1. DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY
AARHUS UNIVERSITY

2. AARHUS UNIVERSITY Faculties: Statistics: Science and Technology Arts
Health
Aarhus BSS
Statistics:
No. of students: 42,500
No. of staff: 11,500

3. AARHUS UNIVERSITY
Core areas:
Education
Research
Collaboration

4. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Departments:
Agroecology
Animal Science
Bioscience
Chemistry
Computer Science
Engineering
Environmental Science
Food Science
Geoscience
Mathematics
Molecular Biology and Genetics
Physics and Astronomy

5. DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY
Staff:
Scientists (faculty) 55
Postdocs 42
PhD students 61
Total staff approx. 250
Publications (2016):
Peer-reviewed international papers 260
Other research publications 130
Popular science publications 69

6. Department of Agroecology
Budget
Contract funding
Basic funding/education
Special grants
External grants/sales
Overhead

7. DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY
Head of department
Entomology and Plant Pathology PATENT
Crop Health CROP
Soil Physics and Hydropedology JORD
Soil Fertility JORNÆR
Climate and Water KLIMA
Agricultural Systems and Sustainability SYSTEM
Talent/PhD Education Business Policy support Research
Secretariat STAB
Research facilities – MARK Experimental station – Flakkebjerg Experimental station – Foulum Experimental station – South Jutland

8. DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY
Vision: The Department of Agroecology aims at belonging to the elite of research institutions concerned with agroecosystems and aims at creating, developing and converting pioneering research for the advancement of the public bioeconomy nationally and internationally.
Mission: The Department of Agroecology is a department which contributes to sustainable production and growth through outstanding agroecosystems research, consultancy and teaching.

9. DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY
Research flagships: Areas in which the department is particularly strong and from which results that are in keeping with global challenges and goals are delivered.
The four flagships are:
Climate-Smart Agri-Food Systems
Sustainable Pest Management
Sustainable Nutrient Management
Soil Functions
The interaction and dynamics between the research flagships and the department as a whole are symbolised in the figure.   

11. CLIMATE-SMART AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
Insight into the interactions between climate and agricultural production, including production systems that can improve resource use efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help us adapt to climate change
Methods for quantifying the overall climate and environmental effects that are related to the production of food and biobased materials, and how various players in the supply chain can develop ways of collaborating to improve resource use efficiency, credibility and value creation

12. SUSTAINABLE PEST MANAGEMENT
Biology and regulation of pests in agricultural and horticultural crops, Biological control
Fate of pesticides in the environment
Effects of natural chemical substances in agricultural crops
Decision support systems
Crop quality
Crop nutrition physiology
Life cycle analyses
Farmer behaviour with regard to crop protection 

13. SUSTAINABLE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
Improving use of nutrients from plant residues and fertiliser (commercial, aniaml manure, by-products)
Reducing emission of gasses
Reducing impact on the aquatic environment
Ensuring soil fertility

14. SOIL FUNCTIONS Soil and its functions
Threats to the soil resource, such as pollution, decreasing organic material content, erosion, and compaction
Innovative sensors for characterisation and mapping of the soil resource
Innovative methods for optimising the soil as a natural water treatment plant

15. DEPARTMENT OF AGROECOLOGY
Research sections:
Agricultural Systems and Sustainability
Climate and Water
Crop Health
Entomology and Plant Pathology
Soil Biology and Nutrients
Soil Physics and Hydropedology

16. AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Research areas:
Life cycle assessment of food and other bio-based products
Organic animal production
Organisation of food systems
Productivity and profitability in farming
Sustainable resource management

17. CLIMATE AND WATER Research areas Agroecosystems modelling
Agrohydrology
Climate change impacts and adaptation
Crop physiology and biomass production
Informatics and GIS
Water quality

18. CROP HEALTH Research areas: Disease and pest management
Ecosystem services
GMO
Herbology and application technique
Natural product chemistry and environmental chemistry
Pesticide resistance
Plant adaptations and mutualism
Seed science and technology

19. ENTOMOLOGY AND PLANT PATHOLOGY
Research areas:
Ecological modelling lab
Entomology
Honey bee diseases, genetics and pollination
Molecular characterisation and diagnosis of pests
Molecular ecology
The Global Rust Reference Center

20. SOIL FERTILITY Research areas: Biochar Cover crops
Grassland ecosystem services
Microbial ecology of soil and manure
Nutrients in wastes and fertilisers

21. SOIL PHYSICS AND HYDROPEDOLOGY
Research areas:
Arctic soils
Digital Soil Mapping
Soil mechanical behaviour
Soil quality
Water and contaminant transport

22. LOCATIONS AU Foulum Foulumgaard Experimental Station1 2 3 4
AU Foulum
Foulumgaard Experimental Station
Askov Experimental Station
AU Flakkebjerg
Campus Aarhus 5

23. AU FOULUM

24. AU FLAKKEBJERG

25. RESEARCH FACILITIES State-of-the-art laboratories
Greenhouses, semifield facilities and lysimeter units
Climate chambers
Climate stations
Drones
World’s largest experimental biogas plant
Biorefinery
285 hectares of farmland for field trials
Global Rust Reference Center
Access to onsite research farm animals

26. FIELD TRIALS AT AU FOULUM
Semifield
DONG
(Organic platform)
MULTIPLANT
VIRKN
CENTS
ECOSERV
CENTS
PROTEIN
ROWCROP
ROWCROP
Slurry experiments
Perennial energy crops

27. SEMIFIELD FACILITY - FOULUM
Kontakt: Finn Christensen
SEMIFIELD FACILITY - FOULUM

28. DEGREE PROGRAMMES
BSc in Agrobiology MSc in Agrobiology MSc in AgroEnvironmental Management MSc in Agrobiology - Organic Agriculture and Food Systems (double degree)

29. BSc in Agrobiology
Offered in collaboration between the Department of Agroecology, Department of Animal Science and Department of Food Science
The student can choose between three tracks:
Plant production
Animal biology and production
Food science

30. MSc in Agrobiology
Focus on sustainable production of plants and animals
The student can choose between three tracks:
Animal health and welfare
Plant nutrition and health
Organic agriculture (single degree) or Organic agriculture and food systems (double degree)

31. MSc in Agrobiology – Examples of courses in plant nutrition and health
Crop nutrition and physiology
Crop pest biology and management
Crop production and feed quality
Cropping systems
Diagnosis of plant diseases
Organic agriculture
Soil biology and fertility

32. MSc in Agro-Environmental Management
Focus on agricultural production in the light of environment, biodiversity and climate
Offered in collaboration with the Department of Bioscience, Department of Environmental Science and Aarhus BSS
Covers topics such as agroecology, policy-making, analysis and management, carbon cycling and climate change, nutrient cycling, GIS and modelling

33. PhD PROGRAMME Approx.70 PhD students affiliated
AGRO offers several PhD courses every year

34. PUBLIC SECTOR CONSULTANCY
Aarhus University has made an agreement with the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark regarding research-based policy support.
Aarhus University is committed to:
Carrying out strategic, problem-oriented research and development within the agreed performance areas
Supplying research-based advice to the ministry within the performance areas
Communicating relevant information to the ministry, the industry and other interested parties

35. PUBLIC SECTOR CONSULTANCY RELATED TO FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
The section of the agreement regarding food and agriculture is coordinated by DCA - Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture and covers three performance areas.
The Department of Agroecology is responsible for the performance area “Crop Production”.
Within this performance area there are eight scientific effort areas.

36. SCIENTIFIC EFFORT AREAS
The Department of Agroecology is responsible for eight scientific effort areas under “Crop Production”:
Crop breeding and pollination, crop health aspects and crop protection, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) 
Climate-smart production systems
Fertilisers, standards, and nitrogen prognosis
Technology – agriculture and crop production
Soil and soil conditions, including digital data, maps and picture analysis
Green transition and biomass
Targeted regulation and measures
Agricultural reform and public green benefits

37. PUBLIC SECTOR CONSULTANCY
The agreement with the ministry also includes other cross-disciplinary tasks:
Action Plans on the Aquatic Environment
Water Framework Directive
Pesticide Action Plan
Green Growth and Danish Agriculture 2020

38. THANK YOU
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