Fact sheet · Primary sources
Aalborg University: PhD status, university systems and the Science for Society video
THIRD-PARTY PUBLICATION
Two different AAU-controlled sources became relevant to later reporting: university profile information and a university-produced video.
They should be assessed according to AAU's own correspondence.
AAU's university profile system
In correspondence concerning my AAU profile, the university explained that its CMS created misleading information concerning former PhD students.
The dean wrote that AAU had:
a very outdated CMS
and explained that former PhD students remained registered as PhD students unless active steps were taken to correct the record.
He described the resulting information as:
misleading information
and stated that the problem affected many people, not only me.
The same correspondence confirmed that AAU had been informed of my intention to resubmit my dissertation and that access needed for that process had been retained.
What this establishes
AAU itself attributed at least part of the disputed status information to its own university systems.
The correspondence does not say that I intentionally supplied the misleading CMS information.
The Science for Society video
The video presents an even clearer issue of publication control.
On 24 April 2022, I wrote to AAU disputing that I had consented to publication and requested documentation of any such consent.
I wrote:
This is not correct.
and asked:
What documentation do you possess that supports that statement? I want the documentation concerning my consent disclosed.
On 10 May 2022, AAU's Head of Contracts, Nina Schjoldager, responded.
She wrote:
AAU has made several approaches to YouTube demanding that the video be deleted.
More importantly, she stated that in its first approach to YouTube:
AAU stated that there is insufficient consent for the video to be shared.
Schjoldager further explained that AAU subsequently relied on my right to request removal rather than continue debating with YouTube whether consent existed in the first place.
AAU also attempted to contact former employees to regain access to the account so that the video could be deleted directly.
In the same contemporaneous correspondence, I stated that the video had been intended for publication after completion of my PhD. That statement documents my position at the time. AAU's own correspondence independently confirms the consent problem and AAU's attempts to remove the video.
Assessment
The disputed video was an AAU-controlled publication. AAU's own Head of Contracts confirmed that the university had told YouTube that there was insufficient consent for it to be shared and documented repeated efforts to remove it.
It should therefore not be treated as though it were a self-published representation made or controlled by me.
Primary sources
Correspondence disputing consent to publication of the video
24 April 2022 · Sahra-Josephine Hjorth · Email
"This is not correct."
Establishes the request for documentation of any consent to publication, quoting Aalborg University's message to YouTube stating that she had consented to the video being shared. Transcript of the email thread; email addresses and telephone numbers redacted, all other text unaltered.
Unrelated personal information has been redacted.
Aalborg University response concerning the YouTube video
10 May 2022 · Nina Schjoldager, Head of Contracts · Aalborg University · Email
"AAU stated that there is insufficient consent for the video to be shared."
Establishes that Aalborg University told YouTube there was insufficient consent for the video to be shared, and documents repeated removal attempts. Transcript of the email thread; email addresses and telephone numbers redacted, all other text unaltered.
Unrelated personal information has been redacted.