Highly qualified graduates with relevant competencies

At Natural Sciences, our efforts to educate highly qualified graduates with relevant competences are inspired by AU’s overall quality assurance policy. Specifically, this means that we use input from the graduate survey to develop degree programmes, and focus on providing opportunities for work placements and project placements, as well as for writing a Master’s thesis in collaboration with a company/organisation. In addition, we focus on how we – as a university – collaborate with employers and how we can provide continuing and further education for a changing labour market. Read more about this on the sub-policy subpages.

AU’s goal is for students to acquire both subject-specific and transferable competencies through their studies and to be able to quickly transition to attractive positions on the job market. The university will offer career development activities and maintain ongoing contact with employers of graduates.

1. Through their studies, students must acquire knowledge as well as both academic and practice-oriented competencies that fulfil society’s needs.

Founded in disciplinary excellence, AU’s degree programmes must provide students with relevant knowledge, qualifications and competencies to enable graduates to navigate in a dynamic, digitalised job market. Students must have opportunities to participate in career development activities that assist them in clarifying their career ambitions and competencies and smooth the transition from university to their first job or life as an entrepreneur.

2. Students must have an opportunity to connect with the job market and bring their knowledge into play in relevant professional contexts, while developing networks with potential employers.

All students must be exposed to and encouraged to interact with stakeholders in the labour market. Students must be given opportunities to work with real-world issues of relevance to the labour market, meet potential employers and connect with professional role models in relevant positions.

3. AU’s goal is to ensure the relevance of its degree programmes through ongoing contact with employers of AU graduates.

At AU, students must encounter degree programmes that have been developed and designed based on input from relevant employer. To ensure this, employers must be involved in the ongoing process of developing the quality of AU’s degree programmes.

Revised 23.02.2026

Astrid Marie Gad Knudsen