29 August 2018

A good start

In August, I opened the 9th international UCPH mentor seminar which is facilitated by the student organisation “Studenterhuset”. The seminar is part of a training programme for UCPH students who have volunteered to become mentors for international students coming to our University. The programme aims to create a reciprocal learning space to the benefit of both mentors and mentees.

The opening was on a very warm day and the room was buzzing with small talk and excitement from more than 100 international and local students. As I thanked the students for their time and energy invested in the volunteer mentor programme, and for helping to build a programme, which we could not run without volunteers, I reminded them of their own opportunity of an international learning experience at home.

The mentor programme also forms part of the University’s formal orientation programme and the volunteer students play a key role in easing the transition to the University of Copenhagen and to Denmark.

Easing the transition

An elaborate orientation programme and facilitating trained mentors for international students underpin our efforts to provide a good start for our international students’ stay in Denmark. As the University of Copenhagen strives to retain international talent, and as many of our international graduates would like to stay on and start their career here, easing their transition into the Danish labour market is important. Since 2014, UCPH has collaborated with Copenhagen Capacity to help our international students meet Danish companies and prepare them for a career in Denmark.

Academics advocate study abroad

Surveys from 2,700 UCPH students’ study-abroad experiences have shown that the majority of their motivation for studying abroad is to seek “academic opportunity” and, secondly, to “explore new cultures”. Based on this, we have launched an “academic advocacy campaign” for study abroad to support our ambitions of sending more UCPH students abroad to international partners. In the campaign, select academics across various academic fields advocate for studying abroad. In six short films, the academics share their personal learning experiences from when they studied abroad. The films show that the learning experiences in most cases were academic but several interviews also highlight a personal transformation, describing the value of international networks, building a global mind-set and gaining cultural awareness.

New Prorector

Professor Bente Merete Stallknecht took up the position of Prorector of the University of Copenhagen on 1 August. She will, among other things, help to bring education closer to research. She comes from a position as Head of Department of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and has conducted research into what exercise means for overweight. Professor Stallknecht assumed the Prorectorship with special responsibility for education from Lykke Friis, who resigned on 31 July.

Meet us in Geneva

A large UCPH delegation will be present during the EAIE Conference in Geneva. We are interested in talking with international partners about how we can increase student mobility jointly and about new opportunities for collaboration such as faculty led programmes and summer courses. Please, let us know if you would like to meet with us. I look forward to seeing you there.