Many things have changed among Danish universities this past year, and on 1 June, the changes swept over the DPU as well. From being a university in its own right, the DPU is now a part of the second largest university in Denmark, the University of Aarhus. As a result of this merger, the new name for the DPU will be the Danish School of Education.

Lars-Henrik Schmidt, the former rector of the DPU, is now the Dean of the new School of Education, and he has high hopes for the future of 'his' organisation: "The merger will give us the breathing space we need to develop the fertile and innovative visions for the DPU. AU will certainly 'bother us', but in the positive sense that the larger organisation will draw on the particular expertise found here at the DPU. To name just one example; AU has expressed a profound interest in and support of our further development of a research-based teacher education, quite possibly in collaboration with the new 'trade high schools'."

The Danish University of Education was one of the youngest universities in Denmark, and was established on 1 July 2000 as the result of a merger of the Royal Danish School of Educational Studies, The Danish National Institute for Educational Research, the Danish School of Advanced Pedagogy and the Danish National Centre for Technology-Supported Learning. Read more about our history.

The DPU is one of four smaller institutions that are being merged into the new University of Aarhus. The three others are The National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus School of Business and The Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences. Read more about the merger.

For further information about the merger, please contact associate dean Claus Holm, www.dpu.dk/about/clho