Nis Høyrup Christensen is the new Director of SDC
Nis Høyrup Christensen will take up his position as Director of SDC on 1 November 2026. He brings management experience and a broad professional background spanning the private sector, academia and the public sector. He currently serves in a leadership position at the Danish National Police.
Rasmus Antoft, Chair of the Danish Board of SDC, looks forward to the collaboration.
‘Nis Høyrup Christensen combines a solid knowledge of China with broad experience across academia, the public sector and the private sector. This makes him well equipped to navigate the complex collaboration between the Danish universities, our Chinese partner, government bodies and the private sector. At the same time, he already knows SDC well, which is a clear strength in an organisation where understanding the interplay between the many different parties is essential,’ says Rasmus Antoft, Chair of the Danish Board of SDC and Rector of Roskilde University.
Nis Høyrup Christensen holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen and a PhD from Copenhagen Business School. He has worked as Adviser on Chinese Affairs at the Confederation of Danish Industry. For several years, he has analysed and commented on Chinese affairs in the Danish media, and he was a member of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ China expert panel in 2018/2019.
In-depth knowledge of SDC
‘I have followed SDC since the beginning, and the original idea was to tap into China’s knowledge economy. In many ways, the task remains the same today when it comes to advancing Danish education and research, but there is no doubt that the collaboration now takes place within a new geostrategic reality that is more complex to navigate. That is a challenge I feel ready to take on,’ says Nis Høyrup Christensen, who already knows SDC extremely well.
As an Assistant Professor at Copenhagen Business School, his research focused on China’s industrial policies, and he was responsible for internships for the Master’s students on one of SDC’s social science programmes. Nis Høyrup Christensen has also undertaken a research stay in China, where he lived with his family for an extended period and was based at SDC.
His time at SDC has meant a great deal to the whole family, and he is looking forward to returning to China and SDC again. First, however, he looks forward to visiting the Danish universities and meeting SDC’s key contacts within education and research to hear their views on where they see potential and how it can be strengthened.
Nis Høyrup Christensen succeeds Morten Laugesen, who has served as the Danish Director of SDC since 2017.