The
Technical University of Denmark ( , DTU) was
founded in 1829 as the 'College of Advanced Technology' (Danish:
Den Polytekniske Læreanstalt).
The initiative was
taken by the renowned physicist Hans Christian Ørsted (then a
professor at the University of Copenhagen
) who also served as its principal until his death in
1851. The university is generally understood to be one of
Europe's leading engineering institutions, and the best engineering
university in Scandinavia.
From 1933 the institution was officially known as
Danmarks
Tekniske Højskole (DTH), which usually was translated as the
'Technical University of Denmark'. Finally on
1
April 1994, in connection with the joining
of
Danmarks
Ingeniørakademi (DIA) and DTH, the Danish name was changed
to
Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, in order to include the
word 'University', thus giving rise to the
acronym DTU by which the university is commonly
known today.
DTU is the subject of recent and ongoing controversy (2009) because
the institute director of the Department of Chemistry is a
high-ranking member of
Scientology. In
relation to this, the university is being accused of violating the
principles of free speech by threatening to fire employees who
voice their criticism of the institute director. As of 16th
November, he has announced that he will be leaving DTU at the end
of his current contract (believed to be in 1 years time).
On 1
January 2007 the university was merged with the following Danish
research centers: Forskningscenter Risø
, Danmarks Fødevareforskning, Danmarks
Fiskeriundersøgelser (from 1 January 2008: National Institute for
Aquatic Resources; DTU Aqua), Danmarks Rumcenter, and Danmarks
Transport-Forskning.In November 2007 the
Times Higher Education
Supplement put the university as number 130 in their
ranking of the universities of the world.
The student union at DTU is the 161-year old
Polyteknisk Forening.
Organization and administration
The university is governed by a board consisting of 10 members: 6
members recruited outside the university form the majority of the
board, 1 member is appointed by the scientific staff, 1 member is
appointed by the administrative staff, and 2 members are appointed
by the university students.
The President of DTU is appointed by the university board. The
president in turn appoints deans, and deans appoint heads of
departments.
Since DTU has no faculty senate, and since the faculty is not
involved in the appointment of president, deans, or department
heads, the university has no faculty governance.
Departments
- DTU Aqua,
National Institute for Aquatic Resources
- DTU
Business, DTU Executive School of Business
- DTU Cen, Center
for Electron Nanoscopy
-
DTU Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biochemical
Engineering
- DTU
Chemistry, Department of Chemistry
- DTU Civil
Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering
- DTU Danchip, Danchip
-
DTU Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical
Engineering
- DTU
Environment, Department of Environmental Engineering
- DTU Executive
School of Business
- DTU Food, National
Food Institute
- DTU Fotonik, Department of Photonics
Engineering
-
DTU Informatics, Department of Informatics and Mathematical
Modelling
-
DTU Management Engineering, Department of Management
Engineering
- DTU Mathematics, Department of
Mathematics
-
DTU Mechanical Engineering, Department of Mechanical
Engineering
- DTU Nanotech, Department of Micro-and
Nanotechnology
- DTU Physics,
Department of Physics
- Risø DTU, National Laboratory for
Sustainable Energy
- DTU Space, National Space
Institute
- DTU
Biosys, Department of Systems Biology
- DTU
Library, Technical Information Center of Denmark
- DTU Vet,
National Veterinary Institut
- DTU
Transport, Department of Transport
Research Centers
Campus
The
university is located on a plain known as Lundtoftesletten in the northeastern end of
the city of Lyngby
. The
area was previously home to the airfield
Lundtofte Flyveplads.
The campus is roughly divided in half by the road Anker Engelunds
Vej going in the east-west direction, and, perpendicular to that,
by two lengthy, collinear road located on either side of a
parking lot. The campus is thus divided into
four parts, referred to as quadrants, numbered 1 through 4 in
correspondence with the conventional numbering of quadrants in the
Cartesian coordinate
system with north upwards.
Rankings
In the “engineering” category on the Times Higher Education Top 20
based on impact DTU is ranked:
No. 1 in the Nordic regionNo. 3 in EuropeNo. 20 in the World
On the Leiden Ranking’s 2008 “crown indicator” list of Europe’s 100
largest universities in terms of the number of Web of Science
publications in the period 2000-2007 DTU is ranked :
No. 1 in the Nordic regionNo. 5 in Europe
In the Times Higher Education – QS 2008 DTU is ranked:
No. 6 in the Nordic region (5 in Scandinavia)No. 48 in EuropeNo.
133 in the World
Management and freedom of speech controversy
The head of department at DTU Chemistry, Ole W. Sørensen, has been
the centre of several controversial events: An associate professor
who had negotiated a bonus with the university, was threatened that
the course she was teaching would be cancelled if she accepted the
bonus. After she accepted the bonus, Ole W. Sørensen cancelled the
course. A journalist covering the case reported that employees
preferred to speak anonymously and without use of the university
email system, but that only one employee, Rolf W. Berg, went on
record by name, blaming the problems on the absence of a faculty
role in the governance of DTU.
Shortly thereafter, the university management threatened Rolf W.
Berg with dismissal for publicly criticizing the university.
Notable alumni and professors
See also
References
External links
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