University of Copenhagen
On the 4th of October 1478 Christian I of Denmark issued a royal decree that officially established the University of Copenhagen. This document set down the rules and laws governing the new institution from its very beginning. The king elected magistar Peder Albertsen as vice chancellor to employ learned scholars for the university. Albertsen's task was to establish the first four faculties: theology, law, medicine and philosophy. The decree granted the university royal patronage and explicit autonomy without royal interference. It also gave the school juridical freedom separate from usual Danish laws.
The original charter lasted only about fifty years before Protestantism spread through Denmark. By 1531 most of the university buildings were heavily damaged during the British bombardment of Copenhagen. The university dissolved around this same year in 1531 due to religious changes. King Christian III re-established the institution in 1537 after the Lutheran Reformation took hold. He charged Johannes Bugenhagen with drawing up a new University Charter upon his arrival from Wittenberg. The resulting Charter was issued in 1539 to guide the reformed school forward.
The university underwent explosive growth between 1960 and 1980 when student numbers rose dramatically. Around 6,000 students attended classes in 1960 while about 26,000 enrolled by 1980. This surge required correspondingly large growth in the number of employees across all departments. Buildings constructed during this period included the new Zoological Museum and the Hans Christian Ørsted Institute. August Krogh Institutes and the campus centre on Amager Island also emerged during these decades. The Panum Institute joined other facilities as part of the massive expansion effort.
By 1999 the student population had grown to exceed 35,000 people requiring additional professors. The total number of enrolled students reached about 36,500 including 21,000 undergraduate students and 15,500 graduate students as of 2024. About 1,700 incoming exchange students arrive each year alongside 2,000 outbound exchange students. International degree-seeking students numbered around 4,000 annually with approximately 3,000 PhD students studying there each year.
The university operates four main campus areas located within the Capital Region of Denmark. Three campuses sit directly in Copenhagen while one occupies Frederiksberg nearby. North Campus houses most of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. City Campus contains the Faculty of Social Sciences and Central Administration plus parts of other faculties. South Campus holds the Faculty of Humanities along with the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Theology. A small proportion of the Faculty of Science also resides at this southern location.
Frederiksberg Campus serves sections of both the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. Additional facilities exist at Taastrup Campus on the western outskirts of Copenhagen for health sciences. The Faculty of Science maintains facilities in Helsingør, Hørsholm and Nødebo beyond the city center. In May 2006 the university announced plans to leave many old buildings in inner Copenhagen after more than 500 years there. The purpose was gathering departments on three larger campuses to create a bigger modern student environment.
A board consisting of 11 members governs the University of Copenhagen today. Six members recruited outside the university form the majority of the board membership. Two members are appointed by scientific staff while one member comes from administrative staff. Two additional members represent university students on the governing body. The rector prorector and director of the university are all appointed by this university board directly.
The rector appoints directors of different central administration parts and deans of various faculties. Deans then appoint heads of fifty departments throughout the institution. No faculty senate exists since faculty is not involved in appointment decisions for rectors or department heads. Hence the university has no faculty governance despite elected Academic Boards advising deans at faculty level. The governing body manages an annual budget of about DKK 8.9 billion as of recent records. Leaders hold extensive powers while being appointed exclusively by higher levels in the organization creating what some describe as absolute monarchy.
The 2021 CWTS Leiden Ranking placed the University of Copenhagen as best in Denmark and Continental Europe. It ranked fourth in Europe after Oxford UCL and Cambridge institutions globally sitting at twenty-seventh position. The 2021 Academic Ranking of World Universities published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University called it best in Scandinavia. This ranking placed seventh in Europe and thirtieth in the world overall. Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2021 listed it first in Denmark and eighty-fourth globally.
QS World University Rankings list from 2021 ranked the school first nationally and seventy-sixth worldwide. U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities Rankings placed it first in Denmark and thirty-fourth globally. In January 2006 the university entered a partnership with ten top universities including Australian National University ETH Zürich and Peking University. This alliance is referred to as the International Alliance of Research Universities or IARU. The institution also hosts the annual Aging Research and Drug Discovery conference alongside Columbia University.
As of October 2022 ten Nobel laureates and one Turing Award laureate have been affiliated with the University of Copenhagen. These individuals served as students alumni or faculty members throughout history. Alumni include one president of the United Nations General Assembly plus at least 24 prime ministers of Denmark. Niels Bohr contributed to development of atomic models and quantum mechanics while earning physics Nobel Prize in 1922. August Krogh received medicine Nobel Prize in 1920 for his physiological discoveries. Jens Christian Skou won chemistry Nobel Prize in 1997 discovering Na+,K+-ATPase mechanisms.
Morten Meldal earned chemistry Nobel Prize in 2022 for inventing Click chemistry methods. Peter Naur received the Turing Award in 2005 for computer science contributions. Hans Christian Ørsted discovered electromagnetism between 1777 and 1851. Ole Rømer made first quantitative measurements of speed of light during his lifetime from 1644 to 1710. Søren Kierkegaard became father of existentialism theology and philosophy from 1813 to 1855. The university also produced figures like Inge Lehmann who discovered Earth's inner core and Agner Krarup Erlang who created telephone networks analysis field.
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Common questions
When was the University of Copenhagen officially established by royal decree?
Christian I of Denmark issued a royal decree that officially established the University of Copenhagen on the 4th of October 1478. This document set down the rules and laws governing the new institution from its very beginning.
Why did the original University of Copenhagen dissolve in 1531?
The university dissolved around 1531 due to religious changes when Protestantism spread through Denmark. Most of the university buildings were heavily damaged during the British bombardment of Copenhagen before King Christian III re-established the institution in 1537.
How many students attended classes at the University of Copenhagen in 1960 compared to 1980?
Around 6,000 students attended classes in 1960 while about 26,000 enrolled by 1980. This surge required correspondingly large growth in the number of employees across all departments.
What is the current student population breakdown for the University of Copenhagen as of 2024?
The total number of enrolled students reached about 36,500 including 21,000 undergraduate students and 15,500 graduate students as of 2024. About 1,700 incoming exchange students arrive each year alongside 2,000 outbound exchange students.
Which Nobel laureates are affiliated with the University of Copenhagen and what did they win prizes for?
As of October 2022 ten Nobel laureates have been affiliated with the University of Copenhagen including Niels Bohr who earned physics Nobel Prize in 1922. August Krogh received medicine Nobel Prize in 1920 for his physiological discoveries and Jens Christian Skou won chemistry Nobel Prize in 1997 discovering Na+,K+-ATPase mechanisms.