SDU Professor Plays a Key Role in a Historically Large Research Program

The Novo Nordisk Foundation’s recently announced grant of 125 million DKK to establish the USE Center is an unprecedented single investment on a global scale, providing Danish researchers with the opportunity to position Denmark at the forefront of didactics research in science education.

– The center will fundamentally change science education at Danish universities by bridging cutting-edge research with practical classroom teaching in the natural sciences, according to the USE Center’s website.

The founding director of FNUG, Professor Connie Svabo, plays a central role in this initiative, as FNUG will host a USE satellite. This will lead to additional hires at the research center, which has grown significantly since Connie Svabo established it four years ago. In this short time, it has become known for inspiring engaging and educational experiences with nature, science, mathematics, and technology across early childhood education, primary and secondary schools, universities, and throughout life.

It is no coincidence that Connie Svabo and her research center have been chosen to host the USE satellite, and SDU’s Rector Jens Ringsmose and the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Marianne Holmer, are excited.

– Connie Svabo has become a unifying figure, weaving together the various didactic initiatives within the separate scientific environments at the STEM Center for Research in Science Education and Communication (FNUG). We are excited about the prospect of integrating a satellite division of the USE Center with the already thriving research environment in science education at SDU, state Jens Ringsmose and Marianne Holmer in agreement.

The USE Center will be based at the Department of Science Education (IND) at the University of Copenhagen and, in addition to the satellite at FNUG/SDU, will have a satellite at Aarhus University. Leading international environments will also participate as strategic partners.

A thriving research environment in science education at SDU

Connie Svabo, along with her team at FNUG, is exceptionally well-prepared to undertake this task. In just a few years, they have created a highly sustainable, interdisciplinary research environment at FNUG.

The center builds upon the didactic research conducted by Professor Claus Michelsen at the Laboratory for STEM Education and Learning (LSUL). Over the past four years, FNUG has grown to include not only Connie Svabo but also four senior lecturers, five PhD students, a number of other research staff, and communication and design specialists. The interdisciplinary research environment is supported by passionate individuals and academic communities across the faculty, and the center also benefits from collaborating with international guest researchers.

As a result of the establishment of the USE Center, several new positions are on the way, and the USE program facilitates even more interdisciplinary collaboration between mathematicians, physicists, chemists, biologists, and other scientists to create inspiring education—through the remodeling and remediation of science.