The ITUniversity of Copenhagen, often abbreviated and referred to as ITU, is a public university and research institution in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. It is specialized in the cross-disciplinary study of information technology. The IT University of Copenhagen was established in 1999, which makes it Denmark's youngest university. At that time, it was—in Danish—called "IT-højskolen". In 2003, when a new Danish university law was passed, the IT University was officially appointed a university, and changed its name accordingly. In 2004, the university moved to its own new building in Ørestad, a newly developed area in Copenhagen on the island of Amager. The new building was designed by Danish architect Henning Larsen. The university is located right between the University of Copenhagen's new South Campus and the headquarters of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, and close to the DR Byen metro station. In 2020, the university will extend its campus, taking over facilities in the neighboring DR complex. The university originally only accepted students with a Bachelor's degree to its offered Master programs, but started its first Bachelor of Science program in Software Development in August 2007. As of 2018, the IT University offers four Bachelor programs, five Master study programs, Professional Master's study programs, a Diploma program, and approximately 100 single subjects each semester. The IT University takes a cross-disciplinary approach to the study of information technology, drawing from a variety of academic perspectives, such as natural sciences, software engineering, Science and Technology Studies, CSCW, information systems, computer games studies, and the social, economical, cultural, and aesthetic aspects of IT. There are approximately 40 members of the scientific staff, 50 Ph.D. students and more than 2,000 students. The student population is 34% female and 18% international.
Administration and Organisation
The IT University is governed by a boardconsisting of 9 members: 5 members recruited from outside of 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 Vice Chancellor is appointed by the university board. The Vice Chancellor in turn appoints deans and deans appoint heads of departments. There is no faculty senate and faculty is not involved in the appointment of Vice Chancellor, deans, or department heads. Hence, the university has no faculty governance.
Research
The stated objective of the university's research is to strengthen Denmark's ability to create value with IT. The research aims to provide new insight that could be the foundation for new types of interaction, new breakthroughs in digital culture, better resource optimization, technological innovation and much more. An important part of the research conducted at the university is the PhD program. Each year, the IT University enrolls PhD students from all over the world. The university's research practice is primarily structured through its research groups:
