By David Graff, ENGINEERING. Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication

- STEM graduates are in demand in the Danish labour market, and there is great potential if we manage to retain even more of those we educate in employment after graduation.

This is how Olav Geil, Pro-dean for Education, describes the idea behind the SEEM project which focuses on a mentor-mentee scheme between international students and Danish companies.

- At the same time, there is reason to believe that we can reduce dropout rates during the programmes, because the mentor-mentee relationship helps make clear how our degree programmes can be used in practice, he adds.

AAU Energy first in the pilot phase

The project runs for four years from 2022 to 2026 and consists of a pilot phase and a roll-out phase: AAU Energy is launching the pilot phase this year; the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience follows in 2023. The activities will be spread across ENGINEERING's other departments during the roll-out phase as of autumn 2024 onwards.

- The departments play a very important role since that’s where the students are and where the direct contact with companies takes place, explains Olav Geil.

AAU Career handles the specific matching of students and companies in the project, and they are collaborating with ENGINEERING on project management. In addition, external parties such as the Danish Society of Engineers, IDA are involved in continuously qualifying the project which is anchored at AAU in both Esbjerg and Aalborg.