Notify your head of department: Do you have sideline employment in a high-threat country?
Aarhus University has introduced stricter guidelines for sideline employment related to so-called high-threat countries to protect employees, knowledge and critical infrastructure. This means that you must notify your head of department if you have sideline employment in Iran, China or Russia.
What is the background for the stricter guidelines?
The geopolitical landscape has changed significantly, and Aarhus University is taking appropriate steps to protect employees, knowledge and critical infrastructure.
Consequently, all academic staff must now report potentially high-risk sideline employment to their respective heads of department by no later than 14 days before they take up new sideline employment.
This applies to sideline employment involving high-threat countries which the Danish Security and Intelligence Service has assessed as a high research espionage threat against Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It also applies to sideline employment involving the exchange of knowledge for legitimate purposes that could potentially be misused by hostile countries, for example for military purposes.
Who should register sideline employment in Pure and how is it done?
The following staff are still required to register any sideline employment connected with their primary position at Aarhus University in Pure: all academic staff; members of the senior management team and faculty management teams; department heads (Arts: school heads); deputy directors; and administrative centre heads.
Members of administrative and technical staff outside upper management are generally not required to register sideline employment in Pure. However, any sideline employment undertaken by members of administrative and technical staff outside upper management must comply with AU’s guidelines for sideline employment.
Find out what kinds of sideline employment the guidelines apply to on the university’s staff website. The website also has a guide on how to register sideline employment in Pure.
In future, all academic staff at Health - and the rest of the university - must report sideline employment related to high-threat countries in advance. If you have already entered into an agreement on sideline employment in one of the three high-threat countries, you must contact your head of department immediately.
Take the risk of espionage seriously
If your head of department assesses that the sideline employment is compatible with your employment at Aarhus University, you must report the sideline employment in PURE as usual. If, on the other hand, the sideline employment is incompatible with your employment at the university, you must agree with your head of department on what to do.
"It may seem like we're using a sledgehammer to crack a nut when we ask employees and managers throughout the organisation to pay special attention to this. But it’s important. We have to deal with the new geopolitical landscape, we must take the risk of research data being misused seriously and we must demonstrate due diligence," says Vice-dean for Research Per Brøndsted Höllsberg.
The high-threat countries which the Danish Security and Intelligence Service has assessed as having a high research espionage threat against Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland are currently Iran, China and Russia. But the list is dynamic and may change over time.
We still approve of sideline employment
The senior management team still considers sideline employment as an important contribution to society, and employees only have to take a series of precautions in very few cases.
"We’re pleased that employees at Health contribute to society by having sideline employment – this is also where they find inspiration and knowledge for their work at Health. So, we encourage sideline employment. That hasn’t changed. But we have to realise that we need to be slightly more critical than we’ve been in the past when entering into agreements on sideline employment, particularly within certain research areas," says Per Brøndsted Höllsberg.
The stricter guidelines for sideline employment related to high-threat countries were adopted by the senior management team and discussed on the Main Liaison Committee, and they entered into force on 1 June 2024.
Contact
Vice-dean for Research Per Brøndsted Höllsberg
Aarhus University, Health
Telephone: +45 51 36 23 53
Email: pbh@au.dk