Nano-science professor hired as new prorector

The University of Copenhagen’s board of management has named a new prorector, finally replacing Lykke Friis who became a government minister last year. It will be Professor Thomas Bjørnholm, according to the university website ku.dk.

The decision to rehire was originally controversial, with staff representatives on the University of Copenhagen’s General Collaboration Committee protesting the decision. The staff reps called for no new prorector to be hired while university employees are being fired.

The new prorector Bjørnholm has a PhD in materials chemistry from the University of Copenhagen and has spent the past ten years working with nano-science and synthetic biology.

»Both areas come to include humanities as well as social sciences where advantages and drawbacks in new technologies are assessed in a social context,« the press release states.

uni-avis@adm.ku.dk