Nobel Laureate Jens Christian Skou (Chemistry, 1997)[8] conducted his groundbreaking work on the Na/K-ATPase in Aarhus and remained employed at the university until his retirement.

[12] The design of the university buildings and 12 ha campus area was assigned to architects C. F. Møller, Kay Fisker and Povl Stegmann, who won the architectural competition in 1931.

[15] The inauguration on 11 September 1933, marked the first official use of the name Aarhus University and was celebrated in a tent on campus, attended by King Christian X, Queen Alexandrine, their son Crown Prince Frederik and Prime Minister Stauning together with 1000 invited guests.

In 1941, construction of the Main Building (Hovedbygningen) commenced, a complex to house the university aula (assembly hall) and canteen among academic and administrative purposes.

The stringent minimalist and uncompromising functionalistic design of the first university buildings from 1933 had stirred some local dissatisfaction and it was decided that the Main Building should possess more traditional romantic and classical architectural inspirations - although in agreement with the original architectural plan - and also make use of more lavish and expensive materials.

[11][19] Aarhus University had offered courses in basic medical subjects from 1933 and on 10 October 1935 the Faculty of Medicine was formally established.

[21] By 1953, the Faculty of Medicine had been fully built, complete with lectures, professorship chairs, final exams, research facilities and the hospitals of Aarhus had been expanded to meet the demands of clinical training.

In April 1931, the case reopened, this time by Bishop Skat Hoffmeyer who proposed free teaching in the required subjects.

The municipality of Aarhus did not aid with funds and the management deemed a request of the state to be futile so they decided to disregard getting the teaching approved and start it anyway under the supervision of Skat Hoffmeyer.

[11][25] The Aarhus New University Hospital shares Masonic architectural elements related to its history of seat of the Danish Order of Freemasons.

The solution was the Main Building (Hovedbygningen), containing both rooms and facilities for new academic areas, as well as housing for the general administration, an assembly hall and a canteen.

The building was to be organized according to a principle of institutes so that teaching and research took place in certain rooms with their own library and study for the professor.

[27] The construction of the building took place during the German occupation of Denmark (1940–45) in World War II, which affected the process in more than one way.

In 1943, the Gestapo, Sicherheitsdienst, Geheime Feldpolizei and Abwehr set up their regional headquarters in the five student halls of residence on campus.

C. F. Møller later wrote that for once there was plenty of time to work on the details of the building, like patterned brickwork, acoustic screens and furniture.

On 15 October, the leader of the illegal Danish underground army in Jutland, Niels Bennike, sent the following telegram to London:[29] Undergrunden i Jyland ved at blive revet op af Gestapo.

On 31 October 1944, the Royal Air Force bombed the Gestapo's headquarters in residence halls 4 and 5, also killing ten civilian workers.

The air strike on the University of Aarhus took place in a heavily populated area and the campus was surrounded by three hospitals.

To avoid civilian casualties, the RAF prepared with a model of the campus, shooting at residence halls 4 and 5 with chalk bags.

Following the Danish University reform of 2006,[citation needed] AU merged with the Business and Engineering School in Herning (now part of faculty of Business and Social Science) and the Danish School of Education in Copenhagen (now part of Faculty of Arts), making the university nationwide and adding 6,000 students.

In a harmonic interplay with the park, the yellow buildings form a campus that has received international recognition for its aesthetic values and it has been protected by law since 1993, in order to conserve its unique design.

[53] This means that highly qualified students have the option of starting their PhD studies before completing their master's degree.

[52][59] Since 1944, Aarhus University owned Cheminova, a chemical manufacturer which, among other controversies, has been selling methyl parathion pesticide to Brazil farmers.

[60] In 2009, senior researcher Mette Jensen emailed her colleagues at AU, asking whether they thought Cheminova should stop selling the controversial pesticides.

At MINDLab neuroscientists, psychologists, biologists, statisticians and researchers from other fields work together to understand the brain, its disorders, and its development through physical and social interactions – and vice versa.

[72] The Students House is a meeting place for international and Danish students in Aarhus and Studenterhus Aarhus organize social and cultural activities throughout the year, ranging from parties and road trips, to language classes and weekly international nights (a popular dinner club).

It is an umbrella organisation consisting of 18 independent member clubs, which host a wide range of activities, from badminton to fencing to chess.

In addition, AUS also offers independent activities such as indoor soccer tournaments, badminton facilities, and surfing trips.

The bar is open during regular school hours and weekdays, but hosts larger parties during Fridays and in relation to major sports events.

[79] Studenterlauget, School of Business and Social Sciences (at the former ASB) is currently the largest student organisation in Denmark.