Member of the European Parliament)

5 Feb 2025 · Biosolutions

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

18 Jun 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

10 Jun 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

4 Jun 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office and Ghent University

3 Jun 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

28 May 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

21 May 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Danfoss A/S and Grundfos Holding A/S

17 May 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament)

14 May 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

9 May 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

7 May 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

2 May 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

24 Apr 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament)

19 Apr 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office

16 Apr 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament)

12 Apr 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Niels Fuglsang (Member of the European Parliament)

26 Mar 2024 · Forskningspolitik

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Central Denmark EU Office and Grundfos Holding A/S

19 Mar 2024 · WMM KIC

Meeting with Pernille Weiss-Ehler (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Mar 2024 · WMM KIC

Response to Evaluation of the National Emission reduction Commitments Directive

12 Mar 2024

According to the European Environment Agency, European Union ammonia emissions only fell by 8% between 2005 and 2020. This was the lowest reduction in emissions for all pollutants covered by the NEC Directive. Agriculture accounts for more than 90% of all EU ammonia emissions. The main agricultural sources are livestock manures and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and livestock manures. A range of measures is available to abate agricultural ammonia emissions, as described in the UN Ammonia Guidance document from 2012 (https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2011/eb/wg5/WGSR48/Informal%20docs/Info.doc.7_Ammonia_Guidance_Document.pdf). The main reason for the reluctance of member states to accept more ambitious reduction targets (and in some cases, even to comply with the existing low-ambition targets) is pressure from the farming community. In some cases, this is due to the lack of availability of information to farmers concerning abatement measures. However, the main reason for the reluctance of farmers to implement ammonia abatement measures is their inability to pass on the net costs to the consumer (net costs = cost of abatement measure - reduced expenditure on synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, due to reduced ammonia emission). In the absence of action to correct this failure of market mechanisms, significant progress in reducing ammonia emissions will only be achieved through environmental regulation, accompanied by subsidies for the capital and running costs of ammonia abatement measures. Due to economies of scale, such subsidies would need to distinguish between small and large farms. Failing to do this would result in an acceleration in the current trend for farm amalgamation and mechanization. Prepared in conjunction with Prof Barbara Amon, ATB, Germany, acting in our roles as co-chairs of the Agriculture and Nature Expert Panel of the UN Task Force on Emissions, Inventories and Projections
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Meeting with Bart Groothuis (Member of the European Parliament)

8 Feb 2024 · Internet governance

Response to Enhancing research security in Europe

21 Dec 2023

First of all, we would like to express our gratitutude for the opportunity to contribute. Aarhus University is a publicly funded Danish university. As such Aarhus University is characterized by e.g., the principles of freedom of research as well as openness and international cooperation. These factors are crucial for research to thrive and develop. These factors are the background for, and priority in our activities also as regards to research security. At the same time, these are basic premises that entail vulnerabilities of which the university is observant. Therefore, the university is implementing tighter security measures. In relation to your call for evidence, we have the following inputs 1. A guiding principle should be, that policy, regulation and guidelines must not become party of the competition for resources and talent between research institutions! For that reason, the same regulations and guidelines should apply for as large research areas as is possible. Minimum is the national level but EU-level or larger would be preferable. 2. A guiding principle should be, that policy, regulation and guidelines must be based, not on extreme cases highlighted by their spectacular character og high press coverage, but instead on more standard cases of threat to research security. Policy, regulation and guidelines based on extreme cases might lead to overimplementation and thus an unproportional disincentivization of internationalization. 3. In your call for evidence you note the following, to which we have the following comments: a. taking a country-agnostic approach avoiding all forms of discrimination and stigmatization. While this is an admirable principle it might also lead to over implementation and unnecessary burdens on researchers and research activities. Threats on research security is mostly portrayed in a country-centric way. Operational policy, regulation and guidelines might entail a focus on certain countries over others to be operational for researchers and research institutions. b. proportionality of safeguarding measures based on a risk-based approach; We are very supportive of this statement. c. invest in a better understanding of the sector-specific threat landscape and the sectors resilience; We are very supportive of this statement. d. support research performing organisations in their efforts to develop due diligence and risk management procedures and assign responsibilities within the organisation; We are very supportive of this statement. e. promote that national funding agencies incentivise beneficiaries to identify and address research security issues in their projects. In that case, this should be implemented with very defined (and realistic) demands and measurements. Broad and unspecific demands tend to be counterproductive and to place an unproportional workload on applicants/beneficiaries. f. support the development of practical guidance and due diligence tools for research performing organisations; We are very supportive of this statement. A common tool for due diligence and/or certification/validation of new and existing tools for diligence would be useful. 4. Perhaps basic research, possibly under a certain TRL-level, could be exempt from regulations. Maybe adopting the same regime, as is used in export-control for this. 5. Perhaps define safe/trusted countries where internationalization operates under more flexible regimes. 6. Perhaps in policy, regulations and guidelines distinguish between (less) regulation in recruitment of talent (from outside of EU) and (more) cooperation with institutions (outside of EU). We want and need to be able attract and be able to freely recruit research talent to the European Common Research Area. 7. Focus should be on raising awareness, defining risk-areas and on highly concrete and operational tools for institutions and researchers within the field of research security.
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Meeting with Niels Fuglsang (Member of the European Parliament)

24 Oct 2023 · Forskning

Meeting with Jakop G. Dalunde (Member of the European Parliament)

27 Apr 2022 · Speaker: EU ETS Maritime

Meeting with Alina-Stefania Ujupan (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager)

9 Mar 2022 · digital education and skills.

Meeting with Keith Sequeira (Cabinet of Commissioner Carlos Moedas)

18 Jan 2018 · Open Science

Meeting with Giulia Del Brenna (Cabinet of Commissioner Carlos Moedas)

19 Jan 2017 · International cooperation in the framework of H2020