On Saturday, 26 April 2014, HRH Queen Margrethe of Denmark symbolically turned the first sod for the Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research’s (SDC) new building in Beijing. The centre will provide the framework for a closer working relationship between Danish and Chinese research and teaching environments.
SDC is a partnership involving the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, DTU and the seven other Danish universities, the University of the Chinese Academy of Science (UCAS) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The Danish Industry Foundation has donated DKK 99 million to the new SDC building—to be named Industriens Fonds Hus (House of the Danish Industry Foundation)—which will constitute a strong visual hallmark for the centre’s academic activities, as well as a hub and a meeting point for students, researchers and businesses from both China and Denmark.
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Her Majesty The Queen Of Denmark breaks ground for the landmark of the Sino-Danish Center.
Photo: Sino-Danish Center
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“It is crucial to Denmark’s competitiveness that Danish companies have the opportunity to recruit skilled candidates with international experience. Research, education and talent development are expanding rapidly in China, and the vision for Industriens Fonds Hus is to create an attractive physical meeting place where courses of education and partnership with the business community can blossom,” says Sofie Carsten Nielsen, Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science.
SDC currently teaches MSc programmes in bioenergy, environment studies, neuroscience, biotechnology, social studies and innovation. One of the courses—Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Biomass Based Energy—is taught at DTU.
“UCAS, our Chinese partner, has established a very attractive and functional campus, and Industriens Fonds Hus will be a fine addition to it. We’re looking forward to seeing SDC’s activities grow and develop in the new building,” says Martin Bendsøe, Senior Vice President and Dean of DTU, who also participated in the ceremony over the weekend.
Since SDC opened its doors to undergraduates in 2012, around 250 MSc students from both China and Denmark have commenced their studies at the university.
Over the course of 2013, a total of 275 Danish researchers and lecturers spent a period corresponding to 27 FTEs in China, teaching on the MSc courses and participating in research activities alongside their Chinese colleagues. In addition, there more than 50 PhD students from Denmark alone spending a minimum of six months in China.
The 10,900 m2 building is scheduled for completion in autumn 2015 and will house an auditorium, teaching facilities, offices, student facilities, 20 residences for researchers, and a foyer that can be used as a showroom and as an events venue.
The building will be constructed next to Yanqi Lake on the newly established campus of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), 60 km north-east of Beijing.
Learn more about SDC.