More Danes choosing a full study programme in China

44 Danish students are getting ready to start one of four new Master’s programmes at the Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research (SDC) in Beijing, China.

The Master’s programmes are the result of a unique cooperation between the eight Danish universities, the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) and the Higher Education Ministry.

The cooperation on the SDC is ground-breaking. The 44 Danish students starting on the SDC programmes this year is five times that of the 2009/2010 academic year.

Higher Education Minister Morten Østergaard is delighted that so many Danish students are taking the opportunity to study a Master’s in China.

– It is important for Denmark’s future competitiveness that we seek out knowledge beyond our borders and cooperate with countries with significant development in research. Students at SDC obtain not only cultural understanding but valuable knowledge about the Chinese market for their own benefit and that of Danish companies in Denmark and China. The SDC in Beijing also contributes very positively to the Government’s aim of increasing outward mobility in higher education, says Higher Education Minister Morten Østergaard.

Research cooperation at the SDC has already begun. The Master’s programmes have 48 students enrolled via the Danish universities – 44 Danes and four with another nationality, and 56 students enrolled via UCAS in the first year group.

The four Master’s programmes are Innovation Management, Public Management and Social Development, Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, and Water and Environment.

In addition to strengthening research and education cooperation between Denmark and China, the SDC shall be a resource for Danish companies within research, innovation and the recruitment of talented graduates with cultural understanding and knowledge of both Denmark and China.

The study year will kick off with an opening ceremony on 10 September 2012 in Beijing, where Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, university representatives and a number of large Danish companies in China are expected to attend.

Facts about the Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research:

• SDC is a collaboration between the eight Danish universities, the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) and the Higher Education Ministry.
• The SDC is located in Beijing.
• The four new Master’s programmes at SDC are: Innovation Management, Public Management and Social Development, Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, and Water and Environment. A further three Master’s programmes are expected to begin in 2013.

For further information please contact:

Danish Agency for Universities and Internationalisation: Chief Adviser Jacob Fuchs, tel.+45 7231 8630

Press Officer Ingeborg Nielsen, tel.+45 2211 0200