One Health
The international summer course in One Health aims to provide knowledge, skills and competences regarding efficient solutions to the multifaceted global challenges to human, animal and environmental health through cross-disciplinary research, education and collaboration between relevant institutions and stakeholders. The summer course focuses on zoonoses, emerging diseases, and emerging health-related problems (drug resistance, toxins, pollution, etc.) as well as systems approaches for effective solutions to the challenges.
The course provides a critical overview of the methods used in the One Health approach by drawing on the successful Danish and international achievements characterized by a transdisciplinary collaboration between public authorities and administrations, research institutions, industry sectors as well as citizen engagement.
The course is relevant for people with many different scientific backgrounds (including both natural and social sciences as well as humanities) either currently studying at master or PhD level or as continuing education for professionals interested in the One Health topics and transdisciplinary approaches.
Why One Health
The One Health approach seeks to improve the health and wellbeing for humans, animals and the environment through innovative, cross-sectorial, and systematic development. One Health not only implies involvement of different sciences, but is also an approach which encourages coordination, communication, data and information sharing and joint efforts between the involved parties.
In many countries, this requires development of new ways of handling challenges such as food security and safety, emerging and endemic zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial and drug resistance, climate change and different types of environmental pollutants.
Denmark has a long tradition of using One Health approaches and has long-term experience pursuing good solutions to several of these challenges. Therefore the collaboration between the two organising universities offers an outstanding environment for the One Health International Summer Course.
Please read the One Health programme flyer
| On-line module | 4 May - 5 June 2020 |
| On-campus module | 9 - 14 August 2020 |
| Exam | 14 August 2020 |
Credit points: 5 ECTS
The course is open to Danish and international students with a completed BSc Degree. The course is offered as a master’s course and is also open to PhD students and postgraduates.
You must be able to read and write English at a scientific level.
The One Health International Summer Course is designed to combine the best from e-learning with the best from on-campus learning.
The course is composed of two modules: a 5-week e-learning module in May-June and a 1-week on-campus module in Copenhagen in mid-August.
The e-learning module consists of weekly assignments combining lectures, quizzes, exercises and on-line discussions.
During the on-campus part, One Health concepts and approaches are presented and discussed through case-work in small groups, e.g. disease surveillance, source identification, risk assessment, prevention and control models and experiences from the course participants’ own countries are included when possible.
Case-study topics may include antimicrobial resistance, meat production and consumption, pandemic viral diseases, mycotoxins and parasitic zoonoses. The case-studies are facilitated by experts within a range of topics of relevance for One Health.
The course participants are expected to be present and actively contribute to the course topics and group work throughout the week and there are group presentations after some of the exercise that constitute part of the evaluation of the students. The on-campus week will be concluded with a written examination.
Social Programme
The summer course in One Health offers a social programme as part of the on-campus module. Previous years the social programme has included elements such as:
- A casual welcome reception
- A pizza dinner
- A walk through the city
- A canal tour in Copenhagen
For more details, please read the course description in UCPH's course database.
You apply through the link in the top right hand side of this web page.
The online application form is open.
The application deadline is extended for applicants, who wish to apply for the waiting list: 15 April 2020 23:59 (CEST).
If you are a PhD student enrolled at DTU or an exchange student from a DTU-partner university, you need to apply through a different application form (not currently available). MSc students from DTU must apply through the ordinary application form.
You are exempted from payment, if:
You are enrolled at a Danish university and the course is part of your master's programme. Danish students must provide a pre-approval of credit transfer from their home institution upon application.
You are a student at UCPH enrolled in one of the following programmes, you do not need to apply for pre-approval of credit transfer:
- MSc in Global Health
- MSc in Veterinary Science ( as part of "Alternativ Differentiering")
You are an exchange student and attend the course as part of the autumn exchange semester (min. 3 months stay).
You are an exchange student nominated through Nordplus express or Nordlys.
Fee-paying participants:
All other participants (students, working professionals, etc.) must pay tuition fee according to the information below.
| EU/EEA citizens | 5,000 DKK |
| Non-EU/EEA citizens | 9,000 DKK |
The fee covers participation in the course. It does not cover course materials, travel, accommodation and living expenses during the course.
Full payment of course fees must be transferred in May. Payment details will be forwarded upon acceptance.
Refund policy
You can only get a refund of your tuition fee, if you cancel at least two month prior to the beginning of the course including e-learning modules.
Unfortunately, the University of Copenhagen does not offer any scholarships or tuition fee reductions.
If you have questions about the course content, please write to onehealth@foodsciencecopenhagen.dk
Course administration: Liza Rosenbaum Nielsen
Course responsible: Maria Vang Johansen, UCPH, and Tine Hald, DTU.
Accommodation: Please note that the summer courses are non-residential. Participants are responsible for finding and funding accommodation during their stay in Copenhagen.
You can use different online portals to search for accommodation, such as:
- Airbnb
- Danhostel
- Hostel World
- UCPH Housing Foundation (acceptance letter from UCPH required)
Copenhagen has an international airport, and the city centre can be reached within 30 minutes. If you want additional information read Arriving in Copenhagen.
Read more on our webside about Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences and the University of Copenhagen.
Read more on DTU webside about the Technical University of Denmark.
You can find many answers to frequently asked questions about the faculty's summer courses, such as:
- deadlines
- tuition fee payments
- visa
- arrival and departure
- certificates
If you need specific academic information about the individual courses, you must contact the relevant course responsible directly.
The One Health International Summer Course is offered in collaboration between University of Copenhagen (UCPH) and Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and is part of the "Food Sciences Copenhagen (FoSCo)" strategic collaboration, which promotes interdisciplinary scientific excellence in the field of public health, food and veterinary science, and associated technical and life sciences.
Organisers and lecturers are mainly from UCPH and DTU. There will also be speakers well-known in their fields from other research institutions and international organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO).
