Technical University of Denmark’s Open House brings guided tours, presentations by graduate engineers, and a sports hall
In the sports hall on DTU’s Lyngby campus, visitors at Open House Thursday 2 March could see, among other things, satellites, electric racing cars, and 1.5-metre-tall wind turbines, or talk to a student or lecturer about DTU’s programmes, courses, and other offers. The event lasted from 12 to 8, and by the end of the day, the number of visitors had reached 2,200.
At the 56 stands, undergraduate and postgraduate students were on hand to guide potential new students and curious parents. The undergrads answered questions that typically come up when you’re thinking of applying to a new study programme: what are the admission requirements and what’s the learning environment like?
The postgrads offered suggestions on what a career as a graduate engineer might look like—for example, do you want to do research at Novo Nordisk or is your dream job being an architectural engineer at COWI? Visitors also had a chance to listen to presentations by graduates and get even more insight into the opportunities for graduate engineers.
Over the course of the day, no fewer than 67 guided tours were given at DTU’s campuses in Lyngby and Ballerup, which house most of DTU’s BEng programmes, as well as one at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, where 40 visitors had the opportunity to see the hospital’s research facilities up close.
For the young and the experienced
18-year-old Victoria Lund Thorndahl, who is in her final year at Øregård high school, attended the Open Day to find out whether applying to DTU is the right choice for her:
“I’m still figuring out what I want to study, but I have a cousin who studies here, and she’s really happy with it, so I’ve already heard a lot of good things about DTU. I like chemistry and maths, and DTU seems to have really cool facilities. It’s also great to experience the atmosphere and the people who study here,” she said.
18-year-old Flora Thorø Munk, who also attends Øregård high school, wanted to spend the day getting a sense of what daily life as a student at DTU is like:
“I’m mainly here to experience the atmosphere and get an impression of what I’m committing to if I decide to apply for one of DTU’s programmes. When I started high school, I quickly became interested in the natural sciences and wanted to carry on studying them, and I think I’d have really good opportunities to do that at DTU.”
It wasn’t just high school students who attended this year’s Open House. For example, 28-year-old Ronnie Schiellerup Christiansen is a former geography student and knew exactly which programme he wanted to hear more about:
“I previously studied for a bachelor degree in geography, but didn’t finish, and last year I realized I wanted to go back to university and use some of the knowledge I gained in my geography studies. I’ve spent almost a year searching DTU’s and the other universities’ programme catalogues and found a BEng programme called Mobility, Transport, and Logistics, which matches my interests really well.”
From south to north
Some of the visitors had travelled a long way to attend the Open House day. 18-year-old Emilie Sønderskov Schultz, a high school student from Næstved, had come up from South Zealand. She sees the event as a chance to learn more about her options after she finishes high school:
“I’m here to learn about my opportunities after I graduate to get a better perspective on my high school years and start planning my future. I’d like to work with sustainability, so it’s been really interesting to learn more about what DTU can offer in that area.”
17-year-old Rose Møgelberg also made the trip to Lyngby, and her plan was to spend the day getting an overview of all the programmes on offer at DTU:
“I’m here to get an overview of all DTU’s programmes, as I still don’t know what I want to do after high school. It’s been exciting to hear about the different programmes, and I think Open Day is a good idea because you get great insight into the programmes and the facilities.”