Fact Sheet about the Danish University Centre in Beijing
The Danish University Centre in Beijing is to create greater visibility for Danish research and education in China.
Purpose
The Danish University Centre in Beijing is to:
- Create greater visibility for Danish research and education in China
- Intensify Danish-Chinese collaboration in the field of research
- Improve the facilities for Danish students who wish to study in China
- Increase the recruitment of talented Chinese researchers and students to Denmark
Activities
The University Centre will provide a framework for research activities and master's/PhD programmes within prioritised specialist fields. Also to be established are trainee relations etc. to Danish enterprises, both in China and Denmark.
The Centre will be established over a period from 2009 to 2013. By 2013, the Centre is planned to be dimensioned for 100 researchers, 75 PhD students and 300 master's degree students, about one-half being from Denmark.
Physical framework of the Centre
A distinctive building will be constructed for the University Centre in Beijing, with a lecture hall, classrooms and office facilities. The University Centre will be located in a new campus at Yanqihu, about 60 km north of Tiananmen Square and 30 minutes' drive from Beijing's airport.
Participating Danish universities
All eight Danish universities will contribute to the University Centre in Beijing: Copenhagen Business School, the Technical University of Denmark, the IT University of Copenhagen, the University of Copenhagen, Roskilde University, the University of Southern Denmark, Aalborg University, and the University of Aarhus.
Chinese partner university (GUCAS)
The Danish University Centre will be run in collaboration with the Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, whose main location is in Beijing. The University serves as a pivotal point for the 116 government research institutes under the Chinese Academy of Sciences which are spread over 20 provinces. As a result, Danish researchers at the Centre will have access to a large network of research institutions all over China.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences is already the largest collaborative partner in China for Danish researchers. During the period 2001-2005, the government research institutes under the Academy contributed to more than 13 per cent of all Danish-Chinese joint scientific publications.
Specialist fields
The Centre is expected to focus on the following specialist fields:
- Biotechnology, health and biomedicine
- Nanoscience and nanotechnology
- Renewable energy, climatic and environmental issues
- Information and communication technology
- Agricultural and food technology
- Management studies, social research and learning
- Design and architecture
Research and education in China
Since 1999, China's expenditure on research and development (R&D) has grown by more than 20 per cent annually, and in 2006 China reached its position as the country in the world with the largest investment in R&D, second only to the United States.
In 1997, 3.2 million students had enrolled at
universities in China. Today this number has grown to about 16 million,
which is nearly as many university students as the 27 EU countries
taken together (about 18 million).
