Key figures - research

Here you can find key figures for research at Aalborg University.

Number of PhD students

PhD education is research training and advanced studies following a Master’s degree. Aalborg University offers PhD education within four different fields under four faculties.

A PhD programme comprises three years of full-time study and must be based on a Master’s degree. Within the tree years, sufficient time must be set aside for individual research work and preparation of the thesis. Furthermore, students must gain experience with teaching activities or other types of knowledge dissemination.

When the thesis has been submitted, an assessment committee will be appointed, and they will give their recommendation after the public defence. The PhD degree is awarded to scholars who have satisfactorily completed their research training and submitted a thesis.

The tables below illustrate the total number of PhD students and the total PhD student intake for each faculty. The numbers are calculated each year on 31 December.

PhD students 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Humanities 118 98 85 76 64 53
Social Sciences 109 100 98 80 62 70
Medicine 178 200 216 216 215 210
TECH 181 174 169 194 197 195
Engineering 264 267 282 272 283 292
Total 850 839 850 838 821 820

 

 

PhD student intake

The table below shows the number of PhD students intake at each faculty. The number is calculated on the basis of the entire calendar year.

PhD intake 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Humanities 26 20 23 11 10 12
Social Sciences 31 26 22 13 14 21
Medicine 61 70 58 54 53 69
TECH 41 60 52 60 62 61
Engineering 79 81 101 74 92 96
Total 238 257 256 212 231 259

 

 

PhD degrees

The table below shows the number of PhD degrees awarded at each faculty. The number is calculated on the basis of the entire calendar year.

PhD degrees 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Humanities 28 31 29 13 17 14
Social Sciences 33 19 23 15 28 13
Medicine 45 40 36 33 53 56
TECH 71 55 35 35 30 42
Engineering 79 70 75 62 72 70
Total 266 215 198 158 200 195

 

Research publications 

The number of research publications is a key figure representing the production of the University. You may study the University’s many publications at the AAU research portal.

Research publications  2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Humanities 1,031 1,022 1,074 874 834 670
Social Sciences 862 850 774 631 672 617
Medicine 1,243 1,314 1,288 1,342 1,500 1,786
Engineering 1,747 1,840 1,919 1,918 2,124 1,608
TECH 1,242 1,181 1,123 1,010 1,151 1,071
Total 6,125 6,207 6,178 5,775 6,281 5,752

 

Activities

Aalborg University’s knowledge exchange and cooperation with the surrounding world may be found in the national statistics on the commercialisation of research results published by the The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation since 2005.

Each year, researchers at Aalborg University generate world class inventions and research results with great commercial potential on the basis of research undertaken at the University and research collaborations with companies and other research institutions.

The focus of the Technology Transfer Office is the transfer of new technologies to the business community according to the Act on inventions at public research institutions, applying to inventions made after 2000.

Each year, the Technology Transfer Office receives a number of reports on new inventions, and a large part of these turn into commercial technology transfers.

Activities 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Reported inventions 68 71 81 57 66 58
Sold and licensed inventions 41 42 31 54 39 34
Spin-out companies 1 1 2 5 4 2
Patent applications 14 16 11 8 7 6