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Salary and employment - For Faculty-employed PhD students

Who to contact?

Holiday

  • Holiday will be earned and held pursuant to the Danish Holiday Act (Ferieloven) and the provisions set out in the circular on the agreement regarding holiday.
  • Holidays are arranged with the department.
  • The University’s guidelines for holiday leave and special days of holiday are available here: medarbejdere.au.dk/en/administration/hr/holiday/

Accrual of holidays

  • You earn 2.08 days of paid holiday for each month of employment, corresponding to 25 days of holiday each year. 
  • For each month of employment in the year of accrual, you earn 0.42 special holiday days, or five days a year.

When can you use your holiday allowance?

  • Unused days of holiday earned before employment as PhD fellow must be taken before the end of the holiday year according to the stipulations in the holiday agreement. The holiday may be taken as it is earned
  • Special holiday days are earned during the calendar year and are held in the period 1 May to 30 April.
  • Holiday earned during employment must be taken before the end of the holiday year according to the stipulations in the holiday agreement, and as far as possible before the end of the employment contract.

Who should I contact if I want to take a vacation?

  • Please contact the relevant registrant at the department and the head of your department. 

Paid holidays at Aarhus University

For further information

Please go to HR webpage

Salary

As a faculty-employed PhD student, your salary is determined by the collective agreement's pay scale, considering any relevant seniority and the PhD supplement. Your base salary is pensionable, but the supplement is not. 

Please see your contract for your current pay level.

The employment includes a special supplement of DKK 14,900.00 per annum at the level applicable on 31 March 2012 with full-time employment.

  • The supplement corresponds to DKK 18,298.20 per year (1 April 2024 level).
  • The supplement is not pensionable

Payment of wages

  • Your salary will be disbursed monthly in arrears and will be at your disposal in your NemKonto on the last weekday of the month. 

Salary levels pr. 1 April 2024

The full base salary is pensionable salary according to the below-mentioned special pension rules for PhD fellows.

2 The supplement is not pensionable.

Pension

Pension scheme

  • You are covered by the pension scheme arranged under the collective agreement for state-employed academics.
  • The University will pay a total pension contribution of 17.1% of the pensionable parts of your salary to the Pension Fund for Danish MAs, MScs and PhDs (AkademikerPension).
  • One third of this contribution is considered your own pension contribution.

If you want to have the pension contribution exceeding 16.8% paid out as salary

You may freely choose to have 0.3% of the pension contribution paid out as salary instead of contributing it to the pension plan. If you want to have the pension contribution exceeding 16.8% paid out as salary, you must fill out this form and send it to lonAA.hr@au.dk

Working hours per week

  •  Full-time employment equals 37 hours a week on average as stated in the agreement and protocol.   
  • 37 hours per week.

Duration of employment

  • The employment is a fixed-term appointment with a three year duration. Longer due to illness or and parental leave.
  • Your employment must be terminated immediately if your enrolment on the PhD degree programme ceases or is terminated.
  • In any case, your enrolment ends the day you submit your dissertation.

Please be aware

  • If you submit your dissertation before the employment end date, but in the same month, your employment will expire on the employment end date.
  • If you submit your dissertation in the month before the end date, or earlier, your employment will expire at the end of the month the dissertation is submitted.

Terms of employment

Your employment is subject to the collective agreement for academics employed by the state, including the entry on PhD fellows, and to the job structure for academic staff at universities in force at any given time.

Press here to open the Collective Agreement for state-employed academics - Circular no. 10084 of 20 December 2021 (Only avaialbe in Danish)

Relevant appendices

​​​​​​​Press here to open all the appendices in one file. 

  • Appendix 5: Protocol for PhD Fellows

  • Appendix 5a: Agreement on PhD fellows enrolled at foreign institutions for the entire PhD program. 

  • Appendix 5c: Agreement on remuneration for PhD students for work performed in connection with the PhD program 

Workplace: Daily presence and remote working

Daily presence at your workplace

  • Throughout your PhD studies, you are obligated to be present at the workplace on an everyday basis. .
  • The extent to which you are required to be present and the specific scope of your job tasks must be arranged with the department, usually for one semester at a time. 
  • It is a prerequisite that you stay in Denmark during your employment, with the exception of official trips such as participation in conferences, courses, field studies and research environment change/stay abroad. 

Remote working guidelines

Children’s 1st and 2nd day of illness

  • You are covered by government circular on leave in connection with children’s 1st and 2nd day of illness.

Termination of employment

  • When the enrolment terminates or is terminated according to the protocol on PhD fellows (section 9), the employment terminates without special notice, unless otherwise agreed.
  • The enrolment may be terminated upon the PhD fellow's request or in accordance with the provisions of the Ministerial Order on the PhD Degree Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions (the PhD Order) issued by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education: http://phd.arts.au.dk/rules-and-forms/rules-and-regulations/.
  • Your employment may be terminated by the University to expire at the end of a calendar month.
  • You may terminate your employment subject to one month’s notice to expire at the end of a calendar month.

Other terms and conditions

  • As a general rule, the rights to any inventions or creations that you may make as part of your employment will belong to Aarhus University in accordance with the Danish Consolidated Act on Inventions at Public Research Institutions (Lovbekendtgørelse om opfindelser ved offentlige forskningsinstitutioner).
  • Regarding rules for sideline employment, please refer to AU’s website on the subject: https://medarbejdere.au.dk/en/administration/hr/recruitment-and-employment/sidelineemployment 
  • Please be aware, that you cannot participate in courses or other work- or study-related activities before your enrolment start date as your work and residence permit does not allow you to do so, unless otherwise stated in your work and residence permit.