University made DKK 275 million in 2011

2011 has been a good year for University of Copenhagen, economically speaking. The prognosis after the third quarter now shows that a whopping DKK 275 million can be put aside for next year’s budget. And that means that the University’s capital reserves are closing in on DKK 1 billion.

University director, Jørgen Honoré, is happy with that he calls a good result.

»It’s gone better than expected, as the faculties and departments have acted very cautiously as a result of the uncertainty about the economic situation in 2013 and 2014. We can be proud that our revenues are now at nearly DKK 8 billion. This means we’ve reached the EUR 1 billion mark, bringing us up to the level of the other major universities of the world which we compare ourselves to,« says the university director.

Researchers helped reaching surplus

One reason for the surplus is the research projects grant revenue post of DKK 100 million. This is much higher than was originally budgeted for, according to Jørgen Honoré. Researchers have been successful at getting resources from both government and private research funds in 2011. Besides this, the university has saved DKK 16.5 million on operating costs.

A decline in the university staff wage sum has also helped. The scientific staff wage sum has fallen by DKK 60 million, while the administrative staff wages fell by DKK 56.3 million. On the other hand, wages for technical-administrative staff working with research and teaching has risen by DKK 81.2 million due to a number of new big research centres.

However, the university director warns, the wages of scientic staff will likely rise again in 2012, as the fall in 2011 is due to timely procedures in hiring new scientists.

Income from real estate

Nearly DKK 60 million of the budget surplus is due to a rise in value of the university buildings. This means that not all of the money to be put aside is ‘ready for use’.

»It corresponds to people’s houses increasing in value, so it is not a question of cash that we can dispose of,« says Jørgen Honoré.

clba@adm.ku.dk

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