{"id":181179,"date":"2025-09-15T11:25:39","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T09:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/prisbeloennet-ku-tillidsrepraesentant-fyringstruslen-paa-science-er-grotesk\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:05:33","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T13:05:33","slug":"faculty-of-science-layoffs-absurd-says-award-winning-staff-rep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/faculty-of-science-layoffs-absurd-says-award-winning-staff-rep\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty of Science layoffs \u00bbabsurd\u00ab, says award-winning staff rep"},"content":{"rendered":"

N<\/span>ynne Christensen thought on 26 August that she was on her way to a meeting with a colleague who needed to discuss an HR issue. But she was surprised by a group of elated colleagues and photographers in the Biocenter canteen \u2014 and handed a bouquet by Janne Gleerup, chair of the academics’ trade union DM.<\/p>\n

\n

DM\u2019s STaff REP Award<\/p>\n

With its annual tillidspris <\/em>[confidence\u00a0award, ed.], the DM union honours staff representatives who make a difference in the workplace every day.<\/p>\n

The winner gets a DKK 10,000 prize.<\/p>\n

DM says that nominations came in from a wide range of workplaces, though the exact number is confidential.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s prize went to specialist consultant Nynne Christensen<\/strong>, union representative for technical and administrative staff (TAP) at the Faculty of Science, UCPH. The award was presented at a ceremony on 26 August.<\/p>\n

\u00bbStaff representatives are the backbone of DM\u2019s work. They are crucial to our ability to fight for members\u2019 interests and ensure them a good working life. This is what we want to highlight with the award,\u00ab says Janne Gleerup, chair of DM.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Nynne Christensen, who is head union representative for technical-administrative (TAP) staff at the Faculty of Science, found herself at the centre of a surprise ceremony as this year\u2019s recipient of the union’s DM staff rep award Tillidsprisen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Janne Gleerup explained that Nynne Christensen received the award because she \u00bbhas stepped up when times were tough and has remained committed to dignity, decency, and community in a period of upheaval and uncertainty. In short, she embodies everything you want in a skilled staff representative.\u00ab<\/p>\n

The University Post caught up with this year\u2019s award winner the day after the surprise ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI\u2019m really happy that all my lovely colleagues nominated me,\u00ab she said. \u00bbBut I see the award as recognition of the whole team. I\u2019m proud of it, but I also have to say that none of this work would have been possible without the support of my entire union rep team.\u00ab<\/p>\n

A tough year<\/h3>\n

The work of a staff representative at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) has been demanding lately, says Nynne Christensen. Especially this past year, which she describes as \u00bbturbulent\u00ab.<\/p>\n

First came the big reform to the UCPH administration that overhauled the entire structure, with serious consequences for many of the employees she represents.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe administration reform has been hugely costly. And it\u2019s been tough that here at the Faculty of Science, where we then ran straight into a big budget deficit \u2014 which we now have to deal with.\u00ab<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve gone from one major upheaval to the next. And we\u2019re left with some staff who feel they haven\u2019t been listened to<\/p>\n

Nynne Christensen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The reform took effect on 1 March 2025. In May, Dean of the Faculty of Science Bo Jellesmark Thorsen announced that the faculty was facing a budget deficit in the hundreds of millions of kroner range \u2014 partly due to rising operating costs for new buildings, especially the Niels Bohr Building. He also stated that the deficit must be resolved by the end of 2027, and that layoffs were likely.<\/p>\n

Staff at the Faculty of Science are struggling to make sense of the numbers, says Nynne Christensen, and the looming layoffs are undermining morale:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt feels like an ongoing process \u2014 one major disruption after another. And we\u2019re left with some staff who have been under intense pressure because they feel they haven\u2019t been listened to\u00ab.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO<\/strong>: Faculty of Science braces for tough choices as budget gap widens<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00bbIt feels absurd\u00ab<\/h3>\n

Nynne Christensen has experienced several rounds of layoffs in her ten years as a staff representative. But this one is different, she says:<\/p>\n

\u00bbPreviously, it\u2019s been outside forces \u2014 the government, for example \u2014 that suddenly pulls out the rug from under the universities. But this time it feels like UCPH has brought the situation upon itself. Everyone has known for a long time that these big prestige building projects would come with a hefty price tag.\u00ab<\/p>\n

This is why neither employees nor staff representatives understand the management urgency in pushing through budget cuts:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt feels rash to suddenly start firing a lot of researchers and technical staff. It takes years to build strong research communities, and they\u2019re so easy to destroy.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Staff: We feel crushed by management\u2019s decisions<\/h3>\n

The University Post has been given a sneak peek at the nomination submitted by Nynne Christensen\u2019s colleagues \u2014 the one that convinced the union she was the right choice this year among candidates from across Denmark.
\n
\nOne colleague wrote that she \u00bbis a passionate advocate who fights to make sure that we TAP staff don\u2019t get completely steamrolled, even though management does their best. Nynne has [\u2026] worked tirelessly to understand and communicate the purpose of, the process behind, and the consequences of the UCPH administration reform to all members [\u2026] It\u2019s a largely unappreciated job, and many employees have left or become very upset. But it would have been much, much worse without Nynne speaking up for us.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Nynne Christensen says it\u2019s a difficult time to be a staff representative \u2014 especially because she herself doesn\u2019t fully understand how the faculty ended up in the current situation.<\/p>\n

A large part of the budget deficit is due to the Niels Bohr Building, and she points out that no one yet has a full overview of the operating costs of the delayed, billion-kroner construction project, which is not even fully in use yet:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt just seems absurd to employees \u2014 that the university has taken on responsibility for a building that we now have to keep on endlessly fixing.\u00ab<\/p>\n

She adds that it\u2019s completely unfair that researchers are being made to pay for decisions made far away from them:<\/p>\n

\u00bbThis prestige project didn\u2019t come from the researchers. And it\u2019s really hard to explain to people who work hard to bring in funding and do top-class research that they\u2019re at risk of being laid off.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Give us time!<\/h3>\n

Nynne Christensen says that the staff representatives at the Faculty of Science are trying to get through to management with one urgent appeal: Give us more time \u2014 maybe two to three years \u2014 to turn things around. Use some of the UCPH reserves to organise a transition that people can actually get behind.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe whole point of the administration reform was to free up DKK 300 million for research and teaching. One analysis shows that the reform has cost the Faculty of Science DKK 44 million. And that\u2019s a paradox I still struggle to explain to my people.\u00ab<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really hard to explain to people who work hard to bring in funding and do top-class research that they\u2019re at risk of being laid off<\/p>\n

Nynne Christensen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She adds that many of the employees she represents are experiencing a return of tasks to the departments \u2014 tasks that were supposed to be handled by the new university administration.<\/p>\n

That being a staff representative at Faculty of Science is no small job right now is clear from Nynne Christensen\u2019s calendar.<\/p>\n

She used to spend about an hour a week on staff rep duties \u2014 more, of course, when salary negotiations were underway. Over the past year, this has grown to a full working day each week.<\/p>\n

\u00bbAnd that\u2019s obviously a bit of a problem, because I also have a boss who expects me to do the job I was actually hired to do,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI love my job!\u00ab<\/h3>\n

When I ask Nynne Christensen who she is outside of work, she starts talking about her job \u2014 the one she was originally hired by UCPH to do:<\/p>\n

\u00bbI love my job! It\u2019s amazing. I\u2019m so lucky to work at a core facility with highly advanced microscopes. My area of expertise is operating the microscopes and capturing images. This means researchers come in with their favourite projects and say, I need pictures of this<\/em>.\u00ab<\/p>\n

\u00bbAnd then I learn a thousand things about everything \u2014 one day it\u2019s an ant, a plant, or a fungus. The next it\u2019s a microorganism or a biopsy from an organ. They\u2019re always super committed people with lots of exciting stuff to share. And I try to offer my input so they end up with even better research.\u00ab<\/p>\n

In her free time, she\u2019s mostly outdoors \u2014 rowing, orienteering running, and cycling. Nynne Christensen is a trained biologist with a PhD in cell biology.<\/p>\n

After a few different postdoc positions, she came to a crossroads, she says:<\/p>\n

\u00bbI had to choose between trying to become a professor or doing something else.\u00ab<\/p>\n

She chose the latter:<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe recurring theme in the jobs I had been able to get was microscopy. Then this job came up \u2014 and it\u2019s perfect for me to be part of so many different research projects.\u00ab<\/p>\n

The best and the worst<\/h3>\n

What\u2019s the best thing about being a staff rep at UCPH?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00bbThe best part is having amazing colleagues \u2014 both among the members and my fellow representatives, including those from other organisations.\u00ab<\/p>\n

\u00bbAnd there\u2019s also a really good working relationship with local management.\u00ab<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame, because in the end, we\u2019re all working towards the same goal<\/p>\n

Nynne Christensen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So what\u2019s the worst part?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00bbThe worst is that UCPH is such a big place, and it can feel like the people in central administration don\u2019t fully grasp what\u2019s going on at the other end of the organisation \u2014 and maybe it goes both ways.\u00ab<\/p>\n

The administration reform has pushed administrative staff even further away from the people they\u2019re supposed to serve, says Nynne Christensen:<\/p>\n

\u00bbAnd I worry that this is widening the gap between those in the central offices and us out here at the departments. And that\u2019s a shame, because in the end, we\u2019re all working towards the same goal \u2014 research and teaching.\u00ab<\/p>\n

This article was first written in Danish and published on 4 September 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em>
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Christensen, staff representative for technical and administrative staff at the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Awards","text":"This is a story about what will follow","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p><span class=\"dropcap\">N<\/span>ynne Christensen thought on 26 August that she was on her way to a meeting with a colleague who needed to discuss an HR issue. But she was surprised by a group of elated colleagues and photographers in the Biocenter canteen \u2014 and handed a bouquet by Janne Gleerup, chair of the academics’ trade union DM.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">DM\u2019s STaff REP Award<\/p>\n<p>With its annual <em>tillidspris <\/em>[confidence\u00a0award, ed.], the DM union honours staff representatives who make a difference in the workplace every day.<\/p>\n<p>The winner gets a DKK 10,000 prize.<\/p>\n<p>DM says that nominations came in from a wide range of workplaces, though the exact number is confidential.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s prize went to <strong>specialist consultant Nynne Christensen<\/strong>, union representative for technical and administrative staff (TAP) at the Faculty of Science, UCPH. The award was presented at a ceremony on 26 August.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbStaff representatives are the backbone of DM\u2019s work. They are crucial to our ability to fight for members\u2019 interests and ensure them a good working life. This is what we want to highlight with the award,\u00ab says Janne Gleerup, chair of DM.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Nynne Christensen, who is head union representative for technical-administrative (TAP) staff at the Faculty of Science, found herself at the centre of a surprise ceremony as this year\u2019s recipient of the union’s DM staff rep award <em>Tillidsprisen<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Janne Gleerup explained that Nynne Christensen received the award because she \u00bbhas stepped up when times were tough and has remained committed to dignity, decency, and community in a period of upheaval and uncertainty. In short, she embodies everything you want in a skilled staff representative.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>The University Post caught up with this year\u2019s award winner the day after the surprise ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI\u2019m really happy that all my lovely colleagues nominated me,\u00ab she said. \u00bbBut I see the award as recognition of the whole team. I\u2019m proud of it, but I also have to say that none of this work would have been possible without the support of my entire union rep team.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>A tough year<\/h3>\n<p>The work of a staff representative at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) has been demanding lately, says Nynne Christensen. Especially this past year, which she describes as \u00bbturbulent\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p>First came the big reform to the UCPH administration that overhauled the entire structure, with serious consequences for many of the employees she represents.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe administration reform has been hugely costly. And it\u2019s been tough that here at the Faculty of Science, where we then ran straight into a big budget deficit \u2014 which we now have to deal with.\u00ab<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We\u2019ve gone from one major upheaval to the next. And we\u2019re left with some staff who feel they haven\u2019t been listened to<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Nynne Christensen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The reform took effect on 1 March 2025. In May, Dean of the Faculty of Science Bo Jellesmark Thorsen announced that the faculty was facing a budget deficit in the hundreds of millions of kroner range \u2014 partly due to rising operating costs for new buildings, especially the Niels Bohr Building. He also stated that the deficit must be resolved by the end of 2027, and that layoffs were likely.<\/p>\n<p>Staff at the Faculty of Science are struggling to make sense of the numbers, says Nynne Christensen, and the looming layoffs are undermining morale:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt feels like an ongoing process \u2014 one major disruption after another. And we\u2019re left with some staff who have been under intense pressure because they feel they haven\u2019t been listened to\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/faculty-of-science-braces-for-tough-choices-as-budget-gap-widens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Faculty of Science braces for tough choices as budget gap widens<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>\u00bbIt feels absurd\u00ab<\/h3>\n<p>Nynne Christensen has experienced several rounds of layoffs in her ten years as a staff representative. But this one is different, she says:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbPreviously, it\u2019s been outside forces \u2014 the government, for example \u2014 that suddenly pulls out the rug from under the universities. But this time it feels like UCPH has brought the situation upon itself. Everyone has known for a long time that these big prestige building projects would come with a hefty price tag.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>This is why neither employees nor staff representatives understand the management urgency in pushing through budget cuts:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt feels rash to suddenly start firing a lot of researchers and technical staff. It takes years to build strong research communities, and they\u2019re so easy to destroy.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Staff: We feel crushed by management\u2019s decisions<\/h3>\n<p>The University Post has been given a sneak peek at the nomination submitted by Nynne Christensen\u2019s colleagues \u2014 the one that convinced the union she was the right choice this year among candidates from across Denmark.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Quote","quote":"Nynne is a passionate advocate who fights to make sure that we TAP staff don\u2019t get completely steamrolled, even though management does their best","quotee":"Quote from staff nomination of Nynne Christensen for the DM staff rep award","style":"extended"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>One colleague wrote that she \u00bbis a passionate advocate who fights to make sure that we TAP staff don\u2019t get completely steamrolled, even though management does their best. Nynne has [\u2026] worked tirelessly to understand and communicate the purpose of, the process behind, and the consequences of the UCPH administration reform to all members [\u2026] It\u2019s a largely unappreciated job, and many employees have left or become very upset. But it would have been much, much worse without Nynne speaking up for us.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Nynne Christensen says it\u2019s a difficult time to be a staff representative \u2014 especially because she herself doesn\u2019t fully understand how the faculty ended up in the current situation.<\/p>\n<p>A large part of the budget deficit is due to the Niels Bohr Building, and she points out that no one yet has a full overview of the operating costs of the delayed, billion-kroner construction project, which is not even fully in use yet:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt just seems absurd to employees \u2014 that the university has taken on responsibility for a building that we now have to keep on endlessly fixing.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>She adds that it\u2019s completely unfair that researchers are being made to pay for decisions made far away from them:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThis prestige project didn\u2019t come from the researchers. And it\u2019s really hard to explain to people who work hard to bring in funding and do top-class research that they\u2019re at risk of being laid off.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Give us time!<\/h3>\n<p>Nynne Christensen says that the staff representatives at the Faculty of Science are trying to get through to management with one urgent appeal: Give us more time \u2014 maybe two to three years \u2014 to turn things around. Use some of the UCPH reserves to organise a transition that people can actually get behind.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe whole point of the administration reform was to free up DKK 300 million for research and teaching. One analysis shows that the reform has cost the Faculty of Science DKK 44 million. And that\u2019s a paradox I still struggle to explain to my people.\u00ab<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It\u2019s really hard to explain to people who work hard to bring in funding and do top-class research that they\u2019re at risk of being laid off<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Nynne Christensen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>She adds that many of the employees she represents are experiencing a return of tasks to the departments \u2014 tasks that were supposed to be handled by the new university administration.<\/p>\n<p>That being a staff representative at Faculty of Science is no small job right now is clear from Nynne Christensen\u2019s calendar.<\/p>\n<p>She used to spend about an hour a week on staff rep duties \u2014 more, of course, when salary negotiations were underway. Over the past year, this has grown to a full working day each week.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAnd that\u2019s obviously a bit of a problem, because I also have a boss who expects me to do the job I was actually hired to do,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<h3>\u00bbI love my job!\u00ab<\/h3>\n<p>When I ask Nynne Christensen who she is outside of work, she starts talking about her job \u2014 the one she was originally hired by UCPH to do:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI love my job! It\u2019s amazing. I\u2019m so lucky to work at a core facility with highly advanced microscopes. My area of expertise is operating the microscopes and capturing images. This means researchers come in with their favourite projects and say, <em>I need pictures of this<\/em>.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAnd then I learn a thousand things about everything \u2014 one day it\u2019s an ant, a plant, or a fungus. The next it\u2019s a microorganism or a biopsy from an organ. They\u2019re always super committed people with lots of exciting stuff to share. And I try to offer my input so they end up with even better research.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>In her free time, she\u2019s mostly outdoors \u2014 rowing, orienteering running, and cycling. Nynne Christensen is a trained biologist with a PhD in cell biology.<\/p>\n<p>After a few different postdoc positions, she came to a crossroads, she says:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI had to choose between trying to become a professor or doing something else.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>She chose the latter:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe recurring theme in the jobs I had been able to get was microscopy. Then this job came up \u2014 and it\u2019s perfect for me to be part of so many different research projects.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>The best and the worst<\/h3>\n<p><em>What\u2019s the best thing about being a staff rep at UCPH?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe best part is having amazing colleagues \u2014 both among the members and my fellow representatives, including those from other organisations.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAnd there\u2019s also a really good working relationship with local management.\u00ab<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It\u2019s a shame, because in the end, we\u2019re all working towards the same goal<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Nynne Christensen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>So what\u2019s the worst part?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe worst is that UCPH is such a big place, and it can feel like the people in central administration don\u2019t fully grasp what\u2019s going on at the other end of the organisation \u2014 and maybe it goes both ways.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>The administration reform has pushed administrative staff even further away from the people they\u2019re supposed to serve, says Nynne Christensen:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAnd I worry that this is widening the gap between those in the central offices and us out here at the departments. And that\u2019s a shame, because in the end, we\u2019re all working towards the same goal \u2014 research and teaching.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was first written in Danish and published on 4 September 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/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"}],"expression":{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":798,"filter":"raw"},"enable_comments":true,"align_content":"aligncenter","feature_color":"","article_updated":""},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":4539,"name":"Working environment","slug":"arbejdsmiljoe-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":4539,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":95,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":798,"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\/09\/featured.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181179","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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181179"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181214,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181179\/revisions\/181214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}