New three-year LSUL partnership

By Lisbet Foged, foged@imada.sdu.dk, 9/2/2022

LSUL is a collaboration on research, teaching and dissemination in science, technology and mathematics for the benefit of daycare institutions, schools, youth education programmes and higher education programmes. The three institutions have signed a new three-year cooperation agreement – an agreement with which the participating institutions are pleased.

“I’m very pleased that we have succeeded in maintaining and expanding the cooperation between our three institutions in this field, which is so crucial for more of our children and young people becoming interested in the natural sciences – the STEM programmes – and wanting to study and have a career in this field. I think it’s really important that we address this at a very early stage and that we have the opportunity, through research, education and various project activities, to make our contribution to this agenda. I think we do this well in our cooperation and with respect for each other’s contributions, and it’s a pleasure to follow the work. I look forward to our continued LSUL collaboration,” says Jens Mejer Pedersen, Rector of UCL University College.

Rector Alexander von Oettingen, University College South Denmark, is also enthusiastic that the agreement has been extended and singles out the fantastic opportunity that the researchers have to collaborate across the three institutions with their differences in organisational culture, research and teaching practices.

“Especially LSUL’s focus on increasing the youngest children’s interest in and knowledge of nature and technology hold a great potential, as it is the basis for engaging the children as pupils and students,” says Alexander von Oettingen.

The management team

The management team for the LSUL centre consists of:

• Erik Knudsen, Head of Partnership Programme
• Connie Svabo, Head of Centre and Professor at SDU
• Lene Mosegaard Søbjerg, Head of Research, University College South Denmark
• Thomas Illum Hansen, Head of Research, UCL University College

The steering committee members are:

• Alexander von Oettingen, Rector, University College South Denmark
• Lene Mosegaard Søbjerg, Head of Research, University College South Denmark
• Jens Mejer Pedersen, Rector, UCL University College
• Charlotte Worm, Director, UCL University College
• Martin Svensson, Head of Department, Faculty of Science, SDU
• Marianne Holmer, Dean, the Faculty of Science, SDU

A large part of the researchers from the three institutions have just attended a seminar together where many ideas for new projects were presented and translated into a number of headings for the ongoing work. Here it was clear that Jens Mejer Pedersen’s words about a good collaboration with respect for each other’s contributions are not just an expression of politeness, but that this forms an actual basis for the implementation of the project.

Back row from left: Jens Jakob Ellebæk, Claus Auning, Stine Mariegaard, Morten Rask Petersen, Lars Seidelin, Philip Hallenborg 

Middle row from left: Mette L. Als Kristensen, Chunfang Zhou, Jane Morthorts, Eva Lykkegaard Poulsen, Dorte Ruge, Erik Knudsen 

Front row from left: Linda Ahrenkiel, Dorte Moeskær-Larsen, Connie Svabo, Lisbet Foged, Julie Bønnelycke