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Roskilde University | The Departments | Practical Information | General Introduction to ECTS |
Today, Roskilde is a centre for research and education. Besides the university the city can boast the Atomic Energy Research Centre nearby at Risø. Its modern cultural significance is boosted enormously by the annual rock and folk music festival. And its economic vitality is maintained by a varied and substantial industrial sector.
The University is situated a few kilometres from the centre of the city of Roskilde and about 30 km west of Copenhagen - the capital of Denmark and - with app. 1.4 million inhabitants in the Greater Copenhagen Area, by far Denmark's largest city. Formerly a prominent industrial town, Copenhagen today is mainly an administrative and commercial centre.
Besides being the seat of government and residence of the Royal Family, Copenhagen offers the visitor a wide variety of cultural activities, ranging from the National Museum and the Royal Theatre through cosy inner-city cafés to remnants of hippie-culture in the "Free Town" of Christiania. The city's night-life is lively and in summer there are many outdoor musical events, including an early-summer carnival. In 1996 Copenhagen will be the European City of Culture.
Architecturally, Roskilde University consists of a large number of relatively small buildings, grouped around a central axis reserved for pedestrians.
The campus is pleasantly situated in rural surroundings, it is easily accessible from both Copenhagen and Roskilde by way of regular train and bus services.
Architecturally, Roskilde University consists of a large number of relatively small buildings, grouped around a central axis reserved for pedestrians. Map of the university.
The individual buildings are divided into smaller units, commonly referred to as "houses". Each student is attached to a house according to their subject and their year. In a house you can expect to find 70-100 students, 5-6 teachers, and an administrative secretary, all working together in a uniquely intimate environment. Each house consists of a series of group work rooms, offices for staff, a lecture room, a kitchen and a common room.
Apart from the house facilities, there are a number of larger lecture halls and meeting rooms, a canteen, a printing works, libraries and administration offices.
The total number of students at Roskilde University is about 5000, and the
staff numbers about 600 (including scholars, administrators, laboratory
workers, assistants, and secretaries). The size and "house" structure of
Roskilde University make it easy to familiarise oneself with the institution,
and one finds a close and relaxed relationship between students and staff. In
addition, it is common to establish contacts across departments and faculties.
A system of staff circulation - exchanging staff between the interdisciplinary
basic education programmes and the specific departments of advanced studies -
enhances mobility and facilitates the exchange of interdisciplinary knowledge.
4.3.
The modern pedagogical principles at Roskilde University
At Roskilde University we employ less traditional teaching techniques.
Self motivation is a major focus of our programmes. This is achieved by giving the students strong influence on their own study and learning processes. The special study form at Roskilde University will in many ways facilitate the integration of a foreign student into every-day life of the university.
ECTS-students will feel, we believe, more empowered by the RUC philosophy than at other more traditional institutions. This is because they will be able to decide for themselves and in common with small groups of other students what is relevant. They will have a closer relationship with the teaching staff than what they are use to, and therefore come to benefit more, perhaps, from the experience than elsewhere. A typical problem for many foreign-exchange students is their relative anonymity in a large student population. Here things are different.
The University was founded in 1972 as an experimental university, that is to experiment with a more flexible educational structure which was more occupationally oriented. The aim behind the design of the education program has been to give students a more general and modern education, which is based on the development of occupationally-useful skills and methods.
Thus the study structure and the forms of teaching at Roskilde University differ substantially from those of traditional universities. The characteristic features are interdisciplinarity, problem-oriented and project-organised group-work. Contrary to traditional university programs, courses and seminars play more of a secondary and supporting role to project work. The students are expected to show their understanding of fundamental knowledge, through project work. Thus most programs will give project work a superior rank in the overall evaluation of a student's performance during a semester.
Project work is all about solving real problems, and it is the ways in which the students choose to solve these problems that determines the project's nature and development. Often the project is not within just one of the classic subject disciplines; they are interdisciplinary. This is because problems in the real world are often complex and difficult to restrict to only one academic discipline.
The group learns by reading, discussion, contact with relevant people, institutions or firms, tutorials, seminars etc. In general the group itself can greatly influence the way these elements are joined together.
At the end of the semester the group hands in the results of their work in form of a project report, which is then evaluated.
In addition to the project work the students attend courses and seminars. There are several kinds of courses, compulsory and optional. There are courses which relate to the issues dealt with in the group project, and others that ensure that the students develop a broad general knowledge. The way the courses are arranged varies from subject to subject. However, the traditional "lecture" is rare.
Because of the focus on interdisciplinary, problem-oriented and
project-organised group-work, research and teaching at Roskilde University are
not limited by stiff subject boundaries or by conventional thinking. On the
contrary, openness, flexibility, innovative thinking and dynamism are terms
that best describe the research and teaching activities at the university.
4.5.
Departments
The University is organised in 8 departments:
1. The Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry
2. The Department of Mathematics and Physics.
3. The Department of Geography and International Development Studies.
4. The Department of Environment, Technology and Social Studies.
5. The Department of History and Social Theory
6. The Department of Language and Culture.
7. The Department of Education, Communication and Computer Science.
8. The Department of Social Sciences.
4.6.
Degree Structure
The degree structure at Roskilde University is designed to last 3, 5 or 8
years.
The first two years consist of a basic education or Basic Studies programme in one of the following disciplines: the humanities, the natural sciences, or the social sciences.
The principle behind the Basic Studies Programme is to provide all students with an interdisciplinary introduction to each of these three broad fields. The students receive both a theoretical and methodological grounding in the major disciplines of the particular field, they develop their communication skills; written and oral, and they are trained to plan and undertake major written reports. These activities are a preparation not just for further study, but also for jobs that require independence, maturity and the ability to work with others.
Studies after the two-year Basic Studies programme are specialised and modularised to enable students to combine 2 subjects for their master's qualification.
The students can receive a bachelor degree (B.A. or B.Sc.) by taking 2 modules (a module being defined as the workload of an average student during one semester) from one of the available subjects; thus the a bachelor degree lasts 3 years, including the 2 years of basic education.
The master's qualifications (cand.mag) (M.A.), cand.scient. (M.Sc.), cand.comm. (M.A Communication) and cand.scient.soc. (M.Sc. (Soc.)) require the completion of 6 modules, consisting of 3 modules from 2 subjects, e.g. Biology and Geography. Thus the master's degree lasts 5 years, 3 years over and above the 2-year Basic Studies programme. An optional job module may then follow.
Essentially, students are free to combine any 2 subjects offered at Roskilde University, but certain combinations are not accepted due to the similarity of content.
Postgraduate studies are available in the form of 3-year Ph.D. programs. Under most circumstances students are only admitted to these programs if they have obtained a master's qualification in a relevant field.
If the home institution offers language courses in Danish, it is expected that applicants have followed them and thereby acquired a sound knowledge of written and spoken Danish. In case Danish language courses are not readily available at the home institution, an applicant will still be accepted provided he/she attends an intensive language course in Danish, offered at Roskilde University during August and January before entry. The course must be paid for by the home institution.
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Roskilde University | The Departments | Practical Information | General Introduction to ECTS |