Four new assistant professors strengthen research capacity in STEM education

With the four new assistant professors, the research at FNUG will be expanded in the following areas: 

• Mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology
• Learning environments, evaluation and feedback
• Competence awareness, well-being and educational change
• AI and new technologies
• Teacher and teacher development.

The appointments stem from significant growth in FNUG's research activities. Two of the positions are directly funded through USE – the Nordic Foundation's Center for University Science Education, while the others strengthen the broader research environment and the links between USE, FNUG's learning laboratories and other major research and development projects. The four appointments show different aspects of FNUG's long-term capacity building: 

• Development and retention of researchers from their own environment
• Attracting experienced international profiles
•  Strengthened collaboration with the university's natural science academic environments. 

"The appointments are important for building a lasting research capacity in STEM education. With the four assistant professors, we strengthen research across mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology and create closer links between disciplinary knowledge, educational research and concrete development of the university's teaching," says Professor Connie Svabo, founding leader of FNUG and leader of section for Learning, Experience and Design.

"At the same time, we are creating clearer career paths for researchers in discipline-based education research. This is crucial if USE is not only to initiate good projects but also contribute to a long-term change in the way we work with teaching, learning and educational development," Connie continues. 

The four new assistant professors are Katrine Bergkvist Borch, Maiken Westen Holm Svendsen, Madalina Jäger and Mikkel Theiss Kristensen. Several of them have already been part of FNUG as PhD fellows, postdocs or project researchers, and the appointments thus retain knowledge and experience in the center, while at the same time strengthening new research areas and collaboration surfaces.

Katrine Bergkvist Borch: Aesthetics, care and field and laboratory work in the natural sciences

Katrine Bergkvist Borch will be part of the USE research project Beauty in Science - Designing Learning Environments for aesthetic engagement in DBER, where she will research and design field and laboratory learning environments in biology and chemistry teaching at the university. She is also affiliated with CUHRE and a member of CESE, which lifts the research part of the Science Academy NAFA.

The focal point of Katrine's research is natural science learning environments across the education system, with a particular focus on field and laboratory work in biology. She examines how care, aesthetics and relationships between people, materials and surroundings shape science teaching and learning.

Katrine has a degree in biology from the University of Southern Denmark and has a background as a high school teacher before she became part of FNUG. In her PhD project, she investigated caring and aesthetic science teaching in nature-based learning environments, and she has also contributed to the follow-up research in the projects Belt in Balance and Geo & Bio Science Center South. 

Maiken Westen Holm Svendsen: Evaluation, feedback and learning environments in STEM

Maiken Westen Holm Svendsen's employment is funded by the USE Center, where she will examine evaluation, feedback and assessments as part of the learning environment and not just as methods to measure or support learning. She is also affiliated with the Mathematics Learning Lab at FNUG.

The focal point of Maiken's research is STEM didactics with an emphasis on mathematics and physics. She examines how evaluation, feedback and assessment help shape learning environments, participation opportunities and understandings of professionalism.

Maiken has a master's degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Southern Denmark and began her research career at FNUG as a student assistant in 2022. She was originally trained as a hairdresser, and her experience with a practical professionalism characterized by aesthetics and material understanding has given her a special eye for how professionalism, bodies and practices are connected in concrete learning situations.

Madalina Jäger: Competence awareness, motivation and lasting educational development 

Madalina Jäger has been affiliated with FNUG as a postdoc since 2025 and is now employed to lead the research in the project My Digital Competence Portfolio together with Michael Petersen, associate professor at FNUG. Here, she will further develop research into students' competence awareness, motivation, and well-being. Madalina is also part of the USE Center, where she contributes to the development and investigation of faculty-wide initiatives to strengthen research- and evidence-informed educational development. Among other things, her research will create knowledge about the conditions that make educational initiatives meaningful, anchored, and lasting for both students, teachers and the organisation.

In the longer term, Madalina will also conduct research into how new technologies and AI affect learning in STEM education.

Madalina has a background in behavioural science, psychology and educational research, as well as more than 13 years of experience in the development and evaluation of interventions, behavioural change, and mixed methods of research. With her interdisciplinary approach, she contributes to FNUG's ambition to promote innovative science teaching.

Mikkel Theiss Kristensen: AI, artefacts and natural science learning environments

Mikkel Theiss Kristensen will be part of the USE project Developing AI-Mediated Creative Science Learning Environment, where he will investigate the interaction between learning environments, artefacts and technologies such as artificial intelligence in science teaching. He divides his time between projects at FNUG and at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, where he has been employed as a postdoc until his appointment as assistant professor.

The focal point of Mikkel's research is how learning environments arise and develop in the field of tension between technologies, artefacts, and problem-based learning. In particular, he investigates how artificial intelligence mediates students' learning and affects their ability to navigate the language and forms of representation of natural science disciplines. He will also contribute to research on supervision and teaching in astronomical observation environments, including in connection with the NOT Summer School on La Palma.

Mikkel is a trained astrophysicist from the University of Southern Denmark and has a Ph.D. in dwarf galaxies with AGN characteristics. 

A broader and stronger research environment

With the four assistant professors, FNUG not only strengthens its project portfolio, but also the long-term research infrastructure around STEM education at SDU. The appointments expand the disciplinary breadth, create new connections between research and educational practice, and contribute to building a sustainable environment for discipline-based science education research across the university.