About the Department
The University of Copenhagen is the sole provider of the veterinary medicine degree program leading to licensure in Denmark. Through teaching, research, and knowledge dissemination, the Department of Veterinary Medicine (IKV) makes a unique and absolutely essential contribution to undergraduate and graduate veterinary education.
The vast majority of veterinary medicine graduates go on to professional careers that are a direct extension of IKV’s clinical training. Most of IKV’s research is deeply integrated with and organized in close collaboration with IKV’s two university animal hospitals and a veterinary diagnostic laboratory.
IKV’s research contributes to new diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic options and technologies in veterinary clinical practice. IKV’s research also contributes to translational research for the benefit of animals and humans. IKV employs approximately 250 people, corresponding to about 180 full-time equivalents (approximately 50 faculty members and 130 AC-TAP and TAP staff). IKV has five academic sections and two university animal hospitals that are open 24 hours a day.
- To operate university veterinary hospitals that support clinical research and education at a high international level
- To conduct research at a high scientific level for the benefit of individual animals, animal populations, and humans
- To provide research-based veterinary clinical education at a high international level
- To develop and provide diagnostics, treatment, and care to promote the health and welfare of individual animals
- To educate the veterinarians of the future for a professional and balanced working life based on our high level of expertise
- To share our knowledge at a high professional level with the surrounding community
- We are characterized by a high level of professionalism, job satisfaction, well-being, commitment, and creativity among our staff and students
- We have a culture that promotes community, mutual respect, involvement, trust, and integrity
- We recognize each staff member and student as a valuable and excellent colleague
- We adhere to the highest international ethical standards when working with patients and laboratory animals in research and teaching
that our research, teaching, and veterinary clinical activities are world-class, so that we can help ensure that the field of veterinary medicine as a whole is world-class—as demonstrated, for example, by our ranking in the top 5 in the QS World University Rankings for veterinary medicine.