Prorector Lykke Friis to take leave

The University of Copenhagen (UCPH) is going to be without its Prorector for Education Lykke Friis from 1st August to 1st December 2017.

She has chosen to take research leave without pay, where she will, among other things, be affiliated with the think-tank European Council of Foreign Relations in Berlin and comment on the German election for Danish broadcaster TV2.

She explains on the UCPH intranet KUnet that a travel grant and the imminent German election will provide her with a unique opportunity to re-engage professionally in her old field of research.

Background in Europe policy

Lykke Friis took her PhD In international politics at the University of Copenhagen in 1997 and has been researching and working with EU and European policy for several years.

She has published scientific articles on the subject, and has lectured in international relations and European politics at the University of Copenhagen and at the Copenhagen Business School, CBS.

From 2003 to 2006, Lykke Friis was employed as head of European policy at the Confederation of Danish Industries, and before this she was research director at the Danish Institute of Foreign Policy, which is now the Danish Institute of International Studies (DIIS).

Not a goodbye

Lykke Friis says on KUnet that UCPH is in the midst of exciting times with Henrik C. Wegener as new rector and a new strategy underway.

She still wants to contribute to all of this.

“Now I will take a break to completely recharge my Europe batteries, but I’m looking forward to coming back in December and resuming work,” says the prorector on KUnet.

Lykke Friis has been Prorector of the University of Copenhagen from 2006 to 2009, where she first became Minister for Climate and Energy, and then also Minister for Gender Equality – and from 2011-2013 a member of parliament.

In 2013, she returned to her old job as prorector.