Dreyer should take responsibility and avert layoffs

See the list of all signing departments at the bottom of the post.

Dear Rector,

We write to you as members of the departmental faculty boards at SCIENCE, with responsibility for advising management on academic matters, as well as on the leadership and financial decisions tied to them. We see ourselves as guardians of the quality of the faculty’s core mission.

As researchers, we are trained to understand the world. And we are good at it: there is nothing but success in research, teaching, and public engagement. Our contributions are recognized internationally, and we bring in external funding at unprecedented levels.

Everyone knows the destructive impact of mass redundancies at a university

It is therefore deeply frustrating when we cannot make sense of our own institution. Why are these achievements met with surprises such as deficits, hiring freezes, and now the prospect of mass layoffs at our faculty? No one understands what has happened, and still less why management’s current plan should be the answer.

READ ALSO: Faculty of Science freezes all hiring to stem financial shortfall

The questions are piling up

This was why our colleagues, the staff representatives, with support from the Academic Council, published an open letter to the Board in The University Post on 23 June (in Danish). They described the situation clearly and insightfully. To date, no reply has been given.

The questions only grow more urgent. For this reason, we feel obliged to write to you directly as rector of the University of Copenhagen. As the new rector, you face the major challenge of securing the university’s finances for the future, including those of SCIENCE. A good first step was the KPMG report from February (in Danish), which identified two principal causes of the current deficit at our faculty:

1. UCPH has reduced SCIENCE’s funding by DKK 89 million annually, arguing that the operating costs of the new Niels Bohr Building and the new Natural History Museum will increase UCPH’s central budget for buildings. When fully in use, these two facilities will cover 82,000 square meters, which KU Buildings estimates will cost DKK 1,080 per square meter to operate. These costs are charged directly to the faculty.
2. After the administrative reform, SCIENCE faces an annual shortfall of DKK 44 million between the mandated cuts to our financial framework and the faculty’s actual cost reductions. The reform was supposed to be cost-neutral for faculties. Instead, UCPH has removed more salary funds than SCIENCE actually spent on its administrative staff before they were transferred to central units.

Together, these two factors create an annual loss of DKK 133 million from 2026 onwards, reducing the budget for all activities at SCIENCE to DKK 646 million. By comparison, UCPH spends DKK four billion each year on buildings and central administration.

The consequences will be nothing short of disastrous by international standards

A solution that benefits more

Instead of tackling these structural costs, the management of UCPH now proposes cuts that strike directly at the university’s core functions. This undermines our ability to conduct world-class research, teaching, and public engagement.

It also threatens UCPH’s international reputation and its capacity to attract talented colleagues. If tenured faculty – associate professors and professors – are dismissed, the consequences will be nothing short of disastrous by international standards.

READ ALSO: Faculty of Science braces for tough choices as budget gap widens

Now we have a new rector and a new dean, while no one holds the existing staff responsible for what has happened. This is a strong basis for finding a better solution – not only for SCIENCE but for the whole of UCPH – so that we can continue to be the best place for the best ideas, and a source of benefit to Danish society.

To that end, we urge you to prioritize three crucial issues:

1. Don’t make SCIENCE pay for building-related inaction

The rising costs of UCPH’s buildings have long been known. In October 2020, the university launched a major campus plan with the goal of reducing building expenses to below 20 percent of the revenue.

The Nørre Campus plan should have been completed by mid-2023. What has happened to it?

UCPH’s 2021 campus report (in Danish) described how cost reductions would be achieved through optimization, consolidation, and vacating of space, offsetting the extra costs of the Niels Bohr Building and the Natural History Museum. At that time, the extra costs were estimated at DKK 93 million annually. According to UCPH’s website, the Nørre Campus plan should have been completed by mid-2023. What has happened to it?

Since 2020, UCPH Buildings has had full responsibility for this area, and the responsibility therefore lies centrally, not with the faculties. We urge you as rector to ensure that SCIENCE’s financial framework for its core activities is not reduced by building costs that should be handled centrally. Instead, the Nørre Campus planning process should resume urgently, with a realistic vision of the space SCIENCE should occupy in the future. We are ready to contribute to that process.

2. Use the correct figures to calculate cost reductions

The administrative reform was intended to generate DKK 300 million annually for the university’s core activities. That promise has yet to materialize. Worse still, SCIENCE’s budget is reduced by DKK 44 million more each year than the actual administrative cost reduction. This forces cuts to our research, teaching, and public engagement.

We therefore urge you to ensure that the reduction to SCIENCE’s financial framework does not exceed the real cost reduction from the administrative reform. We call for full transparency and for cuts to reflect the faculty’s actual cost reduction, not inflated figures.

3. Avoid layoffs at all costs

Even with new calculations, SCIENCE may still face a deficit. The amount may be large or small. But above all, time must be taken to restore financial balance without resorting to layoffs.

Good leadership must address these underlying causes, not shift the burden onto those who deliver

Everyone knows the destructive impact of mass redundancies at a university – on academic and administrative staff alike, and on those who leave as well as those who remain. Not only will there be fewer of us sharing the workload, but morale and performance will inevitably suffer. Neither UCPH, nor the Danish society can afford that.

We therefore urge you to weigh carefully what is best for the entire university: the current plan to balance SCIENCE’s budget by 2027, or an alternative that allows more time, ensuring that layoffs can be avoided.

We trust you to lead wisely

Like you, we value prudence, responsibility, and balanced budgets. These are sound goals and hallmarks of good leadership in any organization.

But the present crisis at SCIENCE stems from central issues in UCPH’s management of buildings and administration. Good leadership must address these underlying causes, not shift the burden onto those who deliver on the university’s core mission.

READ ALSO: Faculty of Science layoffs »absurd«, says award-winning staff rep

Research, education, and public engagement have been and still are, the lifeblood of UCPH since 1479. And with wise leadership they can remain so for generations to come.

With respect, and in the hope of open dialogue,

The Departmental Faculty Boards at the following institutes (excluding members of the department leaderships):

Department of Biology
Department of Chemistry
Department of Computer Science
Department of Food and Resource Economics
Department of Food Science
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
Department of Science Education
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Niels Bohr Institute