Elite robotics summer school will continue to bring the world’s biggest robotics talents to Denmark
Since 2021, the International Elite Summer School in Robotics and Entrepreneurship in Odense has each year gathered some of the world's best students in robotics at the University of Southern Denmark. Thanks to support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, there is now funding for three more years.
Every year in August, top students from prestigious universities around the world pack their bags to board a plane to Denmark and, together with Danish students, attend the elite robotics summer school on Funen.
And they can continue to do so.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation has chosen to support the Elite Summer School in Robotics and Entrepreneurship with 4.2 million DKK. This provides funds to continue the summer school until at least 2026.
- We are very happy about the grant from Novo Nordisk Fonden, says Henrik Gordon Petersen, robotics professor at the University of Southern Denmark and the main academic organizer of the summer school.
- From the beginning, the ambition of the robot summer school has been to strengthen international relations in the robotics community and to put talented students from around the world in contact with Danish robotics students, researchers and companies. With the sponsorship, we can continue to do so.
The robot summer school has existed since 2021 and is organized by the University of Southern Denmark in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Aalborg University, Aarhus University, and the IT University of Copenhagen.
A total of 50 carefully selected students participate – 25 from the Danish universities and 25 from international partner universities such as UC Berkeley, MIT, etc.
- The Summer School in Robotics and Entrepreneurship offers Danish and foreign students a unique opportunity to meet and explore robotics technology with each other. It gives them a chance to work with innovation while opening their eyes to exciting career opportunities in the area. That is why we are pleased to continue our support of this important initiative, says Berith Bjørnholm, Senior Vice President for Education & Outreach, the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Even though some social activities are squeezed into the program, the two and a half weeks of summer school are made up of a packed teaching program. Furthermore, there are extracurricular activities such as visits to Danish companies like Novo Nordisk, LEGO, and Danfoss and to the robotics cluster in Odense, including Universal Robots and MiR.
In this way, the robot summer school also helps to put Denmark on the map as an international heavyweight in the field of robotics.
- Our ambition in Odense is to be the leading city for robotics in the world. To accomplish that and build upon the unique position that we have created for ourselves, we need to ensure that the brightest young talents are attracted to the opportunities of our city. In this regard, the robot summer school is an important element. One which draws the attention of some of the most promising students from all over the world. As such, it is very positive news, that the summer school is now able to continue thanks to a generous contribution by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, says Peter Rahbæk Juel, Mayor of Odense.
In the three years the robot summer school has existed, it has only become a greater and greater success with more and more applications each year. For the 2024 edition, more than 200 applications have been received.
However, this does not mean that the summer school has found its final format. It is under constant development, and for the next three years, several new initiatives have already been planned. Among other things, the industrial partners will now be more directly involved in the summer school through an Industry Board, just as the international partner universities will through an Advisory Board.
In addition, as something new, a hackathon will be held where the students are to solve challenging tasks for the companies. There will also be keynotes from some of the leading robotics researchers in the world, who in addition to their talks will be introduced to the Danish robotics environment, both companies and universities. The idea of this is to strengthen the collaboration with foreign universities and Danish companies and universities.
The robot summer school in 2024 will be held from August 6 to 23.
The International Elite Summer School in Robotics and Entrepreneurship
The International Elite Summer School in Robotics and Entrepreneurship is an annual summer school on robotics technology aimed at international and Danish students. It lasts two and a half weeks and focuses both on developing advanced robotic systems and on realizing the technology through entrepreneurship.
The robot summer school is held by the University of Southern Denmark in collaboration with Denmark’s Technical University (DTU), Aalborg University (AAU), Aarhus University (AU), and the IT University of Copenhagen (ITU). The international students primarily come from the partner universities in Germany, Korea, India and USA, and includes: TUM, Northeastern, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, MIT, USC, IIT Kanpur, KIT, KAIST, SNU.
The summer school brings together some of the best students from the world's most important robotics clusters and aims to promote international relations in the robotics communities.
The International Elite Summer School in Robotics and Entrepreneurship has existed since 2021 and was created in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education and Science's innovation centers.
It is financed by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Municipality of Odense.