{"id":178162,"date":"2025-06-15T10:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T08:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/rektor-paa-folkemoedet-forskning-med-militaere-perspektiver-rykker-taettere-paa-ku\/"},"modified":"2025-06-16T13:07:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T11:07:20","slug":"university-of-copenhagen-rector-warns-of-military-shift-in-research-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/university-of-copenhagen-rector-warns-of-military-shift-in-research-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Copenhagen rector warns of military shift in research agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"

F-16 fighter jets roared over the Danish annual political festival Folkem\u00f8det<\/em> on the island of Bornholm last weekend. Police have since told Danish media that the flights were intended \u00bbto demonstrate vigilance and deterrence in the Baltic Sea region\u00ab.<\/p>\n

Apart from making festival-goers look up at the sky simultaneously, the jets were a symbolic backdrop to the debate in the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) tent.<\/p>\n

Here, UCPH rector David Dreyer Lassen and Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund (Moderates) were part of a panel discussing how research and innovation should adapt to the new, more conflict-ridden world.<\/p>\n

We have areas \u2014 particularly in quantum research \u2014 where military applications could, in the long term, become possible<\/p>\n

David Dreyer Lassen, rector<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The minister and rector agreed that military technology is likely to play a much greater role in future Danish research.<\/p>\n

\u00bbDual-use has to be considered in future research investments,\u00ab said the minister.<\/p>\n

Dual-use refers to products and technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes. Unlike in the US, universities in Europe have long been hesitant to pursue military technology research.<\/p>\n

But with the fluid international situation we may be on the brink of a shift in paradigm.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> NATO centre co-operation is not \u00bbguns and ammo\u00ab<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The University Post caught up with Rector David Dreyer Lassen after the debate to ask him what this shift could mean in practice at the University of Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

Mental shift<\/h3>\n

According to the rector, Europe is going through a shift in thinking when it comes to research that might have military applications.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIn the past, we in Europe were concerned how civilian technologies might be used militarily. The Americans flipped this around: They often develop technologies for military purposes first \u2014 and then it turns out they have civilian uses too. The internet is a classic example,\u00ab he said.<\/p>\n

\u00bbSo if you reject everything that might have military applications from the outset, you risk losing access to valuable opportunities\u00ab<\/p>\n

Those conducting this kind of research might have to conduct their work under tighter security, to prevent results from falling into the wrong hands prematurely<\/p>\n

David Dreyer Lassen, rector<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Asked what a shift in attitudes to dual-use research could mean for UCPH, David Dreyer Lassen responded that the university \u2014 at least in the short term \u2014 is unlikely to see major changes in its day-to-day operations. Most research at UCPH is many steps away from being finished technology.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe research we do is at the lower end of what\u2019s called the technological readiness level. That means we rarely develop final technologies \u2014 that\u2019s more typical at technical universities,\u00ab said the rector.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, there are fields where UCPH is already conducting research that could, in principle, have military applications.<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe have areas \u2014 particularly in quantum research \u2014 where military applications could, in the long term, become possible. That\u2019s also one of the reasons why former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Niels Bohr Institute,\u00ab said David Dreyer Lassen.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> What on earth was the US Secretary of State doing at the University of Copenhagen?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

More security and new questions<\/h3>\n

In the wake of debates over dual-use, there emerge questions about security and ethics, David Dreyer Lassen emphasised.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThose conducting this kind of research might have to conduct their work under tighter security, to prevent results falling into the wrong hands prematurely,\u00ab said the rector.<\/p>\n

According to David Dreyer Lassen, it will especially be at the Niels Bohr Institute that a shift toward more dual-use research could be on the drawing board.<\/p>\n

\u00bbBut of course, this is something we need to have a thorough internal discussion about. What can we do? What do we want to do?\u00ab said the rector.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO: <\/strong>\u00bbDoes your work end up in Tehran?\u00ab Researchers say new Danish secret service campaign is racist<\/a><\/em>
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Egelund (left) and David Dreyer Lassen (centre) discuss dual-use research at the Danish Folkem\u00f8det political festival."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Research","text":"David Dreyer Lassen sees a shift in the EU\u2019s view on dual-use technology with both civilian and military applications. UCPH needs to decide where it will draw the line itself.","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":true,"user":{"ID":106,"user_firstname":"Martin Juhl","user_lastname":"","nickname":"Martin_Juhl","user_nicename":"martin_juhl_petersen","display_name":"Martin Juhl","user_email":"mjp@uniavisen.dk","user_url":"","user_registered":"2024-03-11 12:15:37","user_description":"","user_avatar":"<img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1797e6a2f5504b0011d25ea810ff777cf9961880304ebea2975858e118970e05?s=96&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1797e6a2f5504b0011d25ea810ff777cf9961880304ebea2975858e118970e05?s=192&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' loading='lazy' decoding='async'\/>"},"contributor_name":"","contributor_title":"","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>F-16 fighter jets roared over the Danish annual political festival <em>Folkem\u00f8det<\/em> on the island of Bornholm last weekend. Police have since told Danish media that the flights were intended \u00bbto demonstrate vigilance and deterrence in the Baltic Sea region\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p>Apart from making festival-goers look up at the sky simultaneously, the jets were a symbolic backdrop to the debate in the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) tent.<\/p>\n<p>Here, UCPH rector David Dreyer Lassen and Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund (Moderates) were part of a panel discussing how research and innovation should adapt to the new, more conflict-ridden world.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We have areas \u2014 particularly in quantum research \u2014 where military applications could, in the long term, become possible<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">David Dreyer Lassen, rector<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The minister and rector agreed that military technology is likely to play a much greater role in future Danish research.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbDual-use has to be considered in future research investments,\u00ab said the minister.<\/p>\n<p>Dual-use refers to products and technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes. Unlike in the US, universities in Europe have long been hesitant to pursue military technology research.<\/p>\n<p>But with the fluid international situation we may be on the brink of a shift in paradigm.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/nato-centre-co-operation-is-not-guns-and-ammo\/\"><em>NATO centre co-operation is not \u00bbguns and ammo\u00ab<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The University Post caught up with Rector David Dreyer Lassen after the debate to ask him what this shift could mean in practice at the University of Copenhagen.<\/p>\n<h3>Mental shift<\/h3>\n<p>According to the rector, Europe is going through a shift in thinking when it comes to research that might have military applications.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIn the past, we in Europe were concerned how civilian technologies might be used militarily. The Americans flipped this around: They often develop technologies for military purposes first \u2014 and then it turns out they have civilian uses too. The internet is a classic example,\u00ab he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSo if you reject everything that might have military applications from the outset, you risk losing access to valuable opportunities\u00ab<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Those conducting this kind of research might have to conduct their work under tighter security, to prevent results from falling into the wrong hands prematurely<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">David Dreyer Lassen, rector<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Asked what a shift in attitudes to dual-use research could mean for UCPH, David Dreyer Lassen responded that the university \u2014 at least in the short term \u2014 is unlikely to see major changes in its day-to-day operations. Most research at UCPH is many steps away from being finished technology.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe research we do is at the lower end of what\u2019s called the technological readiness level. That means we rarely develop final technologies \u2014 that\u2019s more typical at technical universities,\u00ab said the rector.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, there are fields where UCPH is already conducting research that could, in principle, have military applications.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe have areas \u2014 particularly in quantum research \u2014 where military applications could, in the long term, become possible. That\u2019s also one of the reasons why former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Niels Bohr Institute,\u00ab said David Dreyer Lassen.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/what-on-earth-was-the-us-secretary-of-state-doing-at-the-university-of-copenhagen\/\">What on earth was the US Secretary of State doing at the University of Copenhagen?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3>More security and new questions<\/h3>\n<p>In the wake of debates over dual-use, there emerge questions about security and ethics, David Dreyer Lassen emphasised.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThose conducting this kind of research might have to conduct their work under tighter security, to prevent results falling into the wrong hands prematurely,\u00ab said the rector.<\/p>\n<p>According to David Dreyer Lassen, it will especially be at the Niels Bohr Institute that a shift toward more dual-use research could be on the drawing board.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbBut of course, this is something we need to have a thorough internal discussion about. What can we do? What do we want to do?\u00ab said the rector.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO: <\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/will-your-work-end-up-in-tehran-researchers-say-new-danish-secret-service-campaign-is-racist\/\">\u00bbDoes your work end up in Tehran?\u00ab Researchers say new Danish secret service campaign is racist<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and top University of Copenhagen stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":831,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11488,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/billedefrafolkemoede-1280x960.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178162"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178222,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178162\/revisions\/178222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}