The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...

Copenhagen, Denmark 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 ...

. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

after

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

, and ranks as one of the top universities in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the world. Its establishment sanctioned by

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV ( it, Sisto IV: 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 to his death in August 1484. His accomplishments as pope include ...

, the University of Copenhagen was founded by

Christian I of Denmark Christian I (February 1426 – 21 May 1481) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), Norway (1450–1481) and Sweden (1457–1464). From 1460 to 1481, he was also duke of Schleswig (within Den ...

as a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

teaching institution with a predominantly

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

focus. In 1537, it was re-established by King Christian III as part of the Lutheran Reformation. Up until the 18th century, the university was primarily concerned with educating

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

men. Through various reforms in the 18th and 19th century, the University of Copenhagen was transformed into a modern,

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

university, with science and the humanities replacing theology as the main subjects studied and taught. The University of Copenhagen consists of six different faculties, with teaching taking place in its four distinct campuses, all situated in Copenhagen. The university operates 36 different departments and 122 separate

research centre A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often im ...

s in Copenhagen, as well as a number of museums and

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

s in and outside the Danish capital. The University of Copenhagen also owns and operates multiple

research station Research stations are facilities where scientific investigation, collection, analysis and experimentation occurs. A research station is a facility that is built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. There are also many types of resear ...

s around Denmark, with two additional ones located in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. Additionally, The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences and the public hospitals of the

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

and

Zealand Region Region Zealand ( da, Region Sjælland) is the southernmost administrative region of Denmark, established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which abolished the traditional counties ("amter") and set up five larger regi ...

of Denmark constitute the conglomerate

Copenhagen University Hospital Copenhagen University Hospital is a conglomerate of several hospitals in Region Hovedstaden and Region Sjælland in Denmark, together with the University of Copenhagen Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences a ...

. A number of prominent

scientific theories A scientific theory is an explanation of an aspect of the natural world and universe that has been repeatedly tested and corroborated in accordance with the scientific method, using accepted protocols of observation, measurement, and evaluatio ...

and

schools of thought A school of thought, or intellectual tradition, is the perspective of a group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, economics, cultural movement, or art movement. ...

are namesakes of the University of Copenhagen. The famous

Copenhagen Interpretation The Copenhagen interpretation is a collection of views about the meaning of quantum mechanics, principally attributed to Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. It is one of the oldest of numerous proposed interpretations of quantum mechanics, as featu ...

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

was conceived at the

Niels Bohr Institute The Niels Bohr Institute (Danish: ''Niels Bohr Institutet'') is a research institute of the University of Copenhagen. The research of the institute spans astronomy, geophysics, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum mechanics and biophysics ...

, which is part of the university. The Department of Political Science birthed the Copenhagen School of Security Studies, which is also named after the university. Others include the Copenhagen School of Theology and the Copenhagen School of Linguistics. As of October 2022, 10 Nobel laureates and 1 Turing Award laureate have been affiliated with the University of Copenhagen as students, alumni or faculty. Alumni include one

president of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...

and at least 24

prime ministers of Denmark The prime minister of Denmark ( da, Danmarks statsminister, fo, Forsætisráðharri, kl, Ministeriuneq) is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islan ...

. The University of Copenhagen fosters

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

, and between 5 and 6 start-ups are founded by students, alumni or faculty members each week.

History

The University of Copenhagen was founded on 1 June 1479 and is the oldest

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in Denmark. In 1475,

received a papal bull from

with permission to establish a university in Denmark. The bull was issued on 19 June 1475 as a result of the visit to Rome by Christian I's wife,

Dorothea of Brandenburg Dorothea of Brandenburg (1430/1431 – 10 November 1495) was a Hohenzollern princess who became a Scandinavian queen by marriage under the Kalmar Union. She was Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from her marriage to King Christopher III in 1 ...

Queen of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark was a ...

. On 4 October 1478 Christian I of Denmark issued a

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

by which he officially established the University of Copenhagen. In this decree, Christian I set down the rules and laws governing the university. The royal decree elected magistar Peder Albertsen as

vice chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

of the university, and the task was his to employ various learned

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

s at the new university and thereby establish its first four faculties:

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. The royal decree made the University of Copenhagen enjoy

royal patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

from its very beginning. Furthermore, the university was explicitly established as an

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

institution, giving it a great degree of juridical freedom. As such, the University of Copenhagen was to be administered without royal interference, and it was not subject to the usual laws governing the

Danish people Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

. The University of Copenhagen was dissolved in about 1531 as a result of the spread of Protestantism. It was re-established in 1537 by King Christian III after the Lutheran Reformation. The king charged

Johannes Bugenhagen Johannes Bugenhagen (24 June 1485 – 20 April 1558), also called ''Doctor Pomeranus'' by Martin Luther, was a German theologian and Lutheran priest who introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th ce ...

, who came from Wittenberg to Copenhagen to take up a chair of theology, with the drawing up of a new University Charter. The resulting Charter was issued in 1539. Between 1675 and 1788, the university introduced the concept of degree examinations. An examination for

was added in 1675, followed by law in 1736. By 1788, all faculties required an examination before they would issue a degree. In 1807, the British Bombardment of Copenhagen destroyed most of the university's buildings. By 1836, however, the new main building of the university was inaugurated amid extensive building that continued until the end of the century. The

University Library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...

(now a part of the Royal Library), the Zoological Museum, the

Geological Museum The Geological Museum (originally the Museum of Economic Geology then the Museum of Practical Geology), started in 1835 as one of the oldest single science museums in the world and now part of the Natural History Museum in London. It transfe ...

, the

Botanic Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

with

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

s, and the Technical College were also established during this period. Københavnsuniversitetsbibliotekfiolstræde

Between 1842 and 1850, the faculties at the university were restructured. Starting in 1842, the University Faculty of Medicine and the Academy of Surgeons merged to form the Faculty of Medical Science, while in 1848 the Faculty of Law was reorganised and became the Faculty of Jurisprudence and Political Science. In 1850, the Faculty of Mathematics and Science was separated from the

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

. In 1845 and 1862 Copenhagen co-hosted Nordic student meetings with

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Hans Christian Ørsted Hans Christian Ørsted ( , ; often rendered Oersted in English; 14 August 17779 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, which was the first connection found between electricity ...

and August Krogh Institutes, the campus centre on Amager Island, and the

Panum Institute The Panum Building (formerly referred to as the Panum Institute) is a large building complex that is part of the University of Copenhagen's North Campus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It houses the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. This includes ...

The new university statute instituted in 1970 involved

democratisation Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

of the management of the university. It was modified in 1973 and subsequently applied to all

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

institutions in Denmark. The democratisation was later reversed with the 2003 university reforms. Further change in the structure of the university from 1990 to 1993 made a

Bachelor's degree 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 ...

programme mandatory in virtually all subjects. Also in 1993, the law departments broke off from the Faculty of Social Sciences to form a separate Faculty of Law. In 1994, the University of Copenhagen designated

environmental studies Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities, and social ...

, north–south relations, and

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

as areas of special priority according to its new long-term plan. Starting in 1996 and continuing to the present, the university planned new buildings, including for the

University of Copenhagen Faculty of Humanities The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

Amager Amager ( or, especially among older speakers, ) in the Øresund is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 212,000 inhabitants (January 2021) a small appendage to Zealand. The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (includi ...

(Ørestaden), along with a Biotechnology Centre. By 1999, the student population had grown to exceed 35,000, resulting in the university appointing additional professors and other personnel. Nyekua

In 2003, the revised Danish university law removed faculty, staff and students from the university decision process, creating a top-down control structure that has been described as absolute monarchy, since leaders are granted extensive powers while being appointed exclusively by higher levels in the organization. In 2005, the Center for Health and Society (Center for Sundhed og Samfund – CSS) opened in central Copenhagen, housing the Faculty of Social Sciences and Institute of Public Health, which until then had been located in various places throughout the city. In May 2006, the university announced further plans to leave many of its old buildings in the inner city 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 ...

, an area that has been home to the university for more than 500 years. The purpose of this has been to gather the university's many departments and faculties on three larger campuses in order to create a bigger, more concentrated and modern student environment with better teaching facilities, as well as to save money on rent and maintenance of the old buildings. The concentration of facilities on larger campuses also allows for more inter-disciplinary cooperation; for example, the Departments of Political Science and Sociology are now located in the same facilities at CSS and can pool resources more easily. In January 2007, the University of Copenhagen merged with the

Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University ( da, Kongelige Veterinær- og Landbohøjskole, abbr. KVL) was a veterinary and agricultural science university in Denmark. It was founded in 1856 and operated until 2007, when it became a part of ...

and the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Science. The two universities were converted into faculties under the University of Copenhagen, and were renamed as the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In January 2012, the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the veterinary third of the Faculty of Life Sciences merged with the Faculty of Health Sciences forming the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences – and the other two thirds of the Faculty of Life Sciences were merged into the Faculty of Science.

Campuses

The university has four main campus areas that are located in the

Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

(three in Copenhagen and one in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

): * North Campus – home to most of the

Faculty of Science Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a division within a university (usage outside of the United States) * Faculty (instrument), an instrument or warra ...

and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. * City Campus – home to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Central Administration as well as parts of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences and the Faculty of Science. * South Campus – houses the

Faculty of Humanities A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

, the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Theology, and a small proportion of the Faculty of Science. * Frederiksberg Campus - home to sections of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences and the Faculty of Science also use the Taastrup Campus, which is located in

Taastrup Taastrup () is a Danish railway town or/and suburb of Copenhagen - 15 km west of the capital's city centre, and formerly the administrative seat of Høje-Taastrup Municipality, Region Hovedstaden. It takes its name from the village of Taastru ...

on the western outskirts of Copenhagen. The Faculty of Science also has facilities in

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northern ...

Hørsholm Hørsholm () is an urban area on the Øresund coast approximately north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers most of Hørsholm Municipality and straddles the borders neighbouring Fredensborg Municipality and Rudersdal Municipality. Hørsholm prop ...

and

Nødebo Nødebo is a village located on the southwestern shores of Lake Esrum in Hillerød Municipality, North Zealand, some 40 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Nødebo Church, the oldest in the area, is notable for its church frescos and its early ...

Organisation and administration

The university is governed by a board consisting of 11 members: 6 members recruited outside the university form the majority of the board, 2 members are appointed by the scientific staff, 1 member is appointed by the administrative staff, and 2 members are appointed by the university students. The rector, the prorector and the director of the university are appointed by the university board. The rector in turn appoints directors of the different parts of the central administration and deans of the different faculties. The deans appoint heads of 50 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, although there are elected Academic Boards at faculty level who advise the deans. , the governing body manages an annual budget of about DKK 8.9 billion. The university is organized into six faculties and about 100 departments and research centres. The university employs about 5,600 academic staff and 4,400 technical and administrative staff. The six faculties are: * Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences *

* Faculty of Law *

* Faculty of Social Sciences * Faculty of Theology The total number of enrolled students is about 40,000, including about 23,000 undergraduate students and 17,000 graduate students. The university has an international graduate talent programme which provides grants for international Ph.D., students and a tenure track carrier system. It operates about fifty master's programmes taught in English, and has arranged about 150 exchange agreements with other institutions and 800 Erasmus agreements. Each year there are about 1,700 incoming exchange students, 2,000 outbound exchange students and 4,000 international degree-seeking students. About 3,000 PhD students study there each year.

University housing

Most university students stay in privately owned

dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

(''kollegier'' in Danish) or apartments in

. There are five dormitories that are partially administered by the university; however, only students who have passed at least two years of studies are considered for

admission Admission may refer to: Arts and media * "Admissions" (''CSI: NY''), an episode of ''CSI: NY'' * ''Admissions'' (film), a 2011 short film starring James Cromwell * ''Admission'' (film), a 2013 comedy film * ''Admission'', a 2019 album by Florida s ...

. These are normally referred to as the ''old dormitories'', and they consist of:

Regensen Regensen (original Latin name: ''Collegium Domus Regiæ'', English: ''The College of the Royal House'') is a residential college for students at the University of Copenhagen and Technical University of Denmark (DTU). It is situated in the heart o ...

Elers' Kollegium Elers' Kollegium is a student residence located in the medieval part of Copenhagen. The dormitory or society provides living quarters for 20 students from the University of Copenhagen or from the Technical University of Denmark The Technical U ...

, Borchs Kollegium,

Hassagers Kollegium Hassagers Kollegium (originally ''Hassagers Collegium'' with 1900 orthography) is a small dormitory located at Frederiksberg Bredegade 13 B 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark (Location:). The name simply means Hassager's dormitory. It has 10 small sing ...

, and

Valkendorfs Kollegium Valkendorfs Kollegium is a dormitory located in Sankt Peders Stræde in Copenhagen, Denmark. With a history that dates back to 1589, it is the oldest dormitory in Scandinavia. History The dormitory was founded on 26 February 1589 by the noble ...

. The University of Copenhagen also offers Carlsberg Foundation researcher apartments for a duration of 6 months to 3 years for visiting research and academic research staff who affiliated with research projects funded by the Carlsberg Foundation. The Housing Foundation Copenhagen is a separate commercial entity to the University of Copenhagen run by Chairman Erik Bisgaard Madsen and a board of directors. The Housing Foundation Copenhagen provides short-term housing exclusively for university international students ( sometimes Danish students), university staff and guest researchers. Their central office is based at South Campus. The Housing Foundation Copenhagen has revieved considerable ''criticism'' for the exploitation of international students for business profits and poor living conditions, and most recently the refusal of shortening contracts for many international students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Seal

The university's oldest known

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

dates from a 1531 letter, it depicts

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

with a key and a book. In a circle around him is the text When the university was re-established by

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

in 1537 after the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, it received a new seal, showing king Christian III with

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

sceptre A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The ''Was'' and other ...

, and globus cruciger above a crowned

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

vertically divided between halved versions of the

coat of arms of Denmark The coat of arms of Denmark ( da, Danmarks rigsvåben) has a lesser and a greater version. The state coat of arms () consists of three pale blue lion (heraldry), lions attitude (heraldry)#Passant, passant wearing crown (heraldic charge), crowns ...

(to the viewer's left, '' dexter'') and the

coat of arms of Norway The coat of arms of Norway is the arms of dominion of king Harald V of Norway, and as such represents both the monarch and the kingdom (nation and the state). It depicts a standing golden lion on a red background, bearing a golden crown and ax ...

(to the viever's right, ''

sinister Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction " left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...

''). The text is The 1537 seal is very similar to the current seal, which was made in 2000 and is shown at the top of this page. The text is different and the crowned shield shows the coat of arms of Denmark (as has been the case since 1820, when the

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

reference to Norway was removed). The text is In addition to the university seal, each of the university's six faculties carry seals of their own.

International reputation

The 2021

CWTS Leiden Ranking The CWTS Leiden Ranking is an annual global university ranking based exclusively on bibliometric indicators. The rankings are compiled by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies ( Dutch: ''Centrum voor Wetenschap en Technologische Studies ...

ranks the University of Copenhagen as the best university in Denmark and best in

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, 4th in Europe (after

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, UCL and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

) and 27th in the world. The 2021

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 ...

published by

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU; ) is a public research university in Shanghai, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university was established on April 8, 1896 as Nanyang Public School (南洋� ...

ranked the University of Copenhagen as the best university in Denmark and Scandinavia, 7th in Europe and 30th in the world. In the

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 ...

for 2021, the University of Copenhagen is ranked first in Denmark and 84th in the world. In the 2021

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 ...

list, the University of Copenhagen is ranked 76th in the world. In the 2021 U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities Rankings list, the University of Copenhagen is ranked first in Denmark and 34th in the world. The international standing of University of Copenhagen has recently been questioned due to the lack of faculty governance since the change of the Danish academic system in the early 2000s. Tenure does not exist in Denmark, and the university managers have put the reputation at risk by e.g. the illegal dismissal of the internationally prominent geoscientist,

Hans Thybo Hans Thybo (born 19 February 1954) is a Danish geophysicist and geologist. He was a Professor of Geophysics at the Geological Institute and the Institute for Geography and Geology at the University of Copenhagen, as well as at the Centre for Ear ...

Cooperative agreements with other universities

The university cooperates with universities around the world. In January 2006, the University of Copenhagen entered into a partnership of ten top universities, along with the:

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

ETH Zürich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. The partnership is referred to as the

International Alliance of Research Universities The International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) was launched on 14 January 2006 as a co-operative network of 10 leading, international research-intensive universities who share similar visions for higher education, in particular the edu ...

(IARU). The Department of Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics at University of Copenhagen signed a cooperation agreement with the Danish

Royal School of Library and Information Science The Royal School of Library and Information Science (abbr. RSLIS, da, Det Informationsvidenskabelige Akademi) is a school under the University of Copenhagen that provides higher education in the field of library and information science. It has no ...

in 2009. The university hosts the annual Aging Research and Drug Discovery conference in cooperation with

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

List of rectors

:Henrik Caspar Wegener (2017–present). He is the 259th rector.

List of directors of the Royal Academy Schools

Københavns universitet lektionskatalog 1537

Notable alumni

Over the course of its history, a sizeable number of University of Copenhagen alumni have become notable in their fields, both academic, and in the wider world.

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was k ...

(1546–1601), Danish astronomer, first scientific documentation of

supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

s, mentor of

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws ...

. *

Thomas Fincke Thomas Fincke (6 January 1561 – 24 April 1656) was a Danish mathematician and physicist, and a professor at the University of Copenhagen for more than 60 years. Biography Thomas Jacobsen Fincke was born in Flensburg in Schleswig. Fincke was ...

(1561–1656), Danish mathematician and physicist. * Caspar Bartholin (1585–1629), professor in medicine and theology. Author of textbooks on anatomy and the discoverer of the workings of the

olfactory nerve The olfactory nerve, also known as the first cranial nerve, cranial nerve I, or simply CN I, is a cranial nerve that contains sensory nerve fibers relating to the sense of smell. The afferent nerve fibers of the olfactory receptor neurons tr ...

. *

Olaus Wormius Ole Worm (13 May 1588 – 31 August 1654), who often went by the Latinized form of his name Olaus Wormius, was a Danish physician, natural historian and antiquary. He was a professor at the University of Copenhagen where he taught Greek, Lati ...

(1588–1655), Danish physician and antiquarian. *

Thomas Bartholin Thomas Bartholin (; Onomastic Latinizatio, Latinized as ''Thomas Bartholinus''; 20 October 1616 – 4 December 1680) was a Denmark, Danish physician, mathematician, and theology, theologian. He is best known for his work in the discovery of t ...

(1616–1680), discoverer of the

lymphatic system The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system, and complementary to the circulatory system. It consists of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphatic or lymphoid o ...

. *

Rasmus Bartholin Rasmus Bartholin (; Latinized: ''Erasmus Bartholinus''; 13 August 1625 – 4 November 1698) was a Danish physician and grammarian. Biography Bartholin was born in Roskilde. He was the son of Caspar Bartholin the Elder (1585–1629) and Anna ...

(1625–1698), professor in geometry and medicine. Discovered

birefringence Birefringence is the optical property of a material having a refractive index that depends on the polarization and propagation direction of light. These optically anisotropic materials are said to be birefringent (or birefractive). The birefring ...

, but was unable to give a scientific explanation. *

Thomas Hansen Kingo Thomas Hansen Kingo (15 December 1634 – 14 October 1703 Odense) was a Danish bishop, poet and hymn-writer born at Slangerup, near Copenhagen. His work marked the high point of Danish baroque poetry. His father was a weaver of modest mean ...

(1634–1703), Danish bishop and poet. *

Nicholas Steno Niels Steensen ( da, Niels Steensen; Latinized to ''Nicolaus Steno'' or ''Nicolaus Stenonius''; 1 January 1638 – 25 November 1686Ole Rømer (1644–1710), Danish astronomer, made the first quantitative measurements of the

speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit ...

. * Peder Horrebow (1679–1764), Danish astronomer and member of

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the ...

. *

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...

(1684–1754), Danish-Norwegian writer and playwright. * Morten Thrane Brunnich (1737–1827), Danish zoologist. *

Caspar Wessel Caspar Wessel (8 June 1745, Vestby – 25 March 1818, Copenhagen) was a Danish– Norwegian mathematician and cartographer. In 1799, Wessel was the first person to describe the geometrical interpretation of complex numbers as points in the comp ...

(1745–1818), mathematician. *

Martin Vahl Martin Henrichsen Vahl (10 October 1749 – 24 December 1804) was a Danish-Norwegian botanist, herbalist and zoologist. Biography Martin Vahl was born in Bergen, Norway and attended Bergen Cathedral School. He studied botany at the University ...

(1749–1804), Danish-Norwegian botanist and zoologist. *

Hans Christian Ørsted Hans Christian Ørsted ( , ; often rendered Oersted in English; 14 August 17779 March 1851) was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, which was the first connection found between electricity ...

(1777–1851), Danish physicist and chemist, discovered

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of a ...

. *

Anders Sandøe Ørsted Anders Sandøe Ørsted (21 December 1778 – 1 May 1860) was a Danish lawyer, politician and jurist. He served as the Prime Minister of Denmark in 1853–1854. Biography He studied philosophy and law at the University of Copenhagen and was ...

(1778–1860), Danish lawyer and

prime minister of Denmark The prime minister of Denmark ( da, Danmarks statsminister, fo, Forsætisráðharri, kl, Ministeriuneq) is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islan ...

(1853–1854). *

Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

(1779–1850), poet, author of lyrics of the Danish national anthem '' Der er et yndigt land.'' *

N. F. S. Grundtvig Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (; 8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872), most often referred to as N. F. S. Grundtvig, was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. He was one of the most influential pe ...

(1783–1872), Danish writer, poet, philosopher and priest. * Christopher Hansteen (1784–1873), Norwegian astronomer and physicist. * Johan Ludvig Heiberg (1791–1860), Danish poet and critic. * Magnús Eiríksson (1806–1881), Icelandic theologian. *

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , , ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on ...

(1813–1855), Danish theologian and philosopher, the father of

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

. *

(1816–1872), professor of botany 1851–1862. *

Hinrich Johannes Rink Dr. Hinrich Johannes Rink (first name sometimes as Henrik) (26 August 1819 – 15 December 1893) was a Danish geologist, one of the pioneers of glaciology, and the first accurate describer of the inland ice of Greenland. Rink, who first came to ...

(1819–1893), Danish geologist, and founder of the first

Greenlandic language Greenlandic ( kl, kalaallisut, link=no ; da, grønlandsk ) is an Eskimo–Aleut language with about 56,000 speakers, mostly Greenlandic Inuit in Greenland. It is closely related to the Inuit languages in Canada such as Inuktitut. It is the mos ...

newspaper. *

Peter Ludvig Panum Peter Ludvig Panum (19 December 1820 – 2 May 1885) was a Danish physiologist and pathologist born on the island of Bornholm in Rønne. The Panum Institute in Copenhagen is named in his honor. Early life and education Panum was born in Røn ...

(1820–1885), Danish physiologist and pathologist, the

Panum Building The Panum Building (formerly referred to as the Panum Institute) is a large building complex that is part of the University of Copenhagen's North Campus (University of Copenhagen), North Campus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It houses the University of C ...

in Copenhagen is named in his honor. *

Hans Schjellerup Hans Carl Frederik Christian Schjellerup (8 February 1827 – 13 November 1887) was a Danish astronomer. He was born at Odense, the son of a jeweller. Initially he was apprenticed as a watch maker, but in 1848 he passed the entrance exam for th ...

(1827–1887), Danish astronomer. * Carl Lange (1834–1900), Danish physician. *

Thorvald N. Thiele Thorvald Nicolai Thiele (24 December 1838 – 26 September 1910) was a Danish astronomer and director of the Copenhagen Observatory. He was also an actuary and mathematician, most notable for his work in statistics, interpolation and the three- ...

(1838–1910), Danish astronomer, actuary and mathematician. *

Julius Petersen Julius Peter Christian Petersen (16 June 1839, Sorø, West Zealand – 5 August 1910, Copenhagen) was a Danish mathematician. His contributions to the field of mathematics led to the birth of graph theory. Biography Petersen's interests i ...

(1839–1910), Danish mathematician. *

Eugenius Warming Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a usurper in the Western Roman Empire (392–394) against Emperor Theodosius I. While Christian himself, Eugenius capitalized on the discontent in the West caused by Theodosius' religious policies targeting p ...

(1841–1924), Danish botanist and founding figure of ecology. *

Georg Brandes Georg Morris Cohen Brandes (4 February 1842 – 19 February 1927) was a Danish critic and scholar who greatly influenced Scandinavian and European literature from the 1870s through the turn of the 20th century. He is seen as the theorist behind ...

(1842–1927), Danish writer and critic. *

Vilhelm Thomsen Vilhelm Ludwig Peter Thomsen (25 January 1842 – 12 May 1927) was a Danish linguist and Turkologist. He successfully deciphered the Orkhon inscriptions which were discovered during the expedition of Nikolai Yadrintsev in 1889. Early life and ...

(1842–1927), Danish linguist. *

Harald Høffding Harald Høffding (11 March 1843 – 2 July 1931) was a Danish philosopher and theologian. Life Born and educated in Copenhagen, he became a schoolmaster, and ultimately in 1883 a professor at the University of Copenhagen. He was strongly influe ...

(1843–1931), Danish philosopher theologian psychologist. *

Herman Trier Herman Trier (May 10, 1845 – September 1, 1925) was a Jewish Danish educator and politician. Life Trier was born on May 10, 1845 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the son of wholesaler Adolph Meyer Trier and Sophie Bing. Trier received his early educatio ...

(1845–1925), Danish educator and politician. *

Hans Christian Gram Hans Christian Joachim Gram (13 September 1853 – 14 November 1938) was a Danish bacteriologist noted for his development of the Gram stain, still a standard technique to classify bacteria and make them more visible under a microscope. Early l ...

(1853–1938), Danish bacteriologist, inventor of

Gram staining In microbiology and bacteriology, Gram stain (Gram staining or Gram's method), is a method of staining used to classify bacterial species into two large groups: gram-positive bacteria and gram-negative bacteria. The name comes from the Danish bac ...

. *

Christian Bohr Christian Harald Lauritz Peter Emil Bohr (1855–1911) was a Danish physician, father of the physicist and Nobel laureate Niels Bohr, as well as the mathematician and football player Harald Bohr and grandfather of another physicist and Nobel lau ...

(1855–1911), Danish physician who described Bohr effect. *

Wilhelm Johannsen Wilhelm Johannsen (3 February 1857 – 11 November 1927) was a Danish pharmacist, botanist, plant physiologist, and geneticist. He is best known for coining the terms gene, phenotype and genotype, and for his 1903 "pure line" experiments in g ...

(1857–1927), Danish botanist, first coined the word ''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

'' in its modern usage. *

Niels Ryberg Finsen Niels Ryberg Finsen (15 December 1860 – 24 September 1904) was a Faroese- Icelandic physician and scientist. In 1903, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology "in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, e ...

(1860–1904), Nobel laureate in medicine (1903). *

Otto Jespersen Jens Otto Harry Jespersen (; 16 July 1860 – 30 April 1943) was a Danish linguist who specialized in the grammar of the English language. Steven Mithen described him as "one of the greatest language scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth ce ...

(1860–1943), Danish linguist, co-founder of the

International Phonetic Association The International Phonetic Association (IPA; French: ', ''API'') is an organization that promotes the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. The IPA's major contribution to phonetics is the Interna ...

. *

Kirstine Meyer Kirstine Bjerrum Meyer (12 October 1861 – 28 September 1941) was a Danish physicist and was first woman from her country to earn a doctorate in natural sciences. Biography Kirstine Bjerrum was born in Skærbæk, Denmark and died in Hellerup ...

(1861–1941), Danish physicist. *

Hannes Hafstein Hannes Þórður Pétursson Hafstein (4 December 1861 – 13 December 1922) was an Icelandic politician and poet. In 1904 he became the first Icelander to be appointed to the Danish Cabinet as the minister for Iceland in the Cabinet of Deuntzer ...

(1861–1922), Icelandic politician and poet. * Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger (1867–1928), Nobel laureate in medicine (1926). * Holger Pedersen (1867–1953), Danish linguist. *

Agner Krarup Erlang Agner Krarup Erlang (1 January 1878 – 3 February 1929) was a Danish mathematician, statistician and engineer, who invented the fields of traffic engineering and queueing theory. By the time of his relatively early death at the age of 51, Er ...

(1878-1929), creator of the field of telephone networks analysis. * S. P. L. Sørensen (1868–1939), Danish chemist who introduced the concept of pH. *

Martin Knudsen Martin Hans Christian Knudsen (February 15, 1871 in Hasmark on Funen – May 27, 1949 in Copenhagen) was a Danish physicist who taught and conducted research at the Technical University of Denmark. He is primarily known for his study of molec ...

(1871–1949), Danish physicist. *

August Krogh Schack August Steenberg Krogh (15 November 1874 – 13 September 1949) was a Danish professor at the department of zoophysiology at the University of Copenhagen from 1916 to 1945. He contributed a number of fundamental discoveries within severa ...

(1874–1949), Nobel laureate in medicine (1920). *

Holger Scheuermann Holger Werfel Scheuermann (12 February 1877 – 3 March 1960) was a Danish surgeon after whom Scheuermann's disease is named. Biography Holger Werfel Scheuermann was born into a medical family in Hørsholm, a small town between Copenhagen and � ...

(1877–1960), Danish surgeon after whom

Scheuermann's disease Scheuermann's disease is a Self-limiting (biology), self-limiting skeleton, skeletal disorder of childhood. Scheuermann's disease describes a condition where the vertebrae grow unevenly with respect to the sagittal plane; that is, the Posterior ( ...

is named. *

Kirstine Smith Kirstine Smith (April 12, 1878 – November 11, 1939) was a Danish statistician. She is credited with the creation of the field of optimal design of experiments. Background Smith grew up in the town of Nykøbing Mors, Denmark. In 1903, she grad ...

(1878–1939), Danish statistician credited with creation of

optimal design In the design of experiments, optimal designs (or optimum designs) are a class of design of experiments, experimental designs that are Optimization (mathematics), optimal with respect to some statistical theory, statistical objective function, ...

of experiments. *

Benjamin Christensen Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 – 2 April 1959) was a Danish film director, screenwriter and an actor, both in film and on the stage. As a director, he is best known for the 1922 film ''Häxan'' (aka ''Witchcraft Through the Ages' ...

(1879–1959), Danish film director, screenwriter and actor. * 1346303184a531556760641

Ingeborg Hammer-Jensen (1880-1955), classical scholar and philologist. *

Niels Bohr Niels Henrik David Bohr (; 7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. B ...

(1885–1962), contributed to development of the

atomic model Atomic theory is the scientific theory that matter is composed of particles called atoms. Atomic theory traces its origins to an ancient philosophical tradition known as atomism. According to this idea, if one were to take a lump of matter an ...

and

. Director at the university's

Institute of Theoretical Physics An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

Nobel laureate in physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

(1922). *

Øjvind Winge Øjvind Winge (May 19, 1886 – April 5, 1964) was a Danish biologist and a pioneer in yeast genetics. Education Winge was born in the city of Aarhus in Jutland, the mainland of Denmark. After completing secondary school he travelled to the Univ ...

(1886–1964), Danish biologist. *

Harald Bohr Harald August Bohr (22 April 1887 – 22 January 1951) was a Danish mathematician and footballer. After receiving his doctorate in 1910, Bohr became an eminent mathematician, founding the field of almost periodic functions. His brother was the No ...

(1887–1951), Danish Olympic silver medalist football player and mathematician; brother of

. *

Inge Lehmann Inge Lehmann (13 May 1888 – 21 February 1993) was a Danish seismologist and geophysicist. In 1936, she discovered that the Earth has a solid inner core inside a molten outer core. Before that, seismologists believed Earth's core to be a sin ...

(1888–1993), Danish seismologist discovering the

Earth's inner core Earth's inner core is the innermost geologic layer of planet Earth. It is primarily a solid ball with a radius of about , which is about 20% of Earth's radius or 70% of the Moon's radius. There are no samples of Earth's core accessible for d ...

. *

Jakob Nielsen Jacob or Jakob Nielsen may refer to: * Jacob Nielsen, Count of Halland (died c. 1309), great grandson of Valdemar II of Denmark * , Norway (1768-1822) * Jakob Nielsen (mathematician) (1890–1959), Danish mathematician known for work on automorphi ...

(1890–1959), Danish mathematician. * Julie Vinter Hansen (1890–1960), Danish astronomer. * Oskar Klein (1894–1977), Swedish theoretical physicist. *

Henrik Dam Carl Peter Henrik Dam ( da, Carl Peter Henrik Dam), (21 February 1895 – 17 April 1976) was a Danish biochemist and physiologist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1943 for joint work with Edward Doisy in discovering vitamin ...

(1895–1976), Nobel laureate in medicine (1943). * Sir Ove Arup (1896–1988), Anglo-Danish structural engineer. *

Alf Ross Alf Niels Christian Ross (10 June 1899 – 17 August 1979) was a Danish jurist, legal philosopher and judge of the European Court of Human Rights (1959–1971). He is best known as one of the leading figures of Scandinavian legal realism. His de ...

(1899–1979), Danish legal philosopher. *

Louis Hjelmslev Louis Trolle Hjelmslev (; 3 October 189930 May 1965) was a Danish linguist whose ideas formed the basis of the Copenhagen School of linguistics. Born into an academic family (his father was the mathematician Johannes Hjelmslev), Hjelmslev studie ...

(1899–1965), Danish linguist, founder of Copenhagen School. *

Anton Frederik Bruun Anton Frederik Bruun (14 December 1901 – 13 December 1961) was a Danish oceanographer and ichthyologist. Educated at University of Copenhagen (1926) and employed at the Danish Commission for Marine Research (Kommissionen for Danmarks Fiskeri- ...

(1901-1961), Danish

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...

. *

Georg Rasch Georg William Rasch () (21 September 1901 – 19 October 1980) was a Danish mathematician, statistician, and psychometrician, most famous for the development of a class of measurement models known as Rasch models. He studied with R.A. Fisher and a ...

(1901–1980), Danish mathematician, statistician, and

psychometrician Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally refers to specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and ...

. *

Knud Ejler Løgstrup Knud Ejler Løgstrup (2 September 1905 – 20 November 1981) was a Danish philosopher and theologian. His work, which combines elements of phenomenology, ethics and theology, has exerted considerable influence in postwar Nordic thought. More rec ...

(1905–1981), Danish philosopher and theologian. Pastor at Sandager-Holevad 1936–1943. Professor at University of Aarhus 1943–1975. * Piet Hein (1905–1996), Danish mathematician, inventor and poet. *

Bengt Strömgren Bengt Georg Daniel Strömgren (21 January 1908 – 4 July 1987) was a Danish astronomer and astrophysicist. Life and career Bengt Strömgren was born in Gothenburg. His parents were Hedvig Strömgren (née Lidforss) and Elis Strömgren, wh ...

(1908–1987), Danish astronomer and astrophysicist. *

Hilde Levi Hilde Levi (9 May 1909 – 26 July 2003) was a German-Danish physicist. She was a pioneer of the use of radioactive isotopes in biology and medicine, notably the techniques of radiocarbon dating and autoradiography. In later life she bec ...

(1909–2003), German-Danish physicist. *

Niels Kaj Jerne Niels Kaj Jerne, FRS (23 December 1911 – 7 October 1994) was a Danish immunologist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984 with Georges J. F. Köhler and César Milstein "for theories concerning the specificity in dev ...

(1911–1994), Nobel laureate in medicine (1984). * Preben von Magnus (1912-1973), Danish virologist who gave name to the

Von Magnus phenomenon The von Magnus phenomenon describes the generation of defective interfering particles (DIPs) by viruses. It was first observed by Preben von Magnus in influenza viruses, after the serial passage of undiluted allantoic fluid in eggs. References ...

. *

Jens Otto Krag Jens Otto Krag (; 15 September 1914 – 22 June 1978) was a Danish politician who served as prime minister of Denmark from 1962 to 1968 and from 1971 to 1972, and as leader of the Social Democrats from 1962 to 1972. He was president of the Nordi ...

(1914–1978),

(1962–1968, 1971–1972). *

Poul Hartling Poul Hartling (14 August 1914 – 30 April 2000) was a Danish politician and diplomat. He was leader of Venstre from 1965 to 1977, and served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1973 to 1975. Prior to that, he served as foreign minister from 1968 ...

(1914–2000),

(1973–1975) and

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(1978-1985), Nobel Peace Prize laureate on behalf of

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(1981). *

Bjørn Aage Ibsen Bjørn Aage Ibsen (August 30, 1915 – August 7, 2007) was a Danish anesthetist and founder of intensive-care medicine. He graduated in 1940 from medical school at the University of Copenhagen and trained in anesthesiology from 1949 to 1950 ...

(1915-2007),

Anesthetist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicin ...

and founder of

intensive-care medicine Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...

Poul Bjørndahl Astrup Poul Bjørndahl Astrup (4 August 1915 – 30 November 2000) was a Danish clinical chemist famous for inventing a CO2 electrode and co-inventing the concept of base excess. References External links ''Poul Astrup - blodgasser, syrer og baser'' ...

(1915-2000), Danish clinical chemist, inventor of blood gas analyzer. *

Jens Christian Skou Jens Christian Skou (; 8 October 1918 – 28 May 2018) was a Danish biochemist and Nobel laureate. Early life Skou was born in Lemvig, Denmark to a wealthy family. His father Magnus Martinus Skou was a timber and coal merchant. His mother Ane-Ma ...

(born 1918),

Nobel laureate in chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry ( sv, Nobelpriset i kemi) is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the 1895 will of Alfred ...

(1997) for his discovery of Na+,K+-ATPase. * Hans H. Ørberg (1920–2010), linguist and scholar. *

Aage Bohr Aage Niels Bohr (; 19 June 1922 – 8 September 2009) was a Danish nuclear physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1975 with Ben Roy Mottelson and James Rainwater "for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and pa ...

(1922–2009), professor in

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

and director of the

at the university.

(1975). * Halfdan T. Mahler (born 1923), Director-General of

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(1973–1988). *

Ólafía Einarsdóttir Ólafía Einarsdóttir (28 July 1924 – 19 December 2017) was an Iceland, Icelandic archaeologist and historian, specialising in Icelandic chronology. She was the first Icelander to complete a degree in archaeology. After completing her PhD fro ...

(1924-2017), first person from Iceland to earn a degree in archaeology *

Ben Roy Mottelson Ben Roy Mottelson (9 July 1926 – 13 May 2022) was an American-Danish nuclear physicist. He won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the non-spherical geometry of atomic nuclei. Early life Mottelson was born in Chicago, Illinois on ...

(born 1926), American-born Danish nuclear physicist,

(1975). *

Peter Naur Peter Naur (25 October 1928 – 3 January 2016) was a Danish computer science pioneer and Turing award winner. He is best remembered as a contributor, with John Backus, to the Backus–Naur form (BNF) notation used in describing the syntax for m ...

(1928-2016), computer scientist,

Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in compu ...

in 2005. *

Poul Schlüter Poul Holmskov Schlüter (; 3 April 1929 – 27 May 2021) was a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1982 to 1993. He was the first member of the Conservative People's Party to become Prime Minister, as well as the first ...

(1929–2021),

(1982–1993). *

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (; born 15 April 1930) is an Icelandic politician who served as the fourth president of Iceland from 1980 to 1996. She was the world's first woman who was democratically elected as president. With a presidency of exactl ...

(born 1930), the 4th

President of Iceland The president of Iceland ( is, Forseti Íslands) is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, who is now in his second term as president, elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir as ...

(1980–1996). * Ozer Schild (1930-2006), Danish-born Israeli academic, president of the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

and president of the

College of Judea and Samaria Ariel University ( he, אוניברסיטת אריאל), previously a public college known as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, is an Israeli university located in the urban Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank. The college preced ...

("Ariel College"). * Jørgen Rischel (1934–2007), Danish linguist who analyzed Greenlandic and

Mon-Khmer The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are th ...

languages. *

Per Kirkeby Per Kirkeby (1 September 1938 – 9 May 2018) was a Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor. Biography By the time Kirkeby completed a masters degree in arctic geology at the University of Copenhagen in 1964, he was already part of the ...

(born 1938), Danish painter and sculptor. * Per Pinstrup-Andersen (born 1939), Danish economist, 2001

World Food Prize The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nor ...

laureate. *

Søren Johansen Søren Johansen (born 6 November 1939) is a Danish statistician and econometrician who is known for his contributions to the theory of cointegration. He is currently a professor at the Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen and in the ...

(born 1939), Danish econometrician. *

Lasse Hessel Lasse Leif Hessel (9 September 1940 – 25 April 2019), also known as "the family doctor", was a Danish inventor, author, and M.D. noted for such inventions as the Femidom and the Femi-X pill, and an internationally acknowledged expert on nutrit ...

(born 1940), inventor of

female condom An internal condom (also known as a femidom or female condom) is a barrier device that is used during sexual intercourse as a barrier contraceptive to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Meant as an al ...

. * Anders Boserup (1940 – 1990), co-founder of the Danish Institute for Peace and Conflict Research and the Nordic Peace Foundation. * Aage B. Sørensen (1941–2001), Danish sociologist. *

Holger Bech Nielsen Holger Bech Nielsen (born 25 August 1941) is a Danish theoretical physicist and professor emeritus at the Niels Bohr Institute, at the University of Copenhagen, where he started studying physics in 1961. Work Nielsen has made original contribut ...

(born 1941), Danish physicist, one of three creators of

string theory In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interac ...

. *

Jørgen Haugan Jørgen Haugan (born 1941) is a Norwegian author and lecturer. He was written a number of books, principally biographies of noted Scandinavian writers. Haugan earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1977 from the University of Copenhagen with a th ...

(born 1941), Doctorate in Philosophy (1977); Norwegian author and lecturer. *

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen Poul Oluf Nyrup Rasmussen (, informally Poul Nyrup, born 15 June 1943) is a retired Danish politician. Rasmussen was Prime Minister of Denmark from 25 January 1993 to 27 November 2001 and President of the Party of European Socialists (PES) from ...

(born 1943),

(1993–2001). *

Claus Bjørn Claus Ebbe Bjørn (7 October 1944 – 18 April 2005) was a Danish author, historian, and television and radio broadcaster, who was Associate Professor of Agricultural History at the University of Copenhagen, Chairman of the Danish Agricultural ...

(1944–2005), author, historian and broadcaster. *

Niels Peter Lemche Niels Peter Lemche (born 6 September 1945) is a biblical scholar at the University of Copenhagen, whose interests include early Israel and its relationship with history, the Old Testament, and archaeology. Career In 1971 Lemche received his underg ...

(born 1945), biblical scholar, founder of Copenhagen School. *

Mogens Lykketoft Mogens Lykketoft (; born 9 January 1946) is a Danish politician who served as Leader of the Social Democrats (''Socialdemokraterne'') from 2002 to 2005. He succeeded Poul Nyrup Rasmussen as party leader. After losing the 2005 parliamentary elec ...

(born 1946), Danish politician, the 70th

President of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...

(2015-2016). *

Halldór Ásgrímsson Halldór Ásgrímsson (pronounced ; 8 September 1947 – 18 May 2015) was an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 2004 to 2006 and was leader of the Progressive Party from 1994 to 2006. Education and early life Ha ...

(born 1947),

prime minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland ( is, Forsætisráðherra Íslands) is Iceland's head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary suppo ...

(2004–2006). * Uffe Haagerup (born 1949), Danish mathematician. * Jesper Nygart (born 1956), Danish physician. *

Peter Høeg Peter Høeg (born 17 May 1957) is a Danish writer of fiction. He is best known for his novel '' Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow'' (1992). Early life Høeg was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Before becoming a writer, he worked variously as a sailor, ...

(born 1957), Danish fiction writer, won international acclaim with '' Smilla's Sense of Snow.'' *

Morten Frost Morten Frost or Morten Frost Hansen (born 4 April 1958) is a former badminton player and later coach, who represented Denmark. As a player, he spent twelve years in the top three of the world rankings. Badminton career During his career, Frost w ...

(born 1958), Danish world-class badminton player and coach. *

Mads Tofte Mads Tofte (born 20 April 1959) is a Danish computer scientist who has contributed in particular to functional programming and the Standard ML programming language. Education Tofte was born in Lyngby, Denmark and grew up in Holbæk, Denmark. ...

(born 1959), computer scientist, vice chancellor of

IT University of Copenhagen , latin_name = , image = Logo IT University of Copenhagen.jpg , motto = Dedicated to the digital world , established = 1999 , type = Public , endowment ...

. *

Ole Wæver Ole Wæver (born 17 September 1960) is a professor of international relations at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. He has published and broadcast extensively in the field of international relations, and is one of the mai ...

(born 1960), scholar of International Relations, one of exponents of Copenhagen School. * Steve Scully (born 1960), American host, senior producer, and political editor of the

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

network's ''

Washington Journal ''Washington Journal'' is an American television series on the C-SPAN television network in the format of a political call-in and interview program. The program features elected officials, government administrators and journalists as guests, an ...

'' studied at the University of Copenhagen as part of his master's program at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

. *

Corinna Cortes Corinna Cortes is a Danish computer scientist known for her contributions to machine learning. She is currently the Head of Google Research, New York. Cortes is a recipient of the Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award for her work on theoreti ...

(born 1961), computer scientist. *

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the le ...

(born 1964),

(2009–2011, 2015–2019). *

Lars Mikkelsen Lars Dittmann Mikkelsen (born 6 May 1964) is a Danish actor. He has played Copenhagen mayoral election candidate Troels Hartmann in the drama series '' The Killing'', Charles Augustus Magnussen in the third series of '' Sherlock'', the Russian ...

(born 1964), Danish actor. *

Bjørn Lomborg Bjørn Lomborg (; born 6 January 1965) is a Danish author and president of the think tank Copenhagen Consensus Center. He is former director of the Danish government's Environmental Assessment Institute (EAI) in Copenhagen. He became internat ...

(born 1965), Danish economist, author of ''

The Skeptical Environmentalist ''The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World'' ( da, Verdens sande tilstand, lit=The True State of the World) is a book by Danish author and statistician Bjørn Lomborg. The book is controversial for outlining Lomborg' ...

''. *

Helle Thorning-Schmidt Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to have held each p ...

(born 1966),

(2011–2015). *

Marie-Louise Nosch Marie-Louise Bech Nosch (January 1970 -; née Gregersen) is a Professor in the University of Copenhagen and an expert in the interdisciplinary study of prehistoric textiles. Her main research focus is on the evidence for textile production in Myce ...

(born 1970), archaeologist; Professor in the university's Saxo Institute *

Eskild Ebbesen Eskild Balschmidt Ebbesen (born 27 May 1972, in Silkeborg, Midtjylland) is a Danish lightweight rower, who as part of the Gold Four has won a total number of five Olympic medals (three gold) and six World Championship gold medals. Ebbesen wa ...

(born 1972), Danish world-class lightweight rower. * Morten Meldal (born 1954),

(2022) for his invention of

Click chemistry In chemical synthesis, click chemistry is a class of biocompatible small molecule reactions commonly used in bioconjugation, allowing the joining of substrates of choice with specific biomolecules. Click chemistry is not a single specific reaction ...

References

External links

Scholars and Literati at the University of Copenhagen (1475–1800)Repertorium Eruditorum Totius Europae – RETE
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Copenhagen Education in Copenhagen Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen, University of 15th-century establishments in Europe Copenhagen, University of tk:Kopengagen uniwersiteti