This autumn, DTU Lyngby Campus will be opening its doors to a series of lectures in collaboration with Københavns Folkeuniversitet—a new offering for anybody with an interest in research and science.
The lectures will present new research in an easy-to-understand manner. It will be a chance to learn about a multitude of fields—from art to history and space exploration. Speakers will include eight researchers from DTU who will be sharing their knowledge in short and accessible talks. Topics covered will include fusion energy as a sustainable energy source of the future and the social costs of storm surges.
"We're delighted with our collaboration with Københavns Folkeuniversitet. Together, we have an important task in communicating science and the latest research results to a wider audience. At DTU, we develop technological solutions for the benefit of society—from climate solutions to sustainable food, and the green transition. These are all research areas that are of great importance to the world we live in and which call for knowledge, insight, and dialogue," says DTU President Anders Bjarklev.
Raising awareness and knowledge for all
According to Sofia Osmani, Mayor of the Municipality of Lyngby-Taarbæk, Københavns Folkeuniversitet i Lyngby will be a veritable goldmine of interesting knowledge that can educate us and help raise awareness and boost knowledge for all. She explains that the initiative is perfectly aligned with the municipality's ambition of becoming one of Europe's leading knowledge and university cities:
"The citizens of Lyngby-Taarbæk have shown a keen interest in events at Science City Lyngby, many of which have attracted large numbers of participants. We believe that Københavns Folkeuniversitet i Lyngby will support our ambition of making knowledge accessible for the benefit of as many as possible. Moreover, many of the courses will take place at DTU, which will attract more local citizens here. This is bound to strengthen relations and is completely in line with the spirit and vision of Science City Lyngby, which increases collaboration between knowledge institutions, businesses, and the municipality—and, of course, the citizens of Lyngby."
Cutting-edge research
For Københavns Folkeuniversitet, this is a huge step. Københavns Folkeuniversitet is based in the capital, but also has a presence at Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød and other cultural institutions north of Copenhagen. And now also at DTU in Lyngby.
According to Carsten Fenger-Grøndahl, Rector of Københavns Folkeuniversitet, DTU's researchers will play a much bigger role in the upcoming lectures. Both in Copenhagen and in Lyngby and together with other researchers from the natural and technical sciences. This is simply because scientific and technical knowledge is increasingly recognized as vital for the general education needed for a well-functioning democracy.
"The purpose is to bring research from Danish universities to the entire population. It's a huge ambition that cannot be realized overnight. But with our strong collaboration with DTU, we will be able to strengthen the dissemination of knowledge within the STEM disciplines—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—where we are currently seeing a considerable backlog. DTU is one of Europe's leading technical universities, so given that we want to communicate our cutting-edge research to a broad audience, it makes perfect sense to collaborate with DTU," says Carsten Fenger-Grøndahl.
World-class research facilities
He emphasizes that the collaboration with DTU is not only important from the point of view of content—but also because it adds a new location for Københavns Folkeuniversitet north of Copenhagen with world-class research facilities and excellent logistics, including parking, buses to the door and a future light railway that will have three stops in the area.
According to DTU's Director of Facilities Anders B. Møller, Københavns Folkeuniversitet i Lyngby is also very much in line with DTU's strategy of being an open university. Today, you can use an app to guide you around DTU Lyngby Campus and learn about the buildings and the works of art on display. In a series of new after-work events, DTU is also inviting its neighbours and the local community to presentations on exciting research areas and new research facilities, says Campus Director Anders B. Møller:
"We want to open up DTU more and give the outside world and our neighbours insight into life and activities on campus. The ambition is to turn DTU into a natural knowledge, innovation, and community hub."
