Department of Economics and Business Economics (ECON) provides teaching in a number of study programmes
The students are informed about their study programme via the study portals, which contain important information about teaching, exams, bachelor's theses, master's theses, timetables, etc.:
Below, you will find inspiration and important guidelines/rules for all lecturers at ECON as well as relevant contact information.
A course coordinator is assigned to each course. The course coordinator is the primary responsible for the course, which means that he/she will receive mails regarding the evaluation questionnaire, will be responsible for coordinating activities in the course incl. the distribution of lectures between lecturers, as well as coordinating any input to revisions of the academic content in the course description before each semester.
The course coordinators are always welcome to seek professional sparring with the department’s other lecturers and the teaching coordinator. In most cases the course responsible is the lecturer in the course, or one of these in case of multiple lecturers.
The course catalogue includes all course descriptions in which both the teaching form, the exam form, and learning objectives are described in as much detail as possible for each course. The course descriptions are reviewed prior to each semester to ensure that they are up to date. It is not possible to change the course descriptions after publication. All course descriptions (and changes) must be approved by the relevant study board.
Changes in existing course descriptions and new course descriptions are called for by the study administrators prior to each semester.
All lecturers are responsible to know their course description(s) in depth and to adhere to the content in both teaching and examining.
The students will be asked to evaluate all courses or supervision programmes. In order to ensure a high response rate, you need to set aside approx. 10 minutes during a lecture for evaluation. Make sure to inform your students that you are the recipient of the results and that the feedback needs to be constructive.
When the evaluation period is done, the lecturer will be contacted by the responsible director of studies in case a dialoque about the results is considered necessary.
Find the guidelines here: Sickness absence
Find information about capacity, equipment, service phone numbers etc. via this link:
Booking must always go through the study administrators.
Note that it is the lecturer’s responsibility to make sure that the number of persons in the room does not exceed the maximum capacity.
If you experience that too many students show up for your lecture, you must inform the students either at the lecture or via Brightspace that they are not allowed to change lecture classes.
If there are no free spaces, the students originally scheduled to be in the lecture class have priority.
Brightspace is AU's learning platform. This is where lecture plans and teaching material must be uploaded. You must also use this platform to communicate with the students.
Find inspiration to teaching methods and much more here:
The AU Library offers to prepare an electronic curriculum list for your course, ensuring access to electronic resources and that all copyright rules are adhered to:
The AU Library also offers support to lecturers in relation to semester shelves, course literature, plagiarism, copyright etc.:
An overview over the literature used in the course must be added to the course description. If the list is not ready by the time the course descriptions are published, you can always contact your study administrator at a later point to add it after publication. Otherwise, please make sure that the literature and curriculum for the exam is listed in Brightspace well in advance of the beginning of the semester in order to ensure the students have time to aquire the literature for the course and to ensure that the students are well aware of what the full curriculum for the exams are.
Aarhus University is a campus university which means that teaching should take place on-site and not online. Students do not have a right to demand online sessions, and if you wish to use online components in your teaching, this will have to be approved by the relevant board of studies well in advance, i.e., before the publication of the course descriptions as the teaching form must be evident here.
Teaching staff may be approached by students, who are part of the AU Dual Career programme (for both elite athletes and for entrepreneurs), and who therefore have special conditions at AU. They are informed that any request to video/audio record or live streame the lectures must be sent to the lecturer (or course coordinator) at least a week in advance of the lecture. Note that as a lecturer, you can decline this request.
Teaching staff may also be approached by other students with special needs, so please do not hesitate to contact your study administrative contact person to ask for help clarifying any uncertainties about the rules and/or pitfalls.
Guidelines regarding GDPR etc. can be found here: Guidelines for streaming and recording classes at Aarhus University (see explicitly "Standard text for Brightspace").
Guides on how to use Zoom (also from Brightspace) for streaming and recording lectures can be found here: Streaming and recording of lectures
You can also refer students to Data protection (GDPR) for students if needed.
The timetables are published for the students before they register for the following semester, i.e., before 1-5 May/1-5 Nov. After publication, you can only change the schedule for your course if unforeseen professionel circumstances occur. A change must be approved by the department management. The request for change must be sent to the study administrators, who will then go forward with it.
Teaching periods (15 weeks):
Spring: Week 5-19
Autumn: Week 36-50
Get access to your personal timetable or the timetable of e.g. a particular classroom via this link:
Find the general ECON principles for timetable and exam planning here: General principles - ECON
In the course descriptions (see course catalogue), it is stated whether an exam is with no, internal, or external co-examination. If an internal co-examiner is needed (i.e., a person employed by the department), your teaching coordinator will be able to help you find (and/or ask) a relevant colleague. Please notice that it could be useful to have the chosen co-examiner approved by either the teaching coordinator or the director of studies to avoid incapacity issues. For exams with external co-examination, the study administrators will contact you to arrange this.
The planning of the exams (and teaching) is centralized and performed by Study Planning dept. (Studieplan) in coorporation with lecturers through the study administrators. The exam plans for the ordinary exams are published for the students before they register for the courses in the following semester, i.e. before 1-5 May (fall courses) / 1-5 November (spring courses).
Exam periods:
Winter: Ordinary exams are held during December and January. Any midterm exams are usually held around week 43. Re-exams are held during the last 2 weeks of February, i.e. normally from 15-28 February.
Summer: Ordinary exams are held during May and June. Any midterm exams are usually held around week 13. Re-exams are held during weeks 31-33, always starting on 1 August (or the first weekday hereafter).
Find the general ECON principles for timetable and exam planning here: General principles - ECON
All marks must be entered in to WISEflow – from both oral and written exams. If there are multiple assessors at an exam, all assessors must enter the mark. At an oral exam, it is important that the entry is made on the day of the exam.
At oral exams, the lecturer as well as the internal/external examiner is required to attend the exams onsite. The study administrators will contact you in order to arrange the practical parts of the exam, e.g., in relation to catering, rooms, exam order, etc.
In special cases, oral exams can be held online (e.g., as during Corona), but this has to be approved beforehand by the relevant director of studies. Find guides on how to conduct exams in Zoom via this link:
When preparing a written exam, please consider the following:
For all written exams, it is mandatory to have a colleague review the exam assignment before sending it to the relevant study administrator. It is the examiner’s responsibility to send the exam assignment for review.
As reviewer, your tasks is among other things to assess if the length of the exam is appropriate and if the individual questions are clear and unambiguous. You provide your feedback to the examiner and if relevant, review new versions of the exam assignment. It is not your task to verify that the examiner has addressed all your feedback.
As examiner, it is your task to address the feedback from the reviewer where relevant. Also note, it is your responsibility alone to ensure that the exam assignment satisfies the criteria outlined on the item ‘Preparing written exams’.
In connection with written onsite exams, you must be reachable by telephone during the first hour of the exam. For take-home exams, the students are allowed to send you emails with questions to problems in the exam assignment during the first 1-4 hours of the exam (depending on the length of the exam), after which, you must send the answer(s) to all students via Brightspace.
A guiding solution must be uploaded to Brightspace after the exam and also sent to the co-assessor/external co-examiner along with the exam assignment no later than the day after the exam.
The marking of the exam must be finalised no later than four weeks after the exam and preferably before. Note that there may be a shorter deadline at the end of an examination period as well as during the re-examination period. You will be able to see the deadline in WISEflow.
Students can complain about their mark up until two weeks after the mark is published.
WISEflow is our digital exam platform for both oral and written exams. All marks must be entered into WISEflow. If there are multiple assessors for an exam, all assessors must enter the mark. For oral exams, it is important that the entry is made on the day of the exam.
If you are assigned a project as a supervisor, it is recommended that you contact the student during the start-up phase, if he/she has not contacted you within a reasonable time (e.g., 2 weeks).
Read, comment on, and approve the problem statement and the outline. Remember that your approval of the problem statement in WISEflow during January/August (you will receive a link in your mail) is the student’s assurance from you that they are on the right track. If you need further information about what supervision entails at this department, you can contact a teaching coordinator. See more about your obligations here.
Every semester, a supervisor list is published for the students before they register for the project, i.e., bachelor's thesis, master's thesis, project-based internship, etc. It is required of all lecturers at ECON to be on the list to participate in the joint task of supervising the many students in our study programmes. If you want to be removed from the list a certain semester due to other obligations, it must be approved be your section head. Please notice that for MSc in Business Economics and Auditing (AUD), the process is different and will be handled by the Director of Studies, Frank Thinggaard and the study administrator.
The study administrators will call for input for the topics on the list, normally during September and March.
It is the students’ responsibility to contact you as supervisor, but we encourage you to reach out to the students via email, if you have not heard from them within 2 weeks from the start of the thesis writing period. (Remember that you must communicate with the students via their AU mail). If the students do not respond to your email, you are not obliged to do further until they contact you.
The extent of the supervision (and the procedures regarding the problem statement) can be discussed with either your section head or your teaching coordinator.
There are different consequences depending on the thesis/project, if the student(s) does not submit or pass the thesis/project. Please contact a study administrator for further instructions.
For Master's theses (only MSc Economics and Business Admin/merc + AUD and MSc Economics/Oecon), you will be asked to approve a problem statement in WISEflow approximately two weeks before the student begins writing his/her thesis (both for 1st, 2nd and 3rd attempts). This initial problem statement does not have to be particularly extensive, and it can be modified throughout the thesis writing period, so it is more or less a formality to let the student know, that his/her supervision and writing period has begun.
If the student does not upload the problem statement no further action is required on your part. The studies administration will inform the student that he/she has failed to submit a thesis statement, and that his/her examination attempt has started nevertheless.
If you do not approve the thesis statement because it lacks sufficient "content", the only direct consequence is that the student will receive a notification in e-Boks letting him/her know that the supervision and writing period has begun despite the insufficient problem statement, and that he/she must contact you to agree on a revised problem statement.
When a student transitions from the first examination attempt to the second/third attempt (due to either not handing in or failing the previous attempt), the student must submit a revised thesis statement, and the process for you will be the same as for the first attempt.
Only for MSc in Economics and Business Administration: If a revised problem statement has not been handed in and approved in WISEflow, the student must attach a brief account to the Master's Thesis, explaining how the revised problem statement differs from the original problem statement used for the first examination attempt. This brief account of the changes must be approved and signed by the supervisor. If the brief account is not included, the thesis will be rejected, and the student will have used an examination attempt.
Please remember to read the course description thoroughly, as differences can occur both between MSc programmes and between semesters.
At AU Educate, you can find inspiration for your supervisor role.
For some students, it will be necessary to sign a confidentiality agreement when they collaborate with a party outside of Aarhus University.
This can be either the AU standard confidentiality agreement or a company-specific confidentiality agreement.
These guidelines describe both your role in the process as supervisor and also the students’ obligations:
It is the student's responsibility to ensure that it is concluded and signed well in advance before the submission deadline for an assignment.
Please pay extra attention to company-specific agreements (i.e., not AU-standard), as there are special circumstances to take into consideration concerning these.
This page about general information security can also be relevant for both students and supervisors: Confidential theses and projects at AU.
You can also refer students to Data protection (GDPR) for students, if needed.
If you have questions about the guidelines, you can contact the relevant director of studies (see contact information below).
The study administrator helps with the practical and administrative aspects of teaching. This applies to, among other things, book orders, scheduling and exam planning, support in connection with Brightspace and WISEflow, contact with students on general questions, proofreading of exam assignments and much more.
Study programme coordinators:
Director of studies:
The teaching coordinators acts as your sparring partner, when it comes to the academic content of your course and teaching. Each course is associated with a teaching coordinator within the academic areas: Accounting, Econometrics and Business Statistics, Economics, Finance, and Logistics.
Centre for Educational Development (CED) offers all kinds of sparring regarding teaching and learning to AU staff, and you can always contact them, if you wish to, e.g., add more blended learning, or if you want to participate in one of the many inspirational courses for lecturers.
At AU Educate, you can also find inspiration for planning and carrying out your teaching, and different teaching methods.
Other useful links:
IT Support:
IT Systems:
In order to log in to the systems, you need a user ID, i.e., an AU ID, which you will be given at the beginning of your employment. You can find your AU ID and create a password by going to https://mit.au.dk/ and logging in with WAYF (choose nemID as "institution" for the first time, so you can access the page).
Once you are an AU employee, you can log on to the EDUROAM wireless network using your AU ID as well as the password you created. However, please note that as a username you must write:
(your AU ID)@uni.au.dk.