How do you build a new campus?
Heads of programme Luís Cruz-Filipe and Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard are among the SDU employees who have worked hard to make the plans for SDU’s new campus in Vejle a reality. We asked them 7 questions about their work with SDU Vejle.
What has been most interesting about building a new campus?
Luís Cruz-Filipe, associate professor at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science:
- The unique opportunity to make sure that everything is spot on right from the beginning in terms of both culture and philosophy of learning on the Vejle campus. And then, of course, the effort to make sure that everything we dream of will actually happen.
We are very keen for the new campus to develop its own identity and atmosphere, supported by the close connections to the local community and businesses in the area that we have already established.
What has been the most challenging part?
Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard, professor at the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute:
- The incredible number of unknown factors when you build something from scratch. You really need to be prepared that it takes time – a lot of time – to gather all the stakeholders and formulate a common vision and framework for such a venture.
What is it like to work across faculties?
Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard:
- Our common effort to shape the visions for research and teaching in Vejle has brought the environments closer together, and this gives us great opportunities to exploit potentials for cross-disciplinary collaboration. The multiple scientific perspectives in areas such as artificial intelligence and software engineering will be a great strength in relation to both education programmes and research at SDU Vejle.
What are the next important steps?
Luís Cruz-Filipe:
- There are several things. We are currently applying to the Ministry of Higher Education and Science for approval of the eight new education programmes and we’re about to start recruiting the researchers and lecturers who will welcome the students when SDU Vejle opens in 2026.
At the same time, we are conducting employer surveys among companies in the Triangle Region to get input on how SDU can best fulfil its ambitions to contribute solutions to specific challenges and skilled IT graduates to the area.
And soon, we’ll also have to start piece together the big practical puzzle: Who will teach what? How many rooms do we have? How big can the classes be? What do we do with study boards, and so on.
What experiences have you been able to draw on?
Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard:
- I recently helped develop a new software engineering programme in Sønderborg, which opened in 2023. We have drawn heavily on experiences from that process and on that model in our work with SDU Vejle, which is also based on close partnerships with the municipality and large companies in the area. An inclusive management style is also crucial to make sure that the researchers and students who come to SDU Vejle will be involved in shaping the new campus. When staff and students are involved in shaping the teaching and study environment, it creates a special drive to succeed with the new ideas.
How will SDU Vejle become a success?
Luís Cruz-Filipe:
- It requires a lot of good energy, and that is already there, for example when the people involved in the SDU Vejle work once again meet at 7.50 in the morning – because we carve out the time to get on with things.
We also need to focus on what the students’ experience of SDU Vejle will be, because that makes it much easier to unite around common goals across the organisation.
Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard:
- We have to keep cultivating relationships in the Triangle Region to make sure that researchers, students and companies are always relevant to each other. So that our students on the Vejle campus will get the realistic study programmes they demand, and so that researchers and industry work closely together to find new solutions for the development of Denmark’s digital future.
For researchers in our field, it is an extra motivation to get a chance to focus on tangible problems that are relevant to businesses and to society.
What will the experience of SDU Vejle be like in 7 years?
Luís Cruz-Filipe:
- I hope we will have succeeded in building a campus with a strong and independent research and learning environment that has developed its own identity and has its own special atmosphere. For example with a study environment where students gather across programmes and spend time on campus – even on days when they don’t have classes.