Column by Anders Bjarklev, President at DTU. Published in Frederiksborg Amts Avis and on sn.dk on 06.05.2024.
How do we achieve the green transition, the digitization of our society, and the development of life-saving medicine for the world?
If you ask some of the most influential companies in Zealand, which work daily in these areas, the message is clear: We need more engineers.
But how do you intend to get them, might be an appropriate follow-up question. And here, a longer period of consideration might be needed because answering that question is difficult.
A new analysis conducted by Iris Group shows that companies in Zealand within engineering industries such as life science and energy will face a shortage of between 17.000 and 21.000 employees with a long-term higher technical education, including engineers by 2030. At the same time, it has been decided in a recent broad political agreement that Danish universities must reduce the intake of new students by an average of 10.2 percent per year from next year onwards. For DTU that means a reduction in intake of 6.5 percent from next year until 2029.
In other words: We are supposed to educate fewer engineers at a time when the business sector needs many more.
The outlines of the consequences can already be drawn: Labour must be sourced from abroad, ambitions must be downgraded, and Denmark will become poorer in terms of knowledge, competitiveness, and mobility. It can only be in everyone's interest to reverse this future scenario.
Need for better solutions
When I, as the President of DTU, engage in this discussion and pose difficult questions, I want to approach the issue constructively and find the best possible solutions.
DTU has previously, as a result of a broad political agreement, been asked to relocate several study places from the main campus in Lyngby and Ballerup to other parts of the country. This is to ensure greater geographical diversity in Denmark's educational offerings, and we have approached the task constructively with great consideration for local communities, study environments, and future job opportunities.
Among other things, this has led to the establishment of the study programmes 'Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture' and 'Fisheries Technology' in Denmark's most prominent fishing town, Hirtshals, while DTU has established a brand new industry master's programme in Biomanufacturing in close collaboration with, among others, Novo Nordisk in Kalundborg. Additionally, we have established new study activities in Skive, Rødby, at Risø, and Bornholm. All are closely linked to either the business sector, major infrastructure projects, or leading research environments.
This exercise has been exciting and has opened up new opportunities for the benefit of the whole of society. However the relocation agreement also means that we will admit fewer new students to the main campus by 2030, where the demand from major companies such as Novo Nordisk, Haldor Topsøe, and Microsoft is enormous.
Now, once again, we find ourselves in a situation where we are asked to admit fewer students to the main campus. This is not just challenging for us but also the surrounding companies and ultimately for society.
If we are to relocate, adjust, downgrade, and fine-tune in a way that makes sense and is beneficial in the end, we need to look at the political agreements and the demand for engineers in context.
The call from here is, therefore, for our politicians to listen to the demand for engineers from the business sector and find a better solution.
We need to loosen the constraints and ceilings currently placed on the intake of new students, which prevent us from educating enough engineers who, among other things, are essential for achieving the green transition. We owe this to society as a whole.
