The University of Southern Denmark (Danish: Syddansk Universitet, literally South Danish University, abbr. SDU) is a university in Denmark that has campuses located in Southern Denmark and on Zealand.

The university offers a number of joint programmes in co-operation with the University of Flensburg and the University of Kiel. Contacts with regional industries and the international scientific community are strong.

With its 29,674 enrolled students (as of 2016), the university is both the third-largest and, given its roots in Odense University, the third-oldest Danish university (fourth if one includes the Technical University of Denmark).

Since the introduction of the ranking systems in 2012, the University of Southern Denmark has consistently been ranked as one of the top 50 young universities in the world by both the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of the Top 100 Universities Under 50 and the QS World University Rankings of the Top 50 Universities Under 50

As a national institution the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) comprises five faculties – Humanities, Science, Engineering, Social Sciences and Health Sciences totaling 32 departments, 11 research centers and a university library. University Library of Southern Denmark is also a part of the university.

Research activities and student education make up the core activities of the university. The University of Southern Denmark also has widespread cooperation with business and industry in the region and considerable activities within continuing education. The university offers a number of degrees taught in English; examples include European Studies and American Studies.

The faculty of all six campuses comprises approximately 1,200 researchers in Odense, Kolding, Esbjerg, Sønderborg, Slagelse and Copenhagen; approximately 18,000 students are enrolled. The University of Southern Denmark offers programmes in five different faculties – Humanities, Science, Engineering, Social Sciences, and Health Sciences. It incorporates approximately 35 institutes, 30 research centres, and a well-equipped university library.

The university offers a wide range of traditional disciplines as well as a broad selection of business and engineering studies. In recent years the number of options available has been considerably expanded. Examples include the introduction of a very successful Journalism programme in Odense, Information Science in Kolding, and a Mechatronics Engineering programme in Sønderborg. The educational environments on the Jutland campuses have also been strengthened through the creation of new programmes such as a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Cultural Analysis, a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with Sports Management, a bachelor’s in Public Health Science in Esbjerg, Danish and English Language Studies in Kolding, and a variety of engineering programmes and European Studies in Sønderborg. Moreover, the University of Southern Denmark is the only university in Scandinavia that offers a degree programme in chiropractic studies (Clinical Biomechanics).

The university focuses on areas such as communication, information technology, and biotechnology. Other areas of research are pursued through a number of national research centres at the university. Examples include The Hans Christian Andersen Center, the Centre for Sound Communication, and the Danish Biotechnology Instrument Centre. Odense in particular focuses on research within the field of geriatrics.

Co-operation with the business community has resulted in three substantial donations from some of the giants in Danish industry: Odense is the home of the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute for Production Technology, where robot technology is one of the many research areas. The Mads Clausen Institute in Sønderborg is engaged in the design and development of software for integration in the intelligent products of the future. Thanks to funding from Kompan and Lego, a research environment for the investigation of child behaviour and development has also been established.

The university is also hosting the Danish Institute for Advanced Study (DIAS), which brings outstanding researchers together in an interdisciplinary centre for fundamental research and intellectual inquiry. The Danish IAS exists to encourage and support curiosity-driven research in the sciences and humanities, and thereby unlock new revolutionary ideas

University Of Southern Denmark Acceptance Rate

#405 of 14,160	In the World
#163 of 2,789	In Europe
#5 of 27	In Denmark
#1 of 3	In Odense
#63 of 1,006	For Sports / Exercise science
Top50%	For 160 other topics

Quick Review

Enrollment12,500TypeNon-profitFundingPublic-private
partnershipHighest DegreeDoctorateWebsitewww.sdu.dkLanguagesDanish;EnglishAcceptance rate10%*

* The University of Southern Denmark is among the institutions that don’t provide data on acceptance rates. This might happen because a university has programs where an applicant only needs to meet admission requirements to enroll and doesn’t necessarily competes with others.

Acceptance rate & Admissions

Admissions Requirements	Secondary school certificate (studentereksamen) or Højere-Forberedelseseksamen or Handelseksamen, or recognized foreign equivalent
Academic Calendar	September to June (September – January; February-June)
Enrollment	12,500

Publications & Citations

Publications 39,742Citations 1,343,013

University of Southern Denmark majors

by publication & citation count

Medicine	15,746 / 549,237
Liberal Arts & Social Sciences	7,533 / 259,440
Biology	7,337 / 453,483
Chemistry	3,644 / 184,204
Engineering	3,520 / 88,757
Psychology	3,478 / 96,528
Demography	3,422 / 168,805
Computer Science	3,210 / 126,133
Physics	3,074 / 89,402
Business	2,940 / 98,310
Physical Therapy	2,442 / 86,141
Environmental Science	2,015 / 96,551
Oncology and Cancer research	1,447 / 51,115