Aarhus University was founded in 1928 in Aarhus, Denmark, when university teaching began with 78 students. It describes itself as a public university and as Denmark’s second largest. Its main campus is in Aarhus, with further campuses in Herning, Viborg and Emdrup. Between 2006 and 2007 several institutions merged into it, including the Aarhus School of Business and the Danish University of Education.
The university has five faculties. A Board is its highest authority, and the rector, Brian Bech Nielsen, is responsible for day-to-day management within the framework the Board sets. Its key statistics for 2025 list 37,500 students, including about 2,000 PhD students, about 9,000 staff in full-time equivalents and revenue of 1.2 billion euros.