Research and education in chemistry has been conducted at the University of Copenhagen Department of Chemistry since 1778, when the first Laboratorium Chymicum was established. Since then, the chemists have moved several times, usually to better surroundings. In 1962, Universitetets Kemiske Laboratorium moved to its present location in the H.C. Ørsted Institute (HCØ), named after Hans Christian Ørsted who discovered electromagnetism in 1820. It is less well known that H.C. Ørsted was also an able chemist, and that he was in fact the first person to isolate the element aluminium.
The Department of Chemistry is responsible for the teaching of chemistry at all levels at the Faculty of Science: from undergraduate courses in chemistry for students of biology, geology, etc., to Ph.D.-level courses. As a result, the total number of students attending courses at the Department of Chemistry is considerable.
The Department of Chemistry is the largest basic research institute in chemistry in Denmark. It is well equipped with up-to-date instrumentation and computer facilities, as well as basic facilities, such as libraries.
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“Cold an old predicament of the breath:
Adroit, the shapely prefaces complete,
Accept the university of death.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“Fowls in the frith,
Fishes in the flood,
And I must wax wod:
Much sorrow I walk with
For best of bone and blood.”
—Unknown. Fowls in the Frith. . .
Oxford Book of Short Poems, The. P. J. Kavanagh and James Michie, eds. Oxford University Press.
““Which is more important to you, your field or your children?” the department head asked. She replied, “That’s like asking me if I could walk better if you amputated my right leg or my left leg.””
—Anonymous Parent. As quoted in Women and the Work Family Dilemma, by Deborah J. Swiss and Judith P. Walker, ch. 2 (1993)
“The chemistry of dissatisfaction is as the chemistry of some marvelously potent tar. In it are the building stones of explosives, stimulants, poisons, opiates, perfumes and stenches.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)