Inside Frederiksberg Campus: The greenest, quirkiest place at UCPH

Welcome to the University of Copenhagen (UCPH)’s greenest — and perhaps most beautiful — campus (though there’s a fair amount of concrete too, because nothing can be that perfect).

The historical centre is the old Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University south of Thorvaldsensvej in Frederiksberg, including the main building from 1858 with its beautiful octagonal ceremonial auditorium (which exploded in 2000, but that’s another story). This is where the veterinary students are based.

In the middle of the campus, between Thorvaldsensvej and Rolighedsvej, is the Højhuset or Tower Block — a concrete slab with various  1990s architectural add-ons — some of them hits, some misses — all linked together by one endless corridor. Behind its gloomy exterior are excellent laboratories and outstanding research in fields like food science, nutrition, and biotechnology. The plant science researchers recently moved into a flashy new extension — this is in case you were wondering which research areas were currently attracting funding.

North of Rolighedsvej, nature is making a comeback. This is where you’ll find the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resources, nestled in the greenery and greenhouses.

The vibe: Frederiksberg Campus has its own open, unpretentious atmosphere — which might have something to do with the hands-on, ‘farm-to-fork’, disciplines and the kinds of people they attract. Oh, and it might have something to do with the site’s 150-year history as an independent institution, before a 2011 merger split it up and placed some parts under the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, while others were merged with the Faculty of Science. This set off University of Copenhagen bureaucracy at its most absurd and amusing ( — read this article).

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Student counselling: Students at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences can find student counselling services at Thorvaldsensvej 40. For students at the Faculty of Science, it’s at the other end of campus, at Dyrlægevej 10.

Reading rooms: The library on Dyrlægevej (University of Copenhagen Library Frederiksberg) is great, though it tends to fill up during exam periods. Fortunately, it’s not *that* far to the KUB North reading room on North Campus, where there are more seats — and designer chairs.

Canteens: There are two. Gumle is located in the Tower Block, and Gimle is in an old building on Dyrlægevej where Louis Pio, the founder of the International Workers’ Association in Denmark in 1871 — which later became the Social Democrat Party — once gave a rousing speech. Gumle offers a notably larger buffet than Gimle. If gourmet greens and cortados are more your thing, head over to the café Hav a Java Væksthuset in the Agricultural University’s Garden — students get 25 per cent off.

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Food-related bonus fact: Students and researchers from the Food and Nutrition programme sometimes hand out free samples in the central corridor. You might have to fill in a questionnaire first, but then you’ll get to try five different plant-based dishes.

Coffee: The best cup of coffee at the university is at Café Væksthuset in the Agricultural University’s Garden. It’s not free. The coffee at Føtex Food on Rolighedsvej is though — you can enjoy a nice steaming cup while ‘doing your shopping’. Otherwise, there’s self-serve coffee around campus with a trust-based MobilePay system: Filter coffee costs ten kroner with your own cup, twelve without. At the end of the month, you can also bring your own instant coffee and use the kitchenette by the main entrance on Thorvaldsensvej — or stop by the student café A-vej, which is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 7 pm.

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Friday bar: Frederiksberg Campus has only one Friday bar: A-vej (short for Acaciavej, which… actually, no — A-vej is off Dyrlægevej, and Acaciavej is just a street nearby. If you weren’t confused before, you probably are now). But the bar is legendary. In beautiful surroundings adorned with historical murals by Danish cartoonist Storm P, cheap craft beers are served in such quantities that A-vej is one of the brewer Carlsberg’s biggest customers — and has even had its own beer glass printed by the brewery. Don’t miss Happy Hour from 6 to 7 pm, when all draught beers (yes, even the fancy ones) are just 20 kroner. Different student associations take turns running the bar, and rumour has it the Crop Science group brings merch when it’s their turn. The Forest and Landscape College in Nødebo north of Copenhagen has its own Friday bar, Flækken, in a log cabin in the middle of the forest.

Dress code: Casual, practical — reflecting the reality that people are either heading out into the field or into the lab. As one student wrote on Facebook: »Don’t overdress for your first Friday bar. You’ll feel out of place.«

Tucked-away spaces: If you can weave your way through the crowd of mums on maternity leave and their adorable offspring, there are plenty of peaceful corners to be found in the Agricultural University’s Garden. Speaking of tucked-away spaces, in the attic of Bülowsvej 17 there is a stunning collection of animal skeletons and old agricultural tools.

Pro tip: The former rector Henrik C. Wegener (2017–2025) is a graduate of the old agricultural school. In 2025, a memorial in his honour will be unveiled in the Agricultural University’s Garden. The University Post noted at the time that there may not exactly be a shortage of bronze statues of men in public spaces, but keep an eye out — and judge for yourself.

Smoking: There’s a bizarre and artistically designed smoking booth outside Rolighedsvej 23. We tried to find out how much it cost, but never got an answer.

Off-site facilities: Frederiksberg Campus stretches across a vast area — from the west Copenhagen suburb of Taastrup, where vet students get hands-on experience at the University Teaching Hospital for Large Animals, to the Forest and Landscape College in Nødebo, which boasts a gourmet canteen (and the largest collection of chainsaws) at the University of Copenhagen.

Student life: It’s the student-run clubs that really drive the social scene on Frederiksberg Campus — across all programmes and disciplines. Consider joining AVF (‘Acaciavej Our Association’, which runs the Friday bar), the Hunting Association, Smediefesten, Smedierevyen, the LIFE choir, Southern Jutland Roots Network, or one of the many other groups (you can find a full overview of student-run clubs at UCPH here).

Online: Join the Frederiksberg Campus Facebook group and you’re good to go.

Something to look forward to: Smediefesten — a two-day banger of a festival each spring, hosted by Frederiksberg Campus, features concerts, draught beer, and grilled food. Tickets cost a bit, but you get log-sawing competitions and gigs from big-name artists, most recently Danish star performers like Sivas, Barselona, and Branco.

This first version of this article was written in Danish and published in 2018. It has been continually updated, with the latest Danish update on 14 August 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.