Newsletter 72 from the Head of Department

RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND TEACHING

Many and qualified applicants for our programmes again this year
The semester is underway, and the Department's hallways and clinics are once again teeming with students - many of them brand new. Once again, this year we have had a large number of applications for all our programmes. In particular, for the clinical dental technician programme, we have experienced a relatively large increase in the number of applicants; 200 have applied this year compared to 163 last year, and we have "only" 25 study places. In the dentistry programme, we have had so many qualified quota 1 applicants this year that a grade point average of 10.5 has been required to enter the programme. This is Aarhus University's third highest admission quota.

Overall, 209 new students in the dental hygiene, clinical dental technology and dentistry programmes have been granted a study place with us, so all that remains is to wish you all a great work in educating skilled dental graduates from Aarhus University for Danish society.

The specialty programme in orthodontics is evaluated with highest grades and distinctions
In February this year, representatives from the Danish Health Authority made a routine inspection visit to examine the quality of our postgraduate programme in orthodontics. The subsequent inspection report is absolutely fantastic, and we receive the rating “very good” – top marks – in all assessed parameters. The conclusion states, among other things:

“The Orthodontics Section appears very well organised with dedicated employees and students. The Department has a very good reputation both nationally and internationally. The department has a good and well-functioning learning environment with experience and knowledge sharing, and good relationships between students and clinical teachers and supervisors.”

In June, the inspector’s report was discussed by the Regional Council for Continuing Education of Doctors, as prescribed by the procedure, and they have subsequently written to us to acknowledge and thank us for delivering extraordinary quality in (continuing) education of dentists. Impressive!

We are in need of external censors – can you help recruit for the censor corps?
A censor corps for the dental education programmes in Denmark will now be established again for the period 1 April 2026 - 31 March 2030. We have suffered from a shortage of censors for several years, and there is a real need for us to get more people into the censor corps nationwide.

You can help by spreading the word in your network and by motivating colleagues to apply, so that we get the best possible censor corps. This is important for the programmes and for the quality of our graduates.

You are of course also welcome to apply to be a censor at the University of Copenhagen.

The application deadline is already 1 October at 12:00, so it is urgent.

On the faculty's website you can see more about the censor task, requirements for qualifications, fees, etc. [In Danish] From here you can click on further knowledge about dentistry, clinical dental technician and dental hygienist educations.

IOOS Cariology Forum
September marked the start of the ‘IOOS Cariology Forum’. Regular meetings (2-3 per semester) are held for all teachers at IOOS with an affiliation or interest in cariology. The meetings are held on different days of the week, from 2:30 to 3:30 pm, and will feature a professional presentation followed by time for discussion of both professional and organisational topics. 

Clinical teachers at the bachelor’s and master’s clinics and others with an affiliation with cariology will receive an invitation email from management consultant Enette Berndt Knudsen, and all others with an interest in cariology are welcome, so please reach out to Enette and you will be added to the email list.

We hope that many people will be willing to support the new format for knowledge sharing within cariology.

The work on research evaluation is now complete
After almost two years, the work on evaluating the Faculty of Health's research is now complete. The research evaluation has been a fixed task throughout Aarhus University, which we at the Department have also put a lot of effort into carrying out. We have both evaluated ourselves and received feedback from outside from an international expert panel, and the result can now be read in our Department report, which can be accessed via the website.

It is exciting reading, which also includes the Department's research strategic action plan, which is a benchmark for the work that in the coming years will ensure that we and the Faculty of Health can continue to develop strong research environments and produce high-quality research - also as a basis for us to deliver research-based education.

NEWS ABOUT NAMES

Fernando Exposto is Associate Professor from September 1st
I am pleased to announce that Fernando Exposto has been appointed as Associate Professor at the Department as of September 1st, 2025. Fernando is affiliated with the Section for Orofacial Pain and Jaw Function, where he has been an Assistant Professor until now. Fernando is researching the mechanisms behind chronic pain, referred pain and the relationship between temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) and primary headaches. I look forward to the collaboration.

Hossein Khansari received one of the Faculty of Health’s fully funded PhD scholarships
Twice a year, the Faculty of Health awards fully funded PhD scholarships to talented researchers with a promising career ahead of them. The first pool of the year was distributed shortly before the summer holidays, and one of the 11 selected fellows is enrolled at IOOS.

Hossein Mohammad Rahimi Khansari will spend the next three years researching increasing the quality of cone-beam CT (CBCT) images by developing a deep learning model that will improve resolution, contrast and noise reduction in CBCT images with the aim of validating the model's ability to detect vertical root fractures in extracted teeth. Associate Professor Ruben Pauwels is the main supervisor. Congratulations!

Research grant for Bahram Ranjkesh
Assistant Professor Bahram Ranjkesh from the Section for Prosthodontics has received a grant of DKK 85,800 from the Danish Dental Association's Fund for Odontological Research for the project: "Biomechanical performance of endocrowns with fiber-reinforced composite base in maxillary premolars". Congratulations – interesting project.

Ann Wenzel receives the Bagger-Sørensen Prize 2025
Professor Emeritus Ann Wenzel is this year’s recipient of the Bagger-Sørensen Prize. She is awarded the foundation’s prestigious prize for her groundbreaking and internationally recognized research on the use of imaging methods for diseases of the teeth, mouth, and face.

For more than four decades, Ann Wenzel has been a driving force in the development of oral radiology, establishing it as an independent research field, while also contributing to research-based dental education both in Denmark and internationally.

The Bagger-Sørensen Prize amounts to DKK 1 million. Half of the sum is a personal honorary award, while the other half must be used within the recipient’s research field. Congratulations – what an honour.

Best wishes,

Siri