Originally from Hungary, Attila Roth moved to Denmark right after high school, where he completed a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering. He then spent three years as a structural engineer at a consulting company, designing load-bearing structures for more than 30 projects across various materials. The job taught him plenty, and inspired him to dive deeper into the field. So, he enroled to the MSc in Structural and Civil Engineering at Aalborg University’s Department of the Built Environment (AAU BUILD). It was a natural next step: he’d already built his career around structural design, and that interest hadn’t changed.
At AAU BUILD, Roth found a teaching style built around solving real problems. “There is a strong focus on project work, where students have the opportunity each semester to work on a problem that often comes from real life, for example, from industry,” he says.
This approach heavily influenced Roth’s decision to stay at AAU BUILD to pursue a PhD. He focused his research on ensuring sustainable construction materials are safe and reliable for use in load-bearing structures.
At AAU BUILD, students tackle sustainability, engineering and environmental challenges hands-on — working in groups on real-life problems with research-active staff and external partners. Source: Aalborg University
Learning by solving
The AAU experience revolves around Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Better known internationally as the Aalborg Model, it has earned global recognition, with UNESCO establishing its only Professorial Chair in PBL at AAU. Every semester, students work in teams on a major project, often based on a real-world challenge presented by an industry partner. Rather than spending months learning theory before putting it into practice, students apply what they are learning as they go.
The process starts with defining the problem itself. Students need to figure out which question they are trying to answer and where the project’s limits should be. From there, they research, test ideas, build models, and develop solutions, with guidance from an academic supervisor throughout the project. “Without a clear problem to solve, it becomes much harder to find a solution,” Roth says. “Problem formulation and delimitation at the beginning are important.”
At the end of each semester, students will take time to reflect on the project, looking at what worked well and what they would do differently next time. Those lessons then feed into the next project. The coursework is closely connected to this process. Lectures introduce theories and methods, while projects give students the chance to put them into practice. Even smaller assignments are often drawn from practical, workplace scenarios, helping students build the skills they need before tackling larger challenges.
“The semester projects usually build on the knowledge students gain from their courses,” Roth says. “In that way, there is a clear link between the courses and the project work.”
AAU ranks in the top 2% of 17,000 universities worldwide and ninth globally for contributions to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Source: Aalborg University
When an industry issue becomes your master’s thesis
For Roth, everything came into focus during his master’s thesis. He worked on steel monopiles — the large shell structures driven into the seabed to support offshore wind turbines. The project came from a company that designs monopiles and had identified a practical gap: their standard formulas for buckling resistance kept predicting weaker performance than what the structures actually showed in practice. The question was whether those methods could be refined.
“As part of the project, we used numerical simulations and had the opportunity to use the university’s high-performance computing platforms, which enabled us to achieve what we had set out to do at the beginning,” Roth says.
The project combined structural mechanics, advanced modelling, and direct collaboration with an industry partner. This is central to how AAU BUILD approaches education — all teaching is research-based and delivered by active researchers. “The lecturers in the master’s programme are usually active researchers in their fields, and they bring those skills and perspectives into education,” Roth says. “The master’s thesis in particular allows students to experience research-oriented work and understand what it involves.”
Programmes built around urgent challenges
AAU BUILD offers four English-taught master’s programmes, each addressing a distinct set of global challenges in the built environment.
The MSc in Structural and Civil Engineering covers complex structures and infrastructure, including bridge design and high-rise buildings, alongside analysing how natural forces like waves and wind affect heavy structures. Students use computer simulations and physical experiments, often with industry partners, to tackle challenges like foundation design and structural buckling. The MSc in Indoor Environmental and Energy Engineering focuses on energy-efficient buildings and healthy indoor climates, with projects covering ventilation improvements and energy modelling for both new and existing buildings.
The MSc in Water and Environmental Engineering tackles environmental challenges, encompassing polluted industrial groundwater through to flood-prone urban areas. Students combine field measurements with laboratory analysis and computer modelling to develop solutions — from wastewater treatment and drainage design through to groundwater protection. The MSc in Geography takes the broadest view, examining the relationship between people, environment and society through fieldwork and project work spanning urban planning and natural resource management.
Across all four, the PBL model shapes how students engage — through group collaboration and laboratory work, with semester projects that reflect real professional challenges.
Learn more about Aalborg University’s Department of the Built Environment.
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