by Trine Jensen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

Department of Computer Science will start working on attracting more female researchers in the future. This is based upon the institute being chosen as one of 12 university environments within STEM, to implement a targeted initiative to support more diverse research environments.

For many years the research environments within STEM have had difficulties attracting and retaining female researchers:

- We have a strong desire to change our current process for recruiting scientific staff at all levels, assistant professor, associate professor, and full professors. We are currently significantly out of balance. The objective is that we must enrich our research environments with a much larger proportion of female researchers. This applies from PhD students and postdocs to professors, says Peter Axel Nielsen, Head of Department - Department of Computer Science.

The Department of Computer Science will focus on diversity in the recruitment of scientific staff by working on the search committees and the process of the recruitment:

- We start by working on search committees and how they can incorporate a much greater diversity in their search for possible applicants for our positions. We will work systematically on how we can improve the work. Our goal is to increase the number of female applicants significantly over the next few years, says Peter Axel Nielsen.

In collaboration with VILLUM FONDEN, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the strategic innovation agency IS IT A BIRD, the 12 university environments are establishing ‘Living Labs’ across the country to develop concrete strategies for supporting diversity.