She was Teacher of the Year at Aalborg University (AAU) in 2018, has always been committed to good teaching and supporting students' learning processes. She believes that students represent universities’ greatest impact on society.

Louise Møller Haase has been walking the corridors of AAU as a civil engineering student, PhD, assistant professor and associate professor for around 25 years. Over the past three years she has been the vice-dean for education at The Technical Faculty of IT and Design at AAU. She is now coming to Aarhus University (AU) to take over as the new vice-dean for education at the Faculty of Technical Sciences.

"I'm really looking forward to working at another university. I grew up at AAU, and I have an extensive professional and personal network there, so I'm excited to learn new ways and meet new colleagues. And AU is also exciting because of the educational area at the tech faculty, which is still being built up. I’m very excited to be a part of expanding and consolidating that process," she says.

She takes over from Finn Borchsenius, who has been vice-dean for education for almost eight years and who, among other things, has helped organise AU's four engineering departments. Finn Borchsenius will help in the handover to the new vice-dean until the summer holidays.

"The young people are our most important product"

Louise Møller Haase has a background in product development and product design. She holds a Master's degree in industrial design and she completed her PhD in 2010 about how to create a common understanding and exploit the potential of interdisciplinary team dynamics in the early stages of product development.

Since then, she has conducted research into, among other things, the circular economy and long-lasting products, which entails creating classic products that can be reused and repaired, and that support sustainable consumption, and into how companies can work with sustainability in their products as part of their business strategy.

"The mix of people from different backgrounds has always interested me," she says, and she explains that this is also one of the reasons for her interest in establishing the best environment for students: "because how do you best educate people with very different backgrounds who all perceive things very differently?"

Louise Møller Haase was an associate professor at AAU until 2021, when she joined a professor promotion programme, but shortly afterwards she started as the vice-dean for education instead.

"I hadn't been looking for the opportunity, but I was asked if I wanted to apply for the job, and I have to say that I've been extremely happy that I did. I think that our most important product is the young people we send out into society. They represent our biggest impact. And after you've been teaching for many years, there may be a lot you might want to change or try to do differently. As the vice-dean, I actually had an opportunity to change some of the obstacles to good education," she says.

An important educational product

Danish universities are currently facing extensive reforms that will change the educational landscape we know today. And Louise Møller Haase will have an important role to play in this respect at AU, says the dean of the Faculty of Technical Sciences, Eskild Holm Nielsen:

"The first and biggest task now is to implement the Master's reform, including getting the work-integrated Master’s degree programme up and running to help realise the potential of close collaboration between our business community, our education and our research. I look forward to working with Louise on these things because her drive and winning nature brings out the best in the people she works with," he says.

Louise Møller Haase agrees:

"There have been and still are many reforms for universities," she says, and continues:

"And I look forward to working to establish a work-integrated Master’s degree programme that makes sense for students and companies alike. It's a really important educational product, that students need to feel comfortable with and that companies need to see is attractive. If we do this right, we as universities can become relevant in new and other ways than we know of today."

Louise Møller Haase is 44 years old, she is married, has two children, and lives in Mou in Northern Jutland.

She will start as the vice-dean for education at the Faculty of Technical Sciences at AU on 1 April 2025.

Contact

Jesper Bruun
Journalist, Aarhus University
Mail: bruun@au.dk
Tel.: +4542404140