University of Southern Denmark / Odense

The University of Southern Denmark, with multiple campuses, is a research and educational institution with deep regional roots and an international outlook. There are approximately 1,100 researchers and 16,000 students. The University of Southern Denmark offers comprehensive programmes in five different faculties - Humanities, Science, Engineering, Social Sciences, and Health Sciences. It incorporates 33 institutes, 30 research centres, and a well-equipped university library. It offers upper secondary teacher education with study programs in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and computer science. In the recent years, the University has fostered a new and expanding research environment in the field of mathematics and science education. A large number of Ph.D. students in the field are being trained at the Graduate School in Upper Secondary Education. A new initiative is the founding of the Centre of Science and Mathematics Education. The centre cooperates with science centres, schools, teacher training institutions and the scientific community in Funen, Southern Jutland, and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. The University is involved in a number European Commission projects with focus on scientific literacy in science education: IFUN – Interest and interdisciplinary teaching in science and mathematics; an Interreg III project aiming at identifying upper secondary school students interests in interdisciplinary themes in science; Lab to school, an Interreg III a project aiming at developing a concept for the relations between learning in school and out-of-school activities in research laboratories - biotechnology and biophysics (2006-08). Science teachers of the future. Resources (human/material) are: 9 researchers (professors, post.docs, Ph.D. students, research assistants) in science and mathematics education at the Centre of Science and Mathematics Education. ScienceLab in the Faculty of Science offers out-of-school activities for students from secondary education with the aim of presenting modern science research for youngsters.