130 researcher testimonies expose a culture of fear and silence at Danish universities

Researchers at Danish universities are increasingly finding that speaking out can have consequences.

This is according to a new campaign by the Movement for a Free Academia Forskerbevægelsen, which has brought together 130 anonymous testimonies from researchers across the country. They describe everything from work environments marked by fear and managerial pressure, to social exclusion and career-related reprisals.

The campaign is called #SafeToSpeak and, according to the Movement for a Free Academia, gives a voice to the many researchers who are afraid to speak out.

»Numbers and statistics don’t move people, but stories and emotions do,« says Maria Toft, founder  and board member in the organisation.

»We know from many studies that academic freedom is under pressure, but numbers quickly get drowned out by politics. It’s only when you read about the people behind the statistics that the full impact hits home,« she explains to the University Post.

The problems cannot be solved without a critical look at how universities are governed, the organisation argues.

Cycle of coercion

The 130 personal stories have been collected during the autumn of 2025 and range from PhD students to professors, from the natural sciences to the humanities.

What they have in common is the sense that even mild criticism of management decisions triggers off sanctions.

One account describes how a researcher was pressured to rewrite parts of an article because the results were seen as politically inconvenient.

Others speak of being denied promotions or removed from projects after raising legitimate concerns about leadership.

»It’s rarely just one incident,« says Maria Toft, and continues:

»It’s a pattern of many small and large pressures that together create a climate you could justifiably be described as psychological violence. And when colleagues see it happening, the fear spreads. You learn that speaking up isn’t worth it.«

Widespread silence

Several researchers report that they refrain from speaking out — both internally and publicly — out of fears of retaliation. This applies in particular to temporary staff and to those in controversial fields.

According to the Movement for a Free Academia, universities have cultivated a climate of fear and silence, where criticism is seen as disloyalty.

»Union representatives say it’s almost dangerous to step forward. You risk being fired. That says a lot about where we are,« says Maria Toft.

One of the testimonies confirms exactly that picture.

»No one at my department dared run for office as union rep after the previous one was dismissed for speaking critically about management decisions,« it reads.

According to Maria Toft, the problem is not just poor management, but the very structure of the Danish University Act, which, in her words, centralised decision-making in 2003 without independent or democratic checks and balances.

»At first, you couldn’t feel the difference, but now the old type of managers are gone. Democratic culture has been replaced by an almost militarised top-down management style, and the silence reinforces itself,« she says.

System without a safety net

The testimonies paint a picture of researchers being pushed out of their academic communities — or out of research altogether.

One of them recounts how they were isolated from their research group and removed from publications. Others describe threats, harassment, and stress-related sick leave.

Several of the personal stories mention that complaints about management end up with the very same managers that the complaints are about — and that the outcome is often sick leave, not justice.

»My own complaint which included reprisals from management was handled by the very same managers who it concerned. Unsurprisingly, they decided to show mercy towards themselves,« writes one researcher.

According to Maria Toft, the consequences ripple outwards:

»When fear takes hold of the system, critical voices disappear. It creates a contagion of silence, where those who thrive in that culture often end up in leadership roles. That’s a democratic problem — not just a workplace problem,« she says.

The Movement for a Free Academia argues that Denmark is left with a system where researchers, in practice, lack legal protections. The in-house structures — academic councils, workplace safety committees, and union representatives — lack independence, and  unions are criticised for being too passive.

»In Norway, far more complaints are lodged on behalf of researchers than in Denmark. Here, almost nothing happens — even when people are clearly subjected to reprisals,« says Maria Toft.

Minister: »I think it’s serious«

For the Movement for a Free Academia, #SafeToSpeak is not just about mapping out the problems — it’s also about starting a conversation on university governance.

That’s why the movement has presented the collected testimonies to Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund.

In the new national research policy agreement published 6 November, and backed by nearly the entire Danish parliament, the importance of academic freedom is explicitly addressed, according to the minister.

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The agreement allocates funding to strengthen academic freedom and promote a more open climate for debate at universities. As part of this, a national summit on academic freedom will be held in early 2026, where researchers, university managers, and politicians will meet up to take stock of the state of free research.

»We now agree that the principles and values that protect researchers’ freedom and the free exchange of ideas are something we have chosen to safeguard through legislation. I think that sends a very strong signal from Denmark — especially at a time when those safeguards are weakening in other parts of the world,« said Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund in an interview with the University Post.

In an interview with the University Post, she elaborates on her response to the Movement for a Free Academia’s #SafeToSpeak campaign and the 130 testimonies of fear and pressure in research:

»I think it’s serious. Especially the part about how certain topics in society have become so difficult to talk about that researchers lose the courage to engage with them. That’s not acceptable. It undermines freedom of thought.«

The minister points to a 2023 survey of Danish research on antisemitism, which showed that there is very little current research in the field in Denmark.

»I can easily imagine that this is linked to the taboo around the topic, making it easier to focus on something else — but that’s not acceptable either,« says Christina Egelund, and continues:

»It’s extremely important that we have open dialogue within and around research communities — just because you research a topic doesn’t mean you should personally be held accountable for all possible opinions. We fall short as a society if we don’t dare to do research on difficult subjects.«

Encouraging signs

The Movement for a Free Academia says it is a step in the right direction that academic freedom is now an explicit political goal.

»We’re genuinely pleased that politicians from across the political spectrum have now recognised that academic freedom in Denmark is under serious pressure,« writes UCPH associate professor and Movement for a Free Academia board member Jes Søe Pedersen in a written comment on the University Post.

»Testimonies from our own #SafeToSpeak campaign are just the latest in a long series over recent years.«

He argues that society as a whole loses out when academic freedom is compromised.

»It’s a form of pressure that stops researchers from speaking out freely — whether at the university or in public debate. A pressure that prevents researchers from investigating topics and asking the questions that research itself identifies as the most important. This means society doesn’t get full value for the billions that it invests in research,« he writes.

According to Jes Søe Pedersen, the new research policy agreement marks the end of the era of lip service to academic freedom.

That the minister is planning a summit where researchers will be given the floor is seen by the movement as a sign that dialogue is finally opening up:

»It’s a promising first step towards a future where trust in knowledge and academic freedom is more important than ever.«

This article was first written in Danish and published on 12 November 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.