Universitetsavisen
Nørregade 10
1165 København K
Tlf: 35 32 28 98 (mon-thurs)
E-mail: uni-avis@adm.ku.dk
University of Copenhagen
Independent of management
—
International
Freedom of research — Political censorship in the US forces Danish universities to rethink collaboration. Four UCPH projects have already lost US funding — and more could be on the way.
Thursday last week and Harvard was still Harvard. The eminent university buzzed with the usual mix of ambition, discussion and coffee. But by the afternoon, the mood had shifted.
The shock came from the New York Times, which had revealed that the Trump administration is stripping Harvard of the right to admit international students. Those already enrolled must leave the country — or lose their residence permits.
»It was something we had feared,« says Marc Sabatier Hvidkjær, a Danish-American PhD student at Harvard and political science graduate from the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).
»People were crying. There was real panic. We began planning for a scenario where all international students would be deported.«
We thought we knew the system. And then it is dismantled within a short space of time.
It has not come to that so far. A federal judge in Boston has temporarily halted the decision, citing the risk of »irreparable harm«. But uncertainty continues to weigh heavily on campus..
Harvard has now sued the US government for what the university itself calls a »blatant violation« of the US Constitution.
The situation has also been the cause of anxiety at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH). Rector David Dreyer Lassen describes what is unfolding in the US as »an attack on the established university system«.
»It’s clear that the Trump administration has a plan. They know exactly where to push to undermine university independence. This is not something done in the heat of the moment — it’s deliberate and calculated,« he says.
The rector sees parallels to developments in Hungary and Turkey, where governments with authoritarian tendencies have systematically weakened universities. It surprises many, he says, because it’s happening in the US — but perhaps we should have seen it coming.
»We thought we understood the system. And then it gets dismantled in a short time. That doesn’t happen often in the university sector. But when it does, it’s dramatic,« he says.
The situation directly affects several UCPH students. According to preliminary information from the university, there are currently 25 exchange students from UCPH in the US this semester — four of them PhD students at Harvard.
The University of Copenhagen has already felt the consequences. Four research projects have lost their US federal funding, and more are at risk.
This is because the projects include words like diversity and gender — terms now deemed ideologically charged by the US government and therefore ineligible for public support.
»We had identified a small number of potentially vulnerable projects, and the ones affected belong to that group. It may not come as a surprise, but it is still deeply concerning,« says David Dreyer Lassen, adding that projects containing terms like climate are also at risk.
The funds are being redistributed, and many of us risk being let go.
The University Post has previously spoken to Kim Brinckmann, Deputy Director for Research and Information Security at UCPH, who explained that around 40 UCPH projects rely on US federal funding. Staff and students are urged to exercise caution and consider alternatives to partnerships and stays in the United States.
READ ALSO: UCPH research project shut down after US withdraws funding
The rector believes, however, that the uncertainty will mainly cause researchers to look elsewhere rather than systematically begin to censor themselves.
»I don’t think we’ll see researchers at UCPH significantly change their wording to conform. More likely, many will simply avoid applying for US funding altogether if they don’t know what the rules will be next year,« he says.
Harvard earns vast sums from its international students — a group the university risks having to wave goodbye to if Trump’s plans become reality. On top of this, the US government has already frozen billions in subsidies to Harvard.
And the financial consequences are already being felt at the prestigious university. Marc Sabatier Hvidkjær has been told that scholarships and employment contracts are being renegotiated. Although he is funded by Harvard and not directly dependent on federal funds, he is worried.
»I had hoped for a new contract with an inflation adjustment. Now I just hope I don’t get a 20 per cent pay cut. The funds are being redistributed, and many of us risk being let go,« he says.
He points out that the government’s attack is formally justified as a means of protecting Jewish students from antisemitism — but that the outcomes are contradictory. Harvard has just published a report documenting issues with antisemitism. This report is one of the things that the Trump administration now uses as a pretext to intervene.
»It’s paradoxical. Harvard tries to take the issue seriously, and then it’s used as evidence against them. It’s obvious that the accusation of antisemitism is being used instrumentally, because it provides legal grounds to withdraw funding,« he says.
As universities in the US come under pressure from political demands, censorship and budget cuts, many researchers are turning their gaze to Europe. Several countries are openly considering recruiting the best among those who have lost their jobs to Trump’s culture war. But at the University of Copenhagen, the rector is not looking to act aggressively.
»We should not be standing there with our nets out, fishing in the misfortunes of others. That would be unwise — and lacking in solidarity,« says David Dreyer Lassen.
»We need to be able to achieve things together in Europe […] that realisation has become clearer as the American system loses its stability.«
He fears that an assertive recruitment drive from Europe could harm the international relationships that, for decades, have been marked by collegiality and mutual respect. Instead, UCPH emphasises its role as an open university — but without profiting from others’ crises.
»We can sense that there is growing interest from researchers employed at American universities. And of course, we are pleased that they apply. But it has to happen that way — not through an outreach effort from us,« he says.
Another response is of a more principled nature. UCPH is currently working on a declaration on academic freedom that will clarify the university’s values — not just internally, but outwardly as well.
»We have always agreed on what we stand for as a university. But we haven’t made it explicit. That kind of clarity becomes important when we are repeatedly drawn into political debates,« says David Dreyer Lassen.
The declaration is intended to provide the university with a shared language to navigate by — whether pressure comes from outside or emerges internally. Because the role of UCPH is not to take a stance on everything, but to create space for knowledge, reflection and disagreement.
The question is whether the university — and Danish research more broadly — is slowly beginning to loosen its ties to the United States. The rector does not believe in a sudden break. But he does see a shift:
»When it becomes difficult to plan a stay, and you don’t know whether your funding will be there next year, you naturally start to look elsewhere. It’s not necessarily a choice — it’s a shift that happens in practice.«
And the focus is increasingly turning towards Europe. Universities here are talking to each other more than ever before, and according to David Dreyer Lassen, this is beginning to make an impact on the research landscape.
»We need to be able to achieve things together in Europe. This is about values as well as strategic cooperation. And that realisation has become clearer as the American system loses its stability.«