SDU (University of Southern Denmark)

SDU was founded in 1966 as a research and educational institution with strong contacts to regional industries and the international scientific community. The university offers teaching and research at six campuses. With more than 32,000 students and more than 4,000 employees, SDU provides first-class educational opportunities and is a cooperation partner for both public and private businesses and organizations. SDU has coordinated or participated in 46 collaborative EU projects (23 in FP7 and 23 in H2020), has been involved in 36 Marie Curie projects and received 12 ERC grants.

SDU’s Kolding campus is hosting SDU Design Research which covers a wide range of scientific areas, fostering interdisciplinary and cross-faculty collaboration involving local partners, supports a growing number of research projects, four labs and a series of Open Space seminars where researchers exchange insights and ‘research DNA’ in a format that is accessible for people from outside of the specialized research field. SDU Design Research has a unique approach to New Nordic Design Thinking, supporting collaborations across the natural sciences, health, engineering, business and humanities, and a long-standing record of collaboration with government and industry. The SDU OPI Living Design Lab’s work was instrumental in Kolding, being designated a UNESCO Creative City. Since 2016, in SDU’s Department of Design and Communication, Assoc. Professor Wilde’s Food4Thought research program and Food Living Lab extend this focus to citizen empowerment within the food system, championing participatory design research that foregrounds food as both subject and biodesign material.