Work experience as a researcher

From school to university

While classmates are spending a week in Irma, or at a record company, or at agricultural centres, 15-year-old Philip Qvist from year 9 at Skovgaards school in Hellerup is on a work placement as an academic. This week, he is following the research and teaching of information technology at the highest academic level at the Center for Applied Information and Communication Technology (CAICT).

Philip will take part in both lectures and meetings at the center—on Wednesday, for example, there is a meeting with a representative from Microsoft. He also has his own project: Investigating developments within PC-games.

The Director for the Center, Jan Damsgaard, is Philip’s work experience co-ordinator, but the center’s other employees are also involved in the process. They will make sure the trainee is involved in their activities whenever possible.

Trying out a dream for the future

The work placement has so far given Philip a positive impression of the center.

-I like the fact that—as opposed to school— the teaching sets the scene for working independently with a lot of freedom on specific topics. So the first couple of days here haven’t made me change my plans for the future. One day, I would like to work as an IT-consultant, and an education from here offers the possibility to enter this type of job, says Philip, who has been inspired in his plans by his mother, who is an IT-consultant herself.

After school, Philip hopes to take his upper secondary school leaving exam at business school before venturing into a degree programme at CBS.

Early recruiting

The Director of the Center, Jan Damsgaard, didn’t hesitate to vouch for the work placement, even though it is the first of its kind at CAICT.

- It is an obvious opportunity for us to have contact with potential researchers at an early stage! And in this way, Philip can also be a type of ambassador for higher education at CAICT to his classmates and teachers, who typically don’t have much contact with the topics that we are involved with, he says.