Svend Brinkmann: AAU doesn’t need to reinvent itself
: 02.04.2025
Good colleagues, a special AAU spirit, and the opportunity to advance from assistant professor to professor with specific responsibilities. This is what drew Svend Brinkmann in 2009 to AAU. Today, he finds that shifting political winds and cutbacks are putting pressure on the 50-year-old university which he calls on to stand firm – on AAU doing well and not needing a new identity.
By Lea Laursen Pasgaard, AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Graphic: Cecilie Karoline Kalbakk Elgaard
When Svend Brinkmann switched from philosophy to psychology, it was never with the ultimate goal of becoming a practicing psychologist. In fact, he was quite satisfied being a student.
"Fortunately, it turned out that I could keep on studying – and now just get paid for it. Whether we are employees or on a state education grant, we all study our subjects, and the fact that I’ve been able to continue on this track for so many years is a great privilege," says Svend Brinkmann, a psychology professor at Aalborg University (AAU).
He is one of the prominent figures at the university that AAU Update interviewed about their relationship with the university on the occasion of its 50th anniversary last year.
Svend Brinkmann graduated from Aarhus University (AU), but has been part of AAU since 2009 when he was encouraged to apply for a position as professor with specific responsibilities in the Department of Communication and Psychology.
"It was an extremely attractive position for me. It suited my profile and my interests, and it gave me the opportunity to advance from assistant professor to professor with specific responsibilities," says Svend Brinkmann.
After a few years, he was appointed to a permanent professorship, and Svend Brinkmann himself calls his career at AAU a fast track model. He believes that this is one of the things that distinguishes AAU from the older universities in Denmark.
"If the situation calls for it, there are opportunities to do things a bit more efficiently. At least that's how it was in my case," he adds.
In addition to the title of professor, very good partners at AAU also got Svend Brinkmann to move from AU to AAU. Professor Lene Tanggaard spoke warmly for the university, and Svend Brinkmann liked the spirit that he sensed was there: An involvement in what is going on in society and in the world around us.
When it comes to his work, Svend Brinkmann is driven by a desire to learn, and his best days at the office are those where he gets a new idea. When he himself – or along with his research colleagues – arrives at the right grasp of a theory or text.
"I think that's what drives most researchers. That experience of learning something new. Tonight I know something different from what I knew yesterday. It's just a great feeling," he explains.
Svend Brinkmann is inspired by the philosopher John Dewey who has a way of thinking about science that is about research being relevant. A view that Svend Brinkmann also sees as true at AAU.
"That's probably also why I've stuck around. It fits so well with my way of working and thinking about research," the professor explains.
Svend Brinkmann has always experienced support for his ideas at AAU – even the slightly unusual ones. His radio program, Brinkmanns briks på P1 (in Danish), is time-consuming work. Nevertheless, according to Svend Brinkmann, his management has also been able to see the value in him spending his time disseminating knowledge to the world from a radio studio.
"It's great that there is space to get out and let loose a little. Although, of course, you also have to take your responsibility seriously internally at the university," he says.
Svend Brinkmann is happy to teach and to pass on his knowledge. He especially likes encountering students early in their education, because it gives him the opportunity to explain basic concepts and theories in depth. Something he believes relates to his interest in communicating his knowledge through radio, lectures and columns.
"I want to understand things myself, and if I can explain things to someone who is relatively inexperienced then the likelihood that I will also understand it myself is greatest," he explains.
Compared to its size, AAU is doing very well on many parameters – this is shown by various international rankings.
"Our engineering programmes are doing very well, and I can be proud of that, even though I have nothing to do with it. But I’m probably most proud when I hear that our psychology students are in high demand. And I hear that very often," says Svend Brinkmann.
He believes that AAU graduates can do things that graduates from the other psychology programmes are not quite as good at.
"Because we are more problem-oriented, and because our students get out into the practical, empirical world more and sooner, they know the profession a little more from day one," says Svend Brinkmann.
He adds that the other psychology programmes have their own strengths, and that in his view, it does not make sense that the programmes be the same.
Svend Brinkmann feels that AAU – and academia in general – has changed since he graduated. At that time, the political ambition was that more young people should pursue long-cycle higher education. This was noticeable at the universities where more programmes and staff were added.
"It was a fun period to be at the university. Progress was seen everywhere. But then it suddenly went the other way. Now fewer young people enter the universities, and in recent years the universities’ agenda is more about cutbacks. It has clearly contributed to a change of mood," says Svend Brinkmann.
In recent years, various research grants have given the professor a kind of freedom which has meant that he – on a personal level – has not had to worry so much about cutbacks.
"But of course, iit's not much fun when you've had to say goodbye to beloved colleagues. It’s not specifically about Aalborg University, because that's how it has been everywhere in academia in recent years," he adds.
According to Svend Brinkmann, universities have tended to want to reinvent themselves in an attempt to keep pace with shifting political winds – and to show the world that they are still relevant. A need that Svend Brinkmann understands that the universities have had in times of pressure.
"At AAU, this manifests in the mission orientation" says Svend Brinkmann, referring to AAU's strategy, ’Knowledge for the World 2022-2026’.
It states that AAU's vision is to be a mission-oriented university that contributes to sustainable solutions.
"If I may be a little bit critical, I think we have a university that works. We have researchers who are working every day to contribute to solutions to societal problems. There's no need to put it into new bottles," he says.
"I think we have to be careful that it doesn't become too flashy – a little too smart. We just need to be allowed to do research and teach. Then things will likely be fine," says Svend Brinkmann.
When asked directly what wishes Svend Brinkmann has for the university's future, his answer is that AAU must stick to its problem-oriented approach to teaching and research.
"If I had to put it in birthday terms, I hope that the university will avoid panicking. We hear about midlife crises and men who need a new wife, a sports car or in some other way reinvent themselves. I would like to warn against that. There is no need for shiny suits or fast cars because we are actually doing something already that is really good and solid," he concludes.
Subject: AAU 50 Years
2024 marked Aalborg University's 50th anniversary, and AAU Update has spoken to a number of AAU personalities about their relationship with the university and their wishes for the future.
Find the other portraits here:
Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs