New Founding Member: Aalborg University

Aalborg University New Founding Member of ScanBalt

Aalborg University (AAU) was inaugurated in 1974 and is thus a young and modern university which, over the years, has grown to become a large, well-established research and teaching institution in Denmark offering quite an untraditional range of educational programmes and research in the fields of Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Engineering. Additionally, new opportunities for cooperation between the various academic fields, both in research and teaching, are continuously developed. In this way Aalborg University differentiates itself from the older and more traditional Danish universities with its focus on interdisciplinary, inter-faculty studies; an experimental curriculum based on an interdisciplinary basic course with subsequent specialization; a pedagogical structure based on problem-centred, real-life projects of educational and research relevance – which internationally has become known and recognized as ‘The Aalborg Experiment’ or ‘The Aalborg Model’. Furthermore, Aalborg University also greatly emphasizes international relations and cooperation.

Aalborg University is a dynamic institution, which continuously works at being at the cutting edge – regionally, nationally and internationally – in the original range of fields as well as in new like e.g. the fields of information technology and the health sciences. By doing so, Northern Jutland has e.g. become the Danish centre of telecommunications. In order to meet the demands and needs of the surrounding community for continuing education, Aalborg University additionally has started to develop its programmes within the area of life-long learning.

Internationalization has always been and continues to be a very important part of the university’s trademark, which both the curricula as well as the number of international stays reflect. An increasing number of Danish students participate in international stays and studies as an integral part of their education and likewise, an increasing number of international students and researchers come to Aalborg University to study and conduct research every year. AAU continuously works at expanding and improving its cooperation with other universities and international research institutions and already has a large network at different levels. The university is e.g. a member ofThe European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU), which consists of 10 innovative European universities whose purposes are the exchange of experience and the development of new projects within education, research and regional development.

www.en.aau.dk