We have just had the elections in the United States: Now it’s time for the elections at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).

On Friday 8 November, all lists and candidates for the university elections were announced. You can find a complete overview of the elections on the UCPH intranet.

READ ALSO: The Board of the University: What you need to know

In this overview, we present all the leading candidates for the students who are competing for a place in the the Board, and we have asked them to tell us what their key issues are.

We have not included supporting lists for the larger joint candidacy lists.

In addition to the election for the Board, there are elections this year for seats on the Academic Council, the boards of studies and the PhD committees.

Voting takes place 25 to 29 November, and the election results will be announced 4 December.

The list is ranked according to voting percentages in last year’s election.

Meet the students’ leading candidates

The Student Council

Leading candidate: Dogukan Jesper Gür is a student of medicine on his sixth semester.

The Student Council will fight for:

1. Influence on education and quality in teaching.
2. A green and sustainable university.
3. A university for everyone.

Frit Forum (Free forum)

Leading candidate: Nikoline Prehn, a student of political science.

The Frit Forum key issues are:

1. Student involvement in the Danish reforms of the master’s degree programme. From the moment that the Danish committee on the master’s reform submits its report, a long process of university implementation of the reform will begin. For Frit Forum, it is absolutely crucial that students have a seat at the table when the reform is to be implemented locally if it is to be a success.
2. Free sanitary pads and tampons. We believe that UCPH should strive to place all students on an equal footing. One effective approach is to purchase pads and tampons, which need to be made available for students free of charge.
3. An independent climate council at UCPH. UCPH should have an independent climate council made up of students and researchers to ensure that the university lives up to its sustainability targets.

Conservative Students

Leading candidate: Josefine Paaske, student of political science.

Conservative Students’ core issues:

1. More feedback. Conservative Students suggested to the prorector back in the spring that higher priority should be given to giving students feedback. It is no good just getting a grade number, half way after a big assignment, that does not help you improve. All teaching staff should have more hours allocated for student feedback.
2. Freedom of speech and academic freedom are core values. The university’s primary purpose is to teach, conduct research, and create new knowledge. Freedom of research, and academic freedom, must therefore always be protected. In Conservative Students we are determined to defend these freedoms, so that collaboration with foreign universities and free research is always possible. From our perspective, there should also be zero tolerance of the sabotage of teaching and work at UCPH.
3. It should be easier to find an internship and go on exchange. Many students want to do an internship or go on exchange to get the experiences of a lifetime. The admissions process for internships and exchange programmes is far too bureaucratic and unpredictable. This leads to unnecessary challenges for many students and makes the entire process more difficult than necessary.

The Economics Council

Leading candidate: Christian Alejandro Ramon, is a first semester student of economics on the master’s programme.

The Economics Council’s key issues are:

1. Better conditions for students with functional impairments. There needs to be better accessibility for people with functional impairments, and they must be given the necessary assistance so they are included in classroom instruction, lectures and exams.
2. Better study environment for all. Sexual harassment and sexism remain a significant problem at UCPH. We will fight for a culture change and a safe and inclusive study environment for all.
3. More autonomy for the study programmes. The individual degree programmes know best themselves how to meet the students’ needs. But management regulations and regulations have had the study programmes making compromises on quality. We will fight for more local self-determination.

Lau and Anders – Fight for UCPH sports clubs!

Lau Safin and Anders Hoeck are both third semester students of machine learning and data science.

The list insists on fielding two leadíng candidates, as they »are one and the same person and will be united in this project all the way.«

The key issues for the list are:

1. Health and well-being. As individuals we can best make a difference in the world if we invest in each others’ health and well-being. A lecturer in well-being will create enriching lectures, and students in well-being create enriching study environments.
2. Better conditions for UCPH sports clubs. Structural challenges on campus limit the ability of sports associations to develop. We want to encourage a few simple solutions to improve accessibility to health and well-being across different education programmes.
3. Transparency and accessible management. By setting up a wider and more open dialogue between management and students, the relevant needs can be more easily represented, and more effective solutions can be found. We believe that more face-to-face contact will motivate commitment from all parties.

The Book

Leading candidate: Laurits Leander Jensen, seventh semester medical student.

The key issues on The Book list are:

1. Less loneliness. Priority should be given to the freedom to set up social communities — rather than the freedom to feel left out.
2. The university is not a playground, and professionalism should come first. It should however be the students’ prerogative to assess the extent to which they can activate each other and promote well-being.
3. Quota 2 on the Danish admissions system should be increased at the University of Copenhagen to ensure true diversity.
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