New Projects and Initiatives Starting in 2025-2026:
USE Center. FNUG is a strategic partner in the newly established Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for University Science Education (USE Center), which, with a grant of DKK 125 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, represents one of the largest investments in science didactics research on a global scale. It provides Danish researchers with the opportunity to position Denmark at the forefront of research in didactics within science education. USE involves many of the center’s researchers. SDU Grant Holder is Professor Connie Svabo.
Science Education Hub aims to foster collaboration, inspire creativity, and provide ongoing competence development opportunities for faculty and staff within the Faculty of Science at SDU. The science Education Hub will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of science education at SDU by facilitating project collaborations, offering networking opportunities, and providing a space for the exchange of ideas and best practices. The Science Education Hub is based on the intersection of three partners: STEM Education Research Center – FNUG, SDU Centre for Teaching and Learning (SDU UP), and The Faculty of Science, (NAT). The Hub is led by Professor Connie Svabo, Vice Dean Poul Nielsen and Leader of SDU UP Center for Teaching and Learning Rie Poulsen, and is managed by Associate Professor Gitte Miller Balslev, Consultant Cita Nørgaard, and is coordinated by Center Coordinator Maja Reedtz.
STEPS. STEM Perspectives in Primary and Secondary Education. FNUG, in collaboration with IPN Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (Germany) and many other partners, have received an Interreg grant. The aim of STEPS is to carry out pilot projects that enable young people to find their way across borders to digital-technical professions in the German-Danish border region. The project will run in 2025–2028. The project is carried out by Associate Professor Gitte Miller Balslev, PhD Fellow Gabriele Characiejene, Associate Professor Chunfang Zhou and SDU Grant Holder Professor Connie Svabo.
Mathematics Learning Lab. Led by Dorte Moeskær Larsen, the establishment of the Mathematics Learning Lab is currently underway. It is aimed at advancing mathematics teaching practices across all educational levels, with a primary focus on the professional development of mathematics educators. The lab's research is designed to empower teachers with the necessary skills and resources to excel in their roles, thereby enhancing student learning outcomes and experiences in mathematics.
My Digital Competency Portfolio. The Novo Nordisk Foundation has granted 6.2 million kr for the project "My Competency Portfolio" (2025–2029). The project aims to increase competency awareness among students by introducing a reflection practice in teaching. The project includes a research component that will be anchored in USE. PI for the Research working package is Associate Professor Michael Pedersen, assisted by postdoc Madalina Jäeger. SDU Grant Holder is Vice Dean Poul Nielsen.
Scholars at Risk Network. Serhii Petrovych has joined FNUG as a researcher with support from Fellowship for Scholars at Risk from Ukrainian Universities (SARU). Together with the hosting researcher at FNUG – Chunfang Zhou, they have launched the MicroPlayer Club at SDU.
Natural Sciences through art and technology – creating well-being in natural science for artistic young people. Many high school students at STX experience challenges with STEM subjects, such as mathematics, chemistry, physics, and computer science. Rosborg Gymnasium & HF, FabLab Spinderihallerne and SDU have collaborated in the last 2 years to investigate how young students at humanities oriented high school can thrive in STEM learning, through art-based learning activities facilitated in the biochemistry lab. The goal of this 2-year project, financed by the Region Southern Denmark, is to address formation and richness of talents, with focus on well-being in STEM learning for young people with artistic interests and talents. The project is supposed to contribute to: development of new interdisciplinary workshops, a practice-oriented pedagogical approach and related teaching materials, which will be available online for other schools in the region. At SDU the project is led by Emanuela Marchetti (FNUG) and Andrea Valente from the Department of Design, Media and Educational Science.
STEAM as a field of study and research area. From the 2026/2027 school year, Rødkilde Gymnasium has integrated a STEAM approach (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) into its social science teaching, based on the assumption that today’s complex issues are best understood and addressed in the intersection between scientific, technological, artistic, and social science perspectives. In collaboration with researchers from SDU – Center for STEM Education Research (FNUG), a research and development project is being launched that both generates new knowledge about STEAM in upper secondary education and builds capacity within STEAM didactics in a gymnasium (upper secondary) context. The purpose of the research component is to establish an empirical and theoretical foundation for how technological and social-science dimensions can be integrated into upper secondary teaching through collaborative research and development processes. The project can thus be seen as a pilot initiative following the initial work on local co-creation between public and private actors (a Quadruple Helix approach) in the development of learning environments for the upcoming SDU IT campus in Vejle. In this way, Rødkilde Gymnasium and its STEAM approach serve as a key source of inspiration in the development of learning environments related to the future IT-SDU campus.
Wild – Under the Surface. Limfjordsteatret has received 1.9 million kr from the Nordea Foundation for the innovative educational project “Wild – Under the Surface”, which integrates the performing arts into the natural sciences. The project aims to develop new learning methods in the school subject Nature and Technology and students will get to explore nature through both microscopes and their own creative expressions. In workshops in the classroom and in the school's local environment, students will explore nature from small micro animals such as tardigrades, moss mites and bark beetles to cells inside their own bodies and brains.
Developing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Master Education for Space Physics. This project aims to establish a new Master specialization in space physics and climate, with a focus on fostering students’ entrepreneurship and innovation. The project is funded by the Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship and is a collaboration between the SDU Climate Cluster, the SDU Drone Center, SDU Physics, and AI Learning Lab at FNUG, with Chunfang Zhou as Co-PI.
Ongoing Projects:
LabSTEM+ is a continuation of the LabSTEM project. The Novo Nordisk Foundation has granted funding, allowing the project to continue until the end of 2025. LabSTEM+ aims, among other things, to work towards higher quality in mathematics and science education in primary and secondary schools. Connie Svabo is the grant holder and PI. Dorte Moeskær Larsen is the project leader, and Maiken Westen Holm Svendsen is a PhD student on the project.
AI Learning Lab. In 2024, prof. Chunfang Zhou led the launch of AI for Learning – a new Research Lab at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). The lab develops solutions that enhance human-AI collaboration and improve pedagogical practices. We highlight AI as both an epistemic technology and a socio-technical system, drawing insights from a wide range of stakeholders, including teachers, students, educational leaders, technology developers, industrial managers, and policymakers.
Geo & Bio Science Center Syd has an associated follow-up research project led by PhD Student Katrine Bergkvist Borch under the guidance of Connie Svabo. The project is supported by Novo Nordisk Foundation. Katrine Bergkvist Borch uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods (mixed methods). She has conducted similar follow-up research in connection with the Belt in Balance project, supported by VELUX Foundation and Nordea Foundation. Read more about Katrine Bergkvist Borch's PhD project.
LAVIN (Longitudinal Study of Knowledge Ecology in the Science Academy), where Connie Svabo and Thomas Albrechtsen are project leaders, Karina Kiær, researcher at FNUG and assistant professor at UC Syd, is an employee on the project, and Tina Maria Brinks is a PhD student.
New SDU Campus in Vejle. The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) is establishing a campus with a focus on IT and STEM programs, with support from the LEGO Group and Vejle Municipality. FNUG supports the Rectorate, the Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Science in their efforts related to learning environment development and the design of educational programs. FNUG has employed design-based methods and systemic models across multiple sprints. Theoretically, our approach is grounded in collaborative innovation and is embodied in what we refer to as the "FNUG Learning Experience Design." This framework encompasses a research-based approach to STEM education innovation, which integrates both facilitative and materializing elements to drive transformative change. Read the report here. The project is carried out by Associate Professor Gitte Miller Balslev and Professor Connie Svabo.
NAVADA– 'Scientific Literacy in Early Childhood Education' belongs to University College Copenhagen (Københavns Professionshøjskole). FNUG contributes to the project by hosting and supervising two PhD students employed in the project, Karen Bollingberg and Søren Krogh Hansen, who are part of the FNUG research environment for three years from 1 February 2023. NAVADA aims to strengthen scientific general education for 0-6-year-old children. Connie Svabo is part of the advisory board for the project, which is supported by Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Følgeforskning i Skolesporet (in Danish) – a follow-up research project in NAFA, where Associate Professor Chunfang Zhou, FNUG, is part of the research team.
Physics Clubs in the Region of Southern Denmark (in Danish), supported by the Villum Fonden project "Children, youth and science: Leisure time," is led by Professor Mads Toudal Frandsen, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, SDU. FNUG is involved in follow-up research on evaluation and communication support. We also collaborate with the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy on other STEM activities.
UNESCO Global Geopark The South Fyn Archipelago. Connie Svabo is a member of the scientific committee.
Timeline – Applied Archaeology in Køge Nord. Connie Svabo is a member of the academic advisory group in the project, which is funded by Velux Foundation‘s museum program (2022-2026).
Where We Live (DK: Dér hvor vi bor). The project is funded by the Velux Foundation and Tømmerhandler Johannes Fogs Fond. It began in February 2022 and will conclude on 25 April 2024 with a conference at the Open Air Museum in Lyngby. The museum’s houses show us how farmers lived and built in the 18th and 19th centuries. They also provide inspiration for how we can build more sustainably now and in the future. The project is implemented by the Royal Danish Academy. Read more here about the book “Smart Houses”, which includes a contribution by Connie Svabo.
Landscape Imaginaries aims to investigate historical and contemporaneous landscape imaginaries (e.g. norms, beliefs and aesthetic preferences) undergirding design of new energy infrastructures at the scale of landscapes and the ensuing public discourse, to understand their impact on transitions towards "post-natural" energy landscapes. Connie Svabo has been a steering committee member.