{"id":189087,"date":"2026-03-19T06:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T05:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/efter-kovending-glaeder-prodekan-for-science-sig-til-nye-kandidatuddannelser-det-bliver-en-banger\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T09:36:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T08:36:53","slug":"faculty-of-science-rethink-specialised-one-year-masters-degrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/faculty-of-science-rethink-specialised-one-year-masters-degrees\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty of Science rethink: Specialised one-year master\u2019s degrees"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Danish reform of master’s degrees into actual study programmes at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) is now one step closer to becoming a reality.<\/p>\n

When the University Post spoke to UCPH Prorector for Education Kristian Lauta in January, individual faculties had yet to submit their own proposals to management.<\/p>\n

Now the proposals have arrived. At the Faculty of Science, the process has led to an about-turn.<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe have completely changed strategy on this,\u00ab says the Faculty of Science\u2019s associate dean for education Andreas de Neergaard.<\/p>\n

\n

The master\u2019s reform<\/p>\n

By 2032, 10 per cent of master\u2019s students must be admitted to a reduced 75-ECTS master\u2019s programme and 20 per cent to an industry master\u2019s programme. This was agreed in June 2023 between the government, the Socialist People’s Party, the Denmark Democrats, the Liberal Alliance, and the Conservatives, and is to be phased in from 2028.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00bbNarrower, but deeper\u00ab<\/h3>\n

In the original 2025 plan they proposed a partial restructuring of subjects like mathematics and physics, so they were reduced from 120 to 75-ECTS master\u2019s programmes. Students on the programmes would then only be guaranteed a one-year master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n

This idea has now been dropped in favour of a series of new specialised one-year master\u2019s programmes that are aimed more directly at the labour market.<\/p>\n

The Faculty of Science had originally wanted students to choose between a one-year and two-year master\u2019s degree after spending half a year on the programme, and had suggested to a government-advisory master\u2019s committee that it should incorporate this idea into its report, which was completed in November 2024.<\/p>\n

But the idea did not make it into the final recommendations. So the faculty had to quickly draft a new proposal.<\/p>\n

There are certain logics that exist at the university, and then there are other logics that exist out in business. And they are not the same<\/p>\n

Andreas de Neergaard, Associate Dean for Education at the Faculty of Science<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Faculty management asked heads of studies at the faculty to draw up shortened versions of their traditional 120-ECTS master\u2019s programmes.<\/p>\n

The heads of studies at the Faculty of Science, however, countered by keeping the traditional subjects in the 120-ECTS format and instead proposed making a series of reduced sector-specialised 75-ECTS master\u2019s degrees.<\/p>\n

The faculty has therefore now proposed something called applied analytical chemistry<\/em> rather than a shortened version of chemistry, and bio data science<\/em> as well as biotechnology<\/em> rather than a shorter biology master\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The idea of offering both short and long master\u2019s degrees in the exact same subject has been abandoned.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe 75-ECTS programme will be a narrower, but also a deeper, course of study,\u00ab says Andreas de Neergaard.<\/p>\n

\n

New 75-ECTS master\u2019s programmes at the Faculty of Science<\/p>\n

Data stewardship
\nApplied analytical chemistry
\nBio data science
\nBiotechnology
\nComputer science-economics
\nGeoinformatics
\nNature management
\nMachine learning and artificial intelligence<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00bbI\u2019ve been saying this for two years now: These 75-ECTS master\u2019s programmes are going to be a ‘banger’. When people can see that graduates from 75-ECTS programmes are just as capable as those from 120-ECTS ones, I think we\u2019ll see a big shift towards the 75-ECTS master\u2019s programmes.\u00ab<\/p>\n

What happens if the new one-year master\u2019s programmes are so popular that there is intense competition for places?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00bbThe 10 per cent of study places on 75-ECTS master\u2019s programmes is a minimum, so we are allowed to expand admissions,\u00ab says Andreas de Neergaard.<\/p>\n

A frequently raised concern in the debate over shortened Danish master\u2019s degree programmes is that students will be forced to specialise early in their studies. If you go straight from upper secondary school to university, you may already have to channel yourself into a narrowly defined field by the age of 21.<\/p>\n

Andreas de Neergaard does not see this as a problem.<\/p>\n

\u00bbYou don\u2019t know what you want to do for the rest of your life if you take a five-year degree either. And I think the 75-ECTS programme is a good value proposition, because you can return to the university later and take supplementary ECTS credits. Besides, there are many fields where you encounter a labour market reality that is different from what you expected.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Dependent on business and industry<\/h3>\n

Another part of the reform is the business master\u2019s programmes, where students combine master\u2019s studies with a part-time job in a private sector company.<\/p>\n

Unlike the one-year master\u2019s degrees, which take place on campus, this model is entirely dependent on companies\u2019 actually wanting to employ the students.<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe are completely dependent on business and industry,\u00ab explains Andreas de Neergaard.<\/p>\n

Politicians cannot force companies to hire students, and in practice the reform therefore depends on companies choosing to set up part-time positions.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt requires that these 25-hour a week positions are set up, which students can then be employed in. And of course they hire the people they want to hire,\u00ab says Andreas de Neergaard.<\/p>\n

To make the scheme work, the university has therefore launched extensive efforts to approach companies and industry organisations, and is currently working \u00bbflat out\u00ab to prepare business and industry to take in the many students in the future.<\/p>\n

The Faculty of Science has already held meetings with banking lobby Finance Denmark, the life science industry, and consultancies in an attempt to build a network of employers who are able to offer part-time positions to students.<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe\u2019re trying to put the right mechanisms in place so that we support this,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n

At the same time, de Neergaard acknowledges that it is a complex task to make the logics of the university and the logic of companies fit together.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThere are certain logics that exist at the university, and then there are other logics that exist out in business. And they are not the same,\u00ab says Andreas de Neergaard. But he stresses that he remains optimistic on behalf of the students.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Faculty drops idea of short versions of traditional subjects and launches a series of new, more specialised degrees. At the same time, it is working \u00bbflat out\u00ab to get companies to take on students for business master\u2019s degrees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":184383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-189087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nFaculty of Science rethink: Specialised one-year master\u2019s degrees \u2014 University Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/faculty-of-science-rethink-specialised-one-year-masters-degrees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faculty of Science rethink: Specialised one-year master\u2019s degrees \u2014 University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Faculty drops idea of short versions of traditional subjects and launches a series of new, more specialised degrees. 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are completely dependent on business and industry,\u00ab says Andreas de Neergaard about the new industry master\u2019s programmes, which will admit their first cohort of students in 2028."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Master's degree reform","text":"Fakultetet dropper korte versioner af klassiske fag og lancerer nye specialiserede kandidater. Samtidig arbejder man \u00bbbenh\u00e5rdt\u00ab p\u00e5 at f\u00e5 virksomheder til at tage imod erhvervskandidater","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>The Danish reform of master’s degrees into actual study programmes at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) is now one step closer to becoming a reality.<\/p>\n<p>When the University Post spoke to UCPH Prorector for Education Kristian Lauta in January, individual faculties had yet to submit their own proposals to management.<\/p>\n<p>Now the proposals have arrived. At the Faculty of Science, the process has led to an about-turn.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe have completely changed strategy on this,\u00ab says the Faculty of Science\u2019s associate dean for education Andreas de Neergaard.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">The master\u2019s reform<\/p>\n<p>By 2032, 10 per cent of master\u2019s students must be admitted to a reduced 75-ECTS master\u2019s programme and 20 per cent to an industry master\u2019s programme. This was agreed in June 2023 between the government, the Socialist People’s Party, the Denmark Democrats, the Liberal Alliance, and the Conservatives, and is to be phased in from 2028.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>\u00bbNarrower, but deeper\u00ab<\/h3>\n<p>In the original 2025 plan they proposed a partial restructuring of subjects like mathematics and physics, so they were reduced from 120 to 75-ECTS master\u2019s programmes. Students on the programmes would then only be guaranteed a one-year master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n<p>This idea has now been dropped in favour of a series of new specialised one-year master\u2019s programmes that are aimed more directly at the labour market.<\/p>\n<p>The Faculty of Science had originally wanted students to choose between a one-year and two-year master\u2019s degree after spending half a year on the programme, and had suggested to a government-advisory master\u2019s committee that it should incorporate this idea into its report, which was completed in November 2024.<\/p>\n<p>But the idea did not make it into the final recommendations. So the faculty had to quickly draft a new proposal.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>There are certain logics that exist at the university, and then there are other logics that exist out in business. And they are not the same<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Andreas de Neergaard, Associate Dean for Education at the Faculty of Science<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Faculty management asked heads of studies at the faculty to draw up shortened versions of their traditional 120-ECTS master\u2019s programmes.<\/p>\n<p>The heads of studies at the Faculty of Science, however, countered by keeping the traditional subjects in the 120-ECTS format and instead proposed making a series of reduced sector-specialised 75-ECTS master\u2019s degrees.<\/p>\n<p>The faculty has therefore now proposed something called <em>applied analytical chemistry<\/em> rather than a shortened version of chemistry, and <em>bio data science<\/em> as well as <em>biotechnology<\/em> rather than a shorter biology master\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of offering both short and long master\u2019s degrees in the exact same subject has been abandoned.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe 75-ECTS programme will be a narrower, but also a deeper, course of study,\u00ab says Andreas de Neergaard.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">New 75-ECTS master\u2019s programmes at the Faculty of Science<\/p>\n<p>Data stewardship<br \/>\nApplied analytical chemistry<br \/>\nBio data science<br \/>\nBiotechnology<br \/>\nComputer science-economics<br \/>\nGeoinformatics<br \/>\nNature management<br \/>\nMachine learning and artificial intelligence<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00bbI\u2019ve been saying this for two years now: These 75-ECTS master\u2019s programmes are going to be a ‘banger’. When people can see that graduates from 75-ECTS programmes are just as capable as those from 120-ECTS ones, I think we\u2019ll see a big shift towards the 75-ECTS master\u2019s programmes.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><em>What happens if the new one-year master\u2019s programmes are so popular that there is intense competition for places?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe 10 per cent of study places on 75-ECTS master\u2019s programmes is a minimum, so we are allowed to expand admissions,\u00ab says Andreas de Neergaard.<\/p>\n<p>A frequently raised concern in the debate over shortened Danish master\u2019s degree programmes is that students will be forced to specialise early in their studies. If you go straight from upper secondary school to university, you may already have to channel yourself into a narrowly defined field by the age of 21.<\/p>\n<p>Andreas de Neergaard does not see this as a problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbYou don\u2019t know what you want to do for the rest of your life if you take a five-year degree either. And I think the 75-ECTS programme is a good value proposition, because you can return to the university later and take supplementary ECTS credits. Besides, there are many fields where you encounter a labour market reality that is different from what you expected.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Dependent on business and industry<\/h3>\n<p>Another part of the reform is the business master\u2019s programmes, where students combine master\u2019s studies with a part-time job in a private sector company.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the one-year master\u2019s degrees, which take place on campus, this model is entirely dependent on companies\u2019 actually wanting to employ the students.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe are completely dependent on business and industry,\u00ab explains Andreas de Neergaard.<\/p>\n<p>Politicians cannot force companies to hire students, and in practice the reform therefore depends on companies choosing to set up part-time positions.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt requires that these 25-hour a week positions are set up, which students can then be employed in. And of course they hire the people they want to hire,\u00ab says Andreas de Neergaard.<\/p>\n<p>To make the scheme work, the university has therefore launched extensive efforts to approach companies and industry organisations, and is currently working \u00bbflat out\u00ab to prepare business and industry to take in the many students in the future.<\/p>\n<p>The Faculty of Science has already held meetings with banking lobby Finance Denmark, the life science industry, and consultancies in an attempt to build a network of employers who are able to offer part-time positions to students.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe\u2019re trying to put the right mechanisms in place so that we support this,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, de Neergaard acknowledges that it is a complex task to make the logics of the university and the logic of companies fit together.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere are certain logics that exist at the university, and then there are other logics that exist out in business. And they are not the same,\u00ab says Andreas de Neergaard. But he stresses that he remains optimistic on behalf of the students.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and top University of Copenhagen stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":42,"name":"Education","slug":"education","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":42,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":661,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11488,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/andreasdeneergaard-1280x854.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189087"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189112,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189087\/revisions\/189112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}