Aalborg University - AAL (www.en.aau.dk) is a very young University starting in 1974 but has grown significantly especially within Technical Sciences. The number of students is approximately 20.000 plus 3.000 international students. The full-time academic staffs are little more than 2000 plus 1000 Ph.D. students. Aalborg University has expanded from a local University in Northern Jutland to a national University with activities several places in Denmark. Aalborg is worldwide recognized for the pedagogical method (PBL – problem based learning), and the candidates have been received very well by industry. The research level has also improved significantly over the years, and the ranking lists put Aalborg University among the 2% best Universities in the world. In a number of specific areas e.g. Power Electronics and Sensory-Motor Interaction Aalborg University is among the international leading Universities. The Department of Civil Engineering at Aalborg University has around 150 employees situated primarily in Aalborg but also in Esbjerg. The Department is divided into the following divisions: Architectural engineering, Reliability, Dynamics and Marine Engineering, Structures, materials and geotechnics, Transportation Engineering and Water and Environment.
All divisions are involved in both research and education, and the research is typically done in cooperation with other Universities and Industrial partners. Approximately 1/3 of the budget stems from external funded projects/activities. The Department has a long record of research within risk and reliability of structures, and has during the years influenced the EU standards for design and analysis of structures. Risk and reliability has been spread into most of the activities in the Divisions, and uniting the different risk and reliability activities in the different educations has been planned.
The Department contributes to a number of educations at Aalborg University, and in relation to the application the most relevant are the Master in Risk and Safety Management and M.Sc. in Civil Engineering. The Risk and Safety Management is only given in Esbjerg, and has been focused on the offshore industry. The Danish Centre of Risk and Safety Management (RISK) was founded in 2011 funded from Claus Sørensen Fond, Aalborg University and University of Southern Denmark. RISK has primarily been cooperating with companies within offshore industry, but has also contacts to other Scandinavian/European Universities and Technological Institutes within building and fire safety.
