COVID-19 FAQ

At a press conference on January 13, the Health Authorities has extended the tightened COVID-19 restrictions until February 7, 2021.

This means that all physical activity at Aarhus School of Architecture will continue to be suspended until February 7, 2021.

Excluded from this are the planned physical assessments in the 5th semester of the bachelor program and the 4th semester of the master’s program, as well as special research activities in the workshops.

As the extended lockdown, unfortunately, reaches into the spring semester, the upcoming semester start will take place digitally and online. Further information about this and the possibilities for dispensation to study from the workstations at the school will follow.

All teaching and related activities must take place online during the period, and all staff and students are encouraged to work and study from home to the extent possible.

Everyone is encouraged to stay updated on the information page about COVID-19.

Please send any questions you might have regarding the guidelines and precautions to ckr@aarch.dk.

If you have been granted an exemption to study at the school during the COVID-19 lockdown in the period from 9 December 2020 to 17 January 2021 due to poor working conditions at home or for health reasons, you must follow these guidelines:

An exemption has only been granted for you to work from your place of study at the studio.

During the lockdown, the following guidelines apply for presence at the school:

• Keep at least 2-meter distance from everyone else – also at the studio and to those you are in “study group” with!
• Wear a face mask or visor if you do not work from your study place – also at the studio!
• Clean or disinfect surfaces and contact point, that you have touched
• Follow remarks and instructions for traffic to and from your study place
• Wash hands frequently or use hand disinfection
• Cough or sneeze into your sleeve
• Go home at once, if you experience symptoms of illness
• Stay at home if you experience symptoms until you have been free of symptoms for two days
• Use the “Infection Stop” app

There are very few staff present at the school. Therefore please help us with the following when you leave the school:

• Closing doors and windows
• Turn off the light
• Collect waste from the studio in a bag and place it at the front door

If you have questions to the guidelines or your exemption, you are welcome to contact Christian Koch Ramsing at ckr@aarch.dk.

Following the lockdown, the programme coordinators and the school’s academic leadership have discussed the framework for the upcoming assessments in January 2021.

These discussions have resulted in three possible scenarios that each involve different conditions for assessments. The aim is to give you an overview of the situation and also make it possible for you to assess which form your assessment will take, depending on the degree of lockdown.

As a rule, the two final assessments of the Bachelor’s project and the Master’s project will involve physical attendance regardless of which scenario we end up with. You can read more about the other conditions in the attached document.

And if you have any questions, you are welcome to send them to Marie Bruun Kristensen at mbk@aarch.dk.

Possible scenarios for critiques and assessments in January 2021 (pdf)

If you are going to a bachelor’s or graduation assessment at the school, you must be aware that you may only move around the school to get to the room where the assessment takes place. All other traffic and stays at the school are not allowed.

The following guidelines apply to assessments at the school:

• Keep at least 2 meters distance from everyone else
• You must wear a face mask or visor until the moment the examination starts. Put the face mask back on immediately after the examination
• The examiner and external examiner will always wear a visor during the assessment
• Follow remarks and instructions for traffic to and from the examination room
• Wash hands frequently or use hand sanitizer
• Cough or sneeze into your sleeve
• Stay home if you get symptoms of illness until you are asymptomatic for at least 2 days
• Go home immediately if you get symptoms
• Use the “smitte-stop” app

As a 5-semester student, you can pick up your presentation materials in the studio, if you would like to bring them to the physical assessments. You can only pick up the materials from 30 minutes before the assessment, not at any other time. If the assessment, e.g. is from 9.00-9.45, you can pick up the materials in the studio between 8.30-9.00.

You have access with your key as usual.

No, you do not need to wear a face mask or visor during the assessment. However, you must wear a face mask or visor until the moment the examination starts. When you need to present, you can take the face mask off. Immediately after the examination, put the mouthpiece back on.

No, there is no expectation from the school that you should present physical material if you have already made drawings and models before the lockdown. You can choose only to conduct a digital presentation of your material. There is no distinction in the assessment concerning whether it is with digital or physical material. The specific format for submission is determined by the study unit.

If you choose to present physical material, you must ensure the possibility of printing your material and building models when the school is closed. Printing facilities, workshops and studios are not available at the school during the lockdown.

Bachelor or graduation assessment:

If you are in self-isolation because you are infected with COVID-19, you must take a re-examination. It does not matter whether you show symptoms or not. If you are in self-isolation because you have been in close contact with an infected person, your assessment will be held online, even if it should have been physical.

Other assessments:

If you are in self-isolation because you are infected with COVID-19, you must take a re-examination if you have symptoms. If you do not have symptoms, it is up to you to assess whether it is possible to complete the planned exam or whether a re-exam is necessary. If you are in self-isolation because you have been in close contact with an infected person, the planned assessment is carried out.

If your internal examiner is in self-isolation, he or she will be replaced by another teacher in your study unit.

In the case of an external examiner, it is the school’s responsibility to find a new one. However, this may mean that the assessment is postponed if it is impossible to find a replacement at short notice. We aim for as short a postponement as possible.

This applies to both physical and digital presentations.

In the event of any symptoms of infection prior to the examination, you are to inform the following people:

• The Bachelor’s Project on 5th Semester:
  Christina Fousing Wilhelmsen: 8936 0208
• Final exams on the Master’s Degree Programme:
  Maria Holst Holmvard: 8936 0138

If symptoms occur during the examination, you are to return to your home as soon as possible.

• You are required to keep at a distance of at least two metres when you are present in common areas – both indoors and outdoors.
• You are required to wear a face mask or visor. Face masks/visors will be handed out at the information desk in Nørreport 20. Face masks and visors will also be available in examination rooms.
• Remember to disinfect your hands when entering a building or a new room.
• Keep to the right on stairs, in corridors, and in other places where space is limited.
• Keep your distance and avoid spending time on stairs, in hallways, or in other places where congestion may occur.
• Avoid gathering together in too great numbers or with too little distance between examinations.
• Do not enter a room until those who used the room before you have left it and used disinfectant in the room.
• Look out for guidelines printed on posters, on the floor, etc. in the buildings you move around in.

• Avoid moving tables, chairs, etc.
• Thoroughly disinfect your seat after use (e.g. armrests, tables and other contact points).
• You are required to wear a face mask or visor throughout the examination. Face masks/visors will be handed out at the information desk in Nørreport 20. Face masks and visors will also be available in examination rooms.
• The student is permitted to remove his or her face mask/visor at the beginning of the presentation and is required to wear this protective equipment when the presentation and the round of questions are over.
• There will be no public access to exams. Consequently, an audience is not permitted.

The submission requirements have been formulated to take into account the production of material that has taken place prior to the lockdown.

For all semester levels assessed with physical attendance, we have recommended that, as a rule, students should work on presentations prepared for being displayed on screens. Screens or projectors will be set up in all assessment rooms.

You are permitted to bring to the assessment physical material produced during the semester, but there will be no expectation of you bringing physical material, such as boards or models, produced in the period of the school’s lockdown.

Students who are particularly challenged to study from home can apply for a dispensation to work from a special study place at the school during the quarantine. Applications for dispensation should be sent to dispensation@aarch.dk.

Employees who are challenged with work from home during the quarantine period should contact their immediate manager.

If you have been granted a dispensation to work at the school, you must be kept at least 2 meter away from everyone else – also in the studios.

During the lockdown, all teaching and guidance will take place online. Your supervisor will inform you about how this will work.

All lectures this semester will be held online – either using Teams or a streaming service. The teachers will be sending out information to the relevant students.

No, there will be no registration of attendance at compulsory lectures this semester.

If you are doing an internship, you must follow the guidance and recommendations of the training place.

It is important that you contact the school if you experience problems at your training place or if conditions change. You may contact Monica Mikkelsen at: mm@aarch.dk.

As long as you are enrolled as a student at the Aarhus School of Architecture, we expect you to follow the school guidelines. If you are in doubt about anything, please contact the international coordinator Jørgen Helstrup at jhel@aarch.dk.

The health authorities generally recommend 10 days of self-isolation when entering from high-risk countries. The self-isolation can be interrupted by a negative response to a COVID-19 test performed at the earliest on the fourth day after entry into Denmark. There is no requirement for either self-isolation or testing when entering from quarantine countries.

International students are generally allowed to travel into Denmark if they are students at an educational institution that is open and provided that they must receive tuition or go to the exam by physical attendance.

However, international students have the opportunity to travel into Denmark regardless of whether the educational institution is open, if they either reside in Denmark, ie. have a registered address in Denmark, or has a student residence permit.

For students without residence (ie without a registered address) in Denmark who enter from a high-risk country/region, it is also a requirement that they must show a certificate of a negative COVID-19 test, which must be taken a maximum of 72 hours before entry.

Find more information here

If you are outside Denmark at the moment

Students at the school may be allowed to enter Denmark because they have a Letter of Enrollment from the school confirming that physical presence on campus is required from 1 February 2021 when the semester begins.

However, you can enter at the earliest 14 days before the start of studies. Also even though the school is closed right now.

If you are travelling from a high-risk country, you must also bring a negative corona test that is not more than 72 hours old.

Due to the special COVID-19 variant found in the UK, special conditions apply to Danish citizens and persons residing in Denmark when you land by plane from the UK – either directly or via transit through another airport.

To reduce the spread of the new COVID-19 variant in Denmark, you are strongly encouraged to follow the authorities’ recommendations:

• Go in self-isolation for 10 days.
• Take a quick test already on arrival at the airport.
• Do not use public transport from the airport.
• Take a PCR test during your isolation period.

All UK entrants are offered quick tests on arrival at the airport.

In concrete terms, this means the following:

• It is the individual Border Officer who makes a concrete assessment upon entry
• All Danish citizens can enter Denmark
• Please note recommendations if entering from the UK: EU/Nordic/EEA/Visa-requiring students can enter if they have a registered address in Denmark, a health card or a residence permit.
• It would be a good idea to have your student card ready to be presented as well.

The British Embassy in Denmark has the following announcement for citizens holding a British passport, are enrolled with the Aarhus School of Architecture and presently residing outside Denmark. They must, before 31 January 2021, either:

• Return to Denmark
• or reapply for Danish residence permit

This is especially important for students who are commencing their Master Degree Programme at the Aarhus School of Architecture 1 February 2021, as they may be required to pay tuition as the Master Programme is considered as a stand-alone programme, also in spite of holding a Danish Bachelor Degree.

Download letter from the British Embassy for more information (pdf)

There is currently no access to the school, and therefore workshops, library and canteen are also closed.

However, research projects that have planned critical activities in the workshops during the quarantine period can still book access to the workshops in the booking system.

Please follow the guidelines for using the workshops.

During the lockdown, all teachers must carry out all teaching and tutoring online, and inform the students about how tutoring and teaching will take place and how and when they can get a tutor.

If you need a face mask or a face visor to be able to carry out your work in a responsible manner, please contact Head of Building Maintenance Niels Meldgaard Andersen at nma@aarch.dk.

To be given face masks, please contact Head of Building Maintenance Niels Meldgaard Andersen at nma@aarch.dk.

If you are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, please contact your immediate manager with a view to making further arrangements.

Do not attend the school if you have COVID-19 symptoms (typically: fever, coughing, a sore throat, headaches, muscle aches and difficulties breathing). If the above symptoms occur while you are at school, go home as soon as possible. Once home you need to:

• Self-isolate in your home. You must not attend school again until you have been without symptoms for 48 hours.
• Contact your own doctor, who will assess whether you should be tested.

You should also read the leaflet of the Danish Health Authority: Til dig der har symptomer på COVID-19 (pdf in Danish).

Aarhus School of Architecture encourages students and staff to use the official app for tracking infection smitte|stop, which supports contact tracking in the event of an outbreak.

If you test positive for COVID-19, you must go into quarantine in your own home and notify the school’s Director of Administration at ckr@aarch.dk.

It is important that you:

• Isolate in your home and follow the recommendations of the health authorities. You must not attend school again until you have been without symptoms for 48 hours.
• You should also read the pamphlet of the Danish Health Authority: What to do if you test positive for novel coronavirus.

If you have tested positive for COVID-19, you will be contacted by The Danish Patient Safety Authority with the aim of tracking down the infection.

Aarhus School of Architecture encourages students and staff to use the official app for tracking infection smitte|stop, which supports contact tracking in the event of an outbreak.

If you have been in close contact with someone showing symptoms of COVID-19, pay special attention to signs of illness and follow the general guidelines of the health authorities even more closely.

If you have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19, you should do as follows:

• Go home immediately and isolate yourself in your home.
• Arrange to be tested as soon as possible, and in general follow the health authorities’ recommendations.
• You must not attend school again until you know the test is negative.

If you are tested positive, follow the guidelines set out under the heading What should I do if I test positive for COVID-19?

According to the Danish Health Authority, the following people should be regarded as close contacts:

• People living with someone who is infected
• People who have had direct physical contact (e.g. hugging) with someone who is infected
• Persons who have been exposed to unprotected and direct contact with secretions from an infected person (e.g. having been coughed on or having touched a used handkerchief)
• People who have had close ‘face-to-face’ contact within a distance of one metre for more than 15 minutes with someone who is infected (e.g. having a conversation with the person in question)
• Healthcare professionals who have been caring for a patient infected with COVID-19 and who have not used protective equipment in the prescribed ways.

Read more about this in the leaflet of the Danish Health Authority: Til dig, der er nær kontakt til en person, der er testet positiv for ny coronavirus (pdf in Danish).

Students and staff at Aarhus School of Architecture must wear a face mask or visor on all common areas at the School.

However, the requirement does not apply in study and teaching situations in the studios, in seminar rooms and in auditoriums – or for employees in their own or joint offices.