Hirtshals is one of Denmark's most important fishing towns with a rapidly growing business within fisheries and aquaculture. Now, the city can also claim the title of university city since DTU inaugurated a new campus in collaboration with the North Sea Science Park on Friday, 22 September.
DTU has established a new Master's programme in "Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture", which will be based in Hirtshals. At the same time, students in the BEng programme "Fisheries Technology" will, in the future, be in Hirtshals for one year of their education. This requires the proper teaching facilities, which is why DTU and North Sea Science Park inaugurated a new campus and a newly constructed teaching building on Friday, 22 September 2023, at North Sea Science Park in Hirtshals.
"Today, we are taking an important step in strengthening DTU's presence in North Jutland, specifically in Hjørring Municipality. We already have strong and well-functioning academic research environments in fisheries and aquaculture here in Hirtshals, and now we are also establishing study programmes," said Fritz W. Köster, Head of DTU Aqua, when he welcomed the attendees together with the CEO of North Sea Science Park, Karl Henrik Laursen.
In his speech, Anders Bjarklev, President of DTU, also emphasised that DTU has long been present in Hirtshals and that this provides the right conditions for opening a campus.
"Today, we celebrate the inauguration of DTU's new campus in North Sea Science Park, but it is actually not new that DTU is in Hirtshals. We have been here for a really long time, but it makes great sense to be much more present here in Hirtshals. This is therefore part of what is also known as the relocation, but what I call the move-in, in exactly the place where it makes the most sense to be present," said Anders Bjarklev when he spoke to the audience.
The students will be taught in DTU's research environment and will also be able to collaborate with North Sea Science Park and the business community in Hirtshals. On the inauguration day, it was possible to get a guided tour of the teaching facilities and learn even more about Hirtshals as a university city.
The Mayor of Hjørring Municipality, Søren Smalbro, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Hanne Meldgaard, also gave speeches on the inauguration day.