SDU Kolding progressing

A few years ago, the Executive Board and the Rector decided that we wanted to see if we could rejuvenate our campus in Kolding. In the form of more students, among other things. After a couple of years of declining numbers of applicants, there was a need to reverse the trend. 

New education programmes 

Last year, we were able to welcome the first students on our new master’s degree programme in Data Science and on the new MSc in Economics and Business Administration – Data Driven Business Development. In addition, some of the humanities programmes have also been revitalised. We launched a massive joint campaign to create awareness about and attract students to our education programmes. The campaign depicts SDU Kolding as a fantastic place if you want to study something involving data, IT and web, for instance. In addition, we have of course run campaigns for our other programmes, as usual. We have been present on social media and we have also advertised in cinemas and on posters in the cityscape. Luckily, the many initiatives seem to have had an effect, and the new programmes have turned out to be in demand. Overall, we admitted 20% more students at bachelor and master’s levels in 2024 than the year before. And in the quota 2 application for the bachelor programmes on 15 March this year, there was a 13% increase for Kolding. 

Cooperation and social activities 

At SDU in Kolding, we have also focused on strengthening social life and well-being, which has suffered slightly following COVID-19 and the discontinuation of education programmes. Of course, this is not something that you can change overnight, but we are lucky in Kolding to have committed employees and students as well as an enterprising campus manager, Per Freytag, and a skilled campus coordinator, Anne Lieberg, who work enthusiastically on developing our campus. This has created the foundation for being able to make adjustments along the way, along with the good dialogue among the faculties, as well as our excellent collaboration with Kolding Municipality, Business Kolding and local businesses, which are happy to participate in events with our students. In Kolding, we are known for our close collaboration with the business community, which means that our students establish a contact with the labour market already at the very beginning of their studies. This interaction is built into and further developed during their studies. Below, you can read more about a few selected initiatives and activities that we have initiated.

Study environment zones 

As many of you will know, our campus building in Kolding is architecturally beautiful and interesting. It is triangular and has a very special exterior, and in addition its interior is magnificent, bright and welcoming – and with good physical possibilities for collaboration and fun – also for the students. In a new initiative, special study environment zones are also being established for students from each of the three faculties present at SDU Kolding: the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Science. The so-called Business Lounge is already in operation. This is the area for BSc and MSc students of Economics and Business Administration. It is popular and its users include students who do not have an optimal environment for studying and preparing at home. In fact, the Lounge is so popular that it is also visited by young people who are not studying at SDU J, which is why we have recently decided to close it every night at 22.00. This should still leave plenty of time for studying during the new opening hours.

Christmas celebration and summer party 

A completely new tradition was initiated last year: an end-of-semester Christmas gathering for students and staff. One hundred employees and students participated in the event. Throughout the month of December, the Atrium was decorated with a large Christmas tree. It is a tree that, unlike the tree in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Fir Tree’, does not perish, but will hopefully create joy and light for many years to come.

And this year, a summer party will be held for the employees immediately after the big common graduation celebration for the students. The graduation celebration is usually incredibly festive and well-attended. Many graduates bring their families to the special day, which features speeches and music.

The lunch break – the special SDU Kolding model 

In Kolding, we have experimented with the length of the lunch break on the initiative of the Campus Council and with the support of the student representatives in it. Previously, the lunch break was only 15 minutes, as on every other campus, but some time ago we extended it to 45 minutes. For two reasons: so that everyone could get some food and so that the students could have a chance to spend more time together outside of class. However, a number of students ultimately argued that it made the study day unnecessarily long. To evaluate the experiment, we conducted a poll among the students, which showed that a majority prefer the lunch break to be 30 minutes from now on.

The Festival of Research (AI) on 25 April  

This year’s theme is AI – or artificial intelligence – and we have invited author and future and media analyst Christiane Vejlø, who is a member of DR’s Board and a member of the Danish Data Ethics Council. In addition, there will be three exciting presentations by three SDU researchers: Jan Stentoft from the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, Edward Abel from the Faculty of Humanities and Anton Danholt Lautrup from the Faculty of Science.

Kontur 25 – Study Start Festival 

Every year, there is a free study start festival in Kolding with concerts, workshops and relaxing lounge areas for students at SDU, University College South Denmark, the Kolding School of Design and the IBA International Business Academy. It is usually a great success, and tickets are in great demand. This year, it will take place on the 4th and 5th of September at the venue Godset in Kolding.

Kolding Half – come and join us! 

On Sunday 1 June, a half marathon will take place, which will take the participants along ‘a spectacular and unusual route through the heart of Kolding’. It will also be possible to run 5 km or 10 km, and there will also be a children’s race. The half marathon is the Danish Championship. The Danish Police Championship will take place on the same occasion. SDU is a co-organiser, and the project is embedded in SDU Moves.

Race numbers will be handed out in the Atrium at SDU Kolding, and the start will be right outside our building. The home stretch will be between SDU and University College South Denmark. Students and staff from SDU can participate at a discount. We expect about 4,000 participants in total. As for the number of spectators, this obviously depends very much on the weather, but we expect somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 spectators. It is guaranteed to be a festive day, and we hope to see you either to participate in the run or to cheer the runners on.