New head of department with political experience

Two terms as an active local politician in Favrskov Municipality, a current position as 1st Deputy Mayor, and a lot of political experience are just some of the qualifications Professor Birgit Liin brings to her new position as head of the Department of Law at Aarhus BSS. She replaces Professor Torsten Iversen, who has stepped down after five years in the position.

“I got to try my hand at pretty much everything in municipal government except the office of mayor, and I certainly believe being able to function in a political system is a strength, because of course the university is also a politically governed organisation,” Liin said. However, she has decided to end her career in politics after the upcoming municipal elections in November. Pursuing a political career alongside a position as demanding as head of department is simply not manageable.

When asked whether she thinks she’ll miss politics, Liin replied:

“I don’t think I’ll have time to.”

There are some challenging tasks awaiting Liin – and the most challenging among them will seems set to be implementing the Master’s reform.

The law programme is one of the Master’s programmes that will be redesigned: in future, in addition to the traditional two-year Master’s degree, some students will have the option of a much shorter1 1/4-year programme. As Liin put it:

“So the students will have to learn more in less time.”

However, there are still major hurdles to the implementation of the reform at the department, because it’s still unclear what the Master’s landscape will end up looking like.

“It’s a bit like standing at the foot of a mountain and not knowing how many steep ascents you’ll encounter on your way up,” Liin said.

Another task Liin faces is following up on the research evaluation the department conducted in autumn 2024, and which will be incorporated into the coming strategy for 2026-2030.

“We’ll have to look at what actions we need to take in response, and we have to be more clear about our primary focus and priorities. We will also need to involve staff in this,” said the new department head. At the same time, she stressed that:

“The Department of Law is a harmonious department that rests on a strong, solid foundation. That’s also the reason I dared to take on the role of department head.”

Dean Thomas Pallesen is looking forward to welcoming Birgit Liin. He said:

“I’m delighted that Birgit decided to apply for this position. She comes to us with a considerable breadth of relevant experience, including a number of years as deputy head of the Department of Law. I’m sure that Birgit will be a great asset to the faculty as head of department and member of the faculty leadership team.”