Roskilde University ( da, Roskilde Universitet, abbreviated RUC or RU) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

founded in 1972 and located in Trekroner in the Eastern part of

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

. The university awards

bachelor's degrees A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

master's degrees A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, and

PhD degrees PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. alb ...

in a wide variety of subjects within social sciences, the humanities, and natural sciences.

History

The university was founded in 1972 and was initially intended as an alternative to the traditional Danish universities which had been the scene of several student uprisings in the late 1960s. The students considered the traditional universities undemocratic and controlled by the professors and wanted more influence as well as more flexible teaching methods. In the 1970s the university was known for its very liberal education as opposed to the usual lectures provided by the more traditional universities of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

. The focus was shifted from traditional lectures to group orientated methods and projects rather than traditional exams. Back in 1972, these educational ideas were both unorthodox and controversial, but the traditional universities in Denmark have now adopted much of the original RU concept themselves, not least the concept of group project work, which is today a recognised academic method. RU can also be said to have brought to Denmark the Anglo-Saxon concepts of interdisciplinarity and less well-defined boundaries between academic fields.

Organization and administration

The university is governed by a board consisting of 9 members: 5 members recruited outside the university form the majority of the board, 1 member is appointed by the scientific staff, 1 member is appointed by the administrative staff, and 2 members are appointed by the university students. The Rector is appointed by the university board. The rector in turn appoints deans and deans appoint heads of departments. There is no faculty senate and faculty is not involved in the appointment of rector, deans, or department heads. Hence the university has no faculty governance.

Degree programs

Roskilde University offers higher education at bachelor-, master, and PhD levels within four main areas:

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

, humanistic technologies,

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

. The traditional educational setup at RU was based on two years of general studies in one of the main scientific areas and four years of specialization. Today, the university follows the general educational structure in Denmark based on three years of bachelor studies qualifying for a two-year master study. Roskilde University has 4 departments ''(institutes)'' specializing in very different areas from Mathematics to International Development: * Department of Communication and Arts (DCA) * Department of Science and Environment (DSE) * Department of People and Technology (DPT) * Department of Social Sciences and Business The university offers three international bachelor programmes: * International Bachelor Study Programme in the Humanities * International Bachelor Study Programme in the Natural Sciences * International Bachelor Study Programme in Social Science

Rankings

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...

2015/6: Politics & International Studies, 151-200, Communication & Media Studies, 151-200. *

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...

2017: ranked 501-600 *

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...

2016: unranked

Notable alumni

Some notable alumni and professors from RUC include: *Andreas Bang Hemmeth (

DJ Encore Andreas Bang Hemmeth (born 1979 in Copenhagen, Denmark), better known as DJ Encore, is a Danish songwriter, music artist and journalist. He is currently head of press for the Danish Social Liberal Party (Radikale Venstre). He has been at the top ...

) *

Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen (born 22 February 1984 in Odense) is a former member of the Danish parliament for the Red-Green Alliance. Schmidt-Nielsen has been referred to as the "new queen of the Red-Green Alliance" by parts of the press.Sjølie, Mar ...

, politician * Lars Hulgård, author *

Simon Emil Ammitzbøll-Bille Simon Emil Ammitzbøll-Bille (born 20 October 1977, in Hillerød) is a former Danish politician, and a former independent member of the Parliament of Denmark. He is former Minister of Economy and Interior. He was formerly a member of Radikale Ve ...

, politician *

Vincent F. Hendricks Vincent Fella Rune Møller Hendricks (born 6 March 1970) is a Danish philosopher and logician. He holds a doctoral degree (PhD) and a habilitation (dr.phil) in philosophy and is Professor of Formal Philosophy and Director of the Center for Informa ...

* Hartmut Haberland *Pernille Andersen *

Christine Lorentzen Christine Gyrsting Lorentzen, also known as Lore, is a Danish singer-songwriter, project manager and former television presenter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Cryoshell. Prior to joining the band, she competed in '' Scenen er ...

Eyðgunn Samuelsen Eyðgunn Jana Samuelsen (née Henriksen, 23 May 1959 in Sørvágur) is a Faroese teacher and politician ( Social Democratic Party (Javnaðarflokkurin)). Background Samuelsen graduated from her lower secondary school in Sørvágs skúli in 1976 ...

* Anders Bæksgaard, journalist,

political editor The political editor of a newspaper or broadcaster is the senior political reporter who covers politics and related matters for the newspaper or station. They may have a large team of political correspondents working under them. In publishing, beca ...

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been independe ...

Mette Abildgaard Mette Abildgaard Juulsager (born 12 October 1988 in Føvling at Brædstrup near Horsens) is a Danish politician who is a member of the Folketing and the group chairman of the Conservative People's Party. She was elected to Parliament at the 2 ...

, politician

References

External links

The website of Roskilde University

About Roskilde University

History of Roskilde University
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Education in Roskilde Educational institutions established in 1972 1972 establishments in Denmark Buildings and structures in Region Zealand