New internationals: From airport to auditorium

Carlsberg, Mærsk, Søren Kirkegaard and H.C. Andersen were some of the quintessentially Danish concepts presented to around 150 expectant and slightly nervous new international students from all over the world.

They had fought the cold and, in some cases, dragged enormous suitcases straight from the airport to the Faculty of Social Sciences so they could attend the International Office’s orientation meeting.

Social sciences score in rankings

The high quality of Political Sciences and Economics graduate courses at the University of Copenhagen are acknowledged in newly published European rankings, compiled by the German consulting group CHE Consult GmbH.

CHE Consult GmbH is a consulting company for higher education institutions, science institutes, ministries and foundations.

CHE conducts a yearly ’excellence ranking’ of Masters and Doctoral degree courses at European Universities. In its initial phase, the ranking included only the fields of biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics.

Copenhagen not good for the disabled

The University of Copenhagen (U of C) is tough on students with a disability. This is according to a report by the National Union of Students in Denmark (DSF). The U of C is relatively tougher on disabled students than both the University of Southern Denmark in Odense and Aarhus University, the report shows.

The sociologists and political scientists at the Faculty of Social Sciences have some of the most beautiful surroundings at the U of C.

Student outrage over canteen monopoly

Is it fair that student-run cafés with cheap coffee have to close because the canteen at the same place claims to have a monopoly on coffee sales?

That is the issue at stake at the Center for Health and Society (CSS) where Simply Cooking, the company which owns the canteen, has complained over the students’ cafés.

Rector welcomes international students

The traditional Matriculation Ceremony at Ceremonial Hall Thursday drew crowds of new international students. They listened attentively to speech made in English by Rector Ralf Hemmingsen.

In his speech, the Little Mermaid took centre stage. Since she has been sent to Shanghai to be part of the 2010 EXPO, Hemmingsen compared the tiny world-famous statue to the newly-arrived international students.

»Perhaps you have something in common with the Little Mermaid: you will recognise the feeling of being in between two cultures,« he said.

Participation is expected

New internationals angered by housing chaos

Plenty of students attended the second international orientation meeting of the semester at the Faculty of Humanities on Wednesday 1st of September.

The auditorium was full up, and an unfortunate handful of students were forced to perch on the steps for the two hour marathon info-session.

But for some homeless international students, information on moose-safaris in Sweden and courses on the Danish Welfare Model was not high on their list of priorities.

See our previous covers of last years housing issues here:

Lord Mayor supports new giant campus project

The huge Copenhagen Campus plans are both feasible and worthwhile. This could be the conclusion of the symposium held by the private think-tank behind the study, ThinkTankTalents, Friday, 27 August.

Diverse authorities gave their support to the project at the event, which was held at the old Carlsberg Brewery site in Valby.

»We will do our best at the City Hall to support the work of ThinkTankTalents«, promised Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen.

Making the plan come alive