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Science & Research News in Brief: Danish universities universally popular with fellow Nordics

TheCopenhagenPost
April 9th, 2018


This article is more than 6 years old.

In other news, home-grown industries are proving to be equally as popular, with high profile deals confirmed within the realms of construction and space exploration

The study didn’t give any reasons for Denmark’s appeal (photo: Ildar Sagdejev, Specious)

University attendance figures for the 2015-2016 academic year covering the whole of the Nordics confirm something the whole world has known since ancient times: students like to drink.

According to the figures from Nordisk Statistikbank (NS), Denmark is overwhelmingly the most popular choice with Nordic students who opt to travel abroad to study, but remain in the region.

However NS did not offer any explanation for the the popularity of Denmark, where the laws on alcohol are far less stringent than in Norway and Sweden.

One-way traffic
Fewer than 1,000 Danish students study in another Nordic country, with 619 opting for Sweden (many of them are science students at Lund University just over the bridge), 297 in Norway, 66 in Iceland and just 15 in Finland.

In contrast, there were 2,407 Norwegian students at Danish universities, 1,236 Swedes, 339 Icelanders and 241 Finns – so over four times as many.

DF unhappy with situation
Dansk Folkeparti voiced its displeasure regarding the trend in an opinion piece in Berlingske on April 4 – particularly with regard to humanities subjects.

But at present there is nothing it can do, as according to legislation adopted in 1996 regarding Nordic co-operation on education, all citizens in the region have the same rights and access to education in all of the region’s countries.


Danish engineers to assess performance of printed bridge
The Danish consultancy Force Technology has been recruited to work on the construction of a 12 metre-long, 6 metre-wide printed bridge in Amsterdam’s medieval quarter, reports Ingeniøren. Two of its engineers will be responsible for monitoring the stainless steel structure once it has been put in place in October – particularly how it responds to being used. Printed in one-metre sections, which will then be welded together by a robot, there are fears that cracks might appear once it is used. The bridge, which is described as curved and swinging, has been designed by Joris Laarman Labs and will be printed by MX3D.

Danes to co-construct huge telescope for the Chinese
DTU Space will play an important role in ensuring China has a new powerful telescope, which is capable of detecting x-rays from black holes and neutron stars, by 2025. Researchers from Denmark, Italy and Spain will work on producing the EXTP (Enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry Satellite) telescope. DTU Space senior researcher Søren Brandt will take charge of making one of the four main components, the Wide Field Monitor instrument – work that has been ongoing since 2011, but now with a new client in mind.

Eye disease breakthrough at DTU Food Institute
Research conducted as part of a PhD study at the DTU Food Institute has led to a breakthrough in the treatment of endophthalmitis, an inner eye infection that can cause blindness if not treated properly and quickly. Using DNA sequencing to study eye fluid, the team at the institute can ensure patients are given tailored treatments that relate to the specific organism causing the disease. Previous DNA analyses yielded inexact results that often led to an erroneous identification of the cause.

Poultry were sacred in Roman Iron Age period – study
A Natural History Museum study of 96 graves found in 58 separate locations in eastern Denmark, which date from the first four centuries AD, concludes that poultry were particularly revered – most probably due to a Roman influence on status in the country. Non-existent centuries earlier, chickens and particularly geese were considered exotic species during the Roman Iron Age in Denmark and often buried alongside persons of importance, according to the study. One of its authors confirmed to Videnskab that the only trace of geese from the period is in the graves – thus underlining their special status.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”