{"id":183733,"date":"2025-11-13T06:46:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T05:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/130-vidnesbyrd-fra-forskere-afsloerer-udbredt-frygt-og-repressalier-paa-landets-universiteter\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T10:20:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T09:20:55","slug":"130-researcher-testimonies-expose-a-culture-of-fear-and-silence-at-danish-universities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/130-researcher-testimonies-expose-a-culture-of-fear-and-silence-at-danish-universities\/","title":{"rendered":"130 researcher testimonies expose a culture of fear and silence at Danish universities"},"content":{"rendered":"

R<\/span>esearchers at Danish universities are increasingly finding that speaking out can have consequences.<\/p>\n

This is according to a new campaign by the Movement for a Free Academia Forskerbev\u00e6gelsen<\/em><\/a>, which has brought together 130 anonymous testimonies from researchers across the country. They describe everything from work environments marked by fear and managerial pressure, to social exclusion and career-related reprisals.<\/p>\n

\n

130 testimonies<\/p>\n

As part of the #SafeToSpeak campaign, the Movement for a Free Academia Forskerbev\u00e6gelsen<\/em> has brought together 130 anonymous testimonies from researchers across disciplines. Their personal stories fall into seven main categories:<\/p>\n

Employment and career-related sanctions<\/strong>
\nResearchers report being fired, denied promotions, or facing unwarranted reprimands after criticising management.<\/p>\n

Interference with research ethics<\/strong>
\nPressure to change or omit findings, external control of data, and violations of academic independence.<\/p>\n

Social and professional exclusion \/ bullying<\/strong>
\nIsolation, slander, and being shut out of research projects or publications.<\/p>\n

Harassment and threats (internal and external)<\/strong>
\nPersonal attacks, online harassment, threats, and fabricated personnel cases used as pressure tactics.<\/p>\n

Administrative burdens as punishment<\/strong>
\nExcessive documentation requirements, extra tasks, and increased teaching loads as penalties for criticism.<\/p>\n

A combination of all types of reprisals from aggressive management<\/strong>
\nMultiple sanctions at once, often accompanied by stress and psychological strain.<\/p>\n

Identity-based reprisals <\/strong>(gender, ethnicity, political orientation)<\/strong>
\nSexism, discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, or political views.<\/p>\n

Source: Movement for a Free Academia\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The campaign is called #SafeToSpeak<\/em> and, according to the Movement for a Free Academia, gives a voice to the many researchers who are afraid to speak out.<\/p>\n

\u00bbNumbers and statistics don\u2019t move people, but stories and emotions do,\u00ab says Maria Toft, founder\u00a0 and board member in the organisation.<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe know from many studies that academic freedom is under pressure, but numbers quickly get drowned out by politics. It\u2019s only when you read about the people behind the statistics that the full impact hits home,\u00ab she explains to the University Post.<\/p>\n

The problems cannot be solved without a critical look at how universities are governed, the organisation argues.<\/p>\n

Cycle of coercion<\/h3>\n

The 130 personal stories have been collected during the autumn of 2025 and range from PhD students to professors, from the natural sciences to the humanities.<\/p>\n

What they have in common is the sense that even mild criticism of management decisions triggers off sanctions.<\/p>\n

One account describes how a researcher was pressured to rewrite parts of an article because the results were seen as politically inconvenient.<\/p>\n

Others speak of being denied promotions or removed from projects after raising legitimate concerns about leadership.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s rarely just one incident,\u00ab says Maria Toft, and continues:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s a pattern of many small and large pressures that together create a climate you could justifiably be described as psychological violence. And when colleagues see it happening, the fear spreads. You learn that speaking up isn\u2019t worth it.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Widespread silence<\/h3>\n

Several researchers report that they refrain from speaking out \u2014 both internally and publicly \u2014 out of fears of retaliation. This applies in particular to temporary staff and to those in controversial fields.<\/p>\n

According to the Movement for a Free Academia, universities have cultivated a climate of fear and silence, where criticism is seen as disloyalty.<\/p>\n

\u00bbUnion representatives say it\u2019s almost dangerous to step forward. You risk being fired. That says a lot about where we are,\u00ab says Maria Toft.<\/p>\n

One of the testimonies confirms exactly that picture.<\/p>\n

\u00bbNo one at my department dared run for office as union rep after the previous one was dismissed for speaking critically about management decisions,\u00ab it reads.
\n
\nAccording to Maria Toft, the problem is not just poor management, but the very structure of the Danish University Act, which, in her words, centralised decision-making in 2003 without independent or democratic checks and balances.<\/p>\n

\u00bbAt first, you couldn\u2019t feel the difference, but now the old type of managers are gone. Democratic culture has been replaced by an almost militarised top-down<\/em> management style, and the silence reinforces itself,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

System without a safety net<\/h3>\n

The testimonies paint a picture of researchers being pushed out of their academic communities \u2014 or out of research altogether.<\/p>\n

One of them recounts how they were isolated from their research group and removed from publications. Others describe threats, harassment, and stress-related sick leave.<\/p>\n

Several of the personal stories mention that complaints about management end up with the very same managers that the complaints are about \u2014 and that the outcome is often sick leave, not justice.<\/p>\n

\u00bbMy own complaint which included reprisals from management was handled by the very same managers who it concerned. Unsurprisingly, they decided to show mercy towards themselves,\u00ab writes one researcher.<\/p>\n

According to Maria Toft, the consequences ripple outwards:<\/p>\n

\u00bbWhen fear takes hold of the system, critical voices disappear. It creates a contagion of silence, where those who thrive in that culture often end up in leadership roles. That\u2019s a democratic problem \u2014 not just a workplace problem,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

The Movement for a Free Academia argues that Denmark is left with a system where researchers, in practice, lack legal protections. The in-house structures \u2014 academic councils, workplace safety committees, and union representatives \u2014 lack independence, and\u00a0 unions are criticised for being too passive.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIn Norway, far more complaints are lodged on behalf of researchers than in Denmark. Here, almost nothing happens \u2014 even when people are clearly subjected to reprisals,\u00ab says Maria Toft.<\/p>\n

Minister: \u00bbI think it\u2019s serious\u00ab<\/h3>\n

For the Movement for a Free Academia, #SafeToSpeak<\/em> is not just about mapping out the problems \u2014 it’s also about starting a conversation on university governance.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the movement has presented the collected testimonies to Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund.<\/p>\n

In the new national research policy agreement published 6 November, and backed by nearly the entire Danish parliament, the importance of academic freedom is explicitly addressed, according to the minister.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Danish universities to benefit from billion-kroner funding reform<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The agreement allocates funding to strengthen academic freedom and promote a more open climate for debate at universities. As part of this, a national summit on academic freedom will be held in early 2026, where researchers, university managers, and politicians will meet up to take stock of the state of free research.<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe now agree that the principles and values that protect researchers\u2019 freedom and the free exchange of ideas are something we have chosen to safeguard through legislation. I think that sends a very strong signal from Denmark \u2014 especially at a time when those safeguards are weakening in other parts of the world,\u00ab said Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund in an interview with the University Post.<\/a>
\n
\nIn an interview with the University Post, she elaborates on her response to the Movement for a Free Academia\u2019s #SafeToSpeak<\/em> campaign and the 130 testimonies of fear and pressure in research:<\/p>\n

\u00bbI think it\u2019s serious. Especially the part about how certain topics in society have become so difficult to talk about that researchers lose the courage to engage with them. That\u2019s not acceptable. It undermines freedom of thought.\u00ab<\/p>\n

The minister points to a 2023 survey of Danish research on antisemitism, which showed that there is very little current research in the field in Denmark.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI can easily imagine that this is linked to the taboo around the topic, making it easier to focus on something else \u2014 but that\u2019s not acceptable either,\u00ab says Christina Egelund, and continues:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s extremely important that we have open dialogue within and around research communities \u2014 just because you research a topic doesn\u2019t mean you should personally be held accountable for all possible opinions. We fall short as a society if we don\u2019t dare to do research on difficult subjects.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Encouraging signs<\/h3>\n

The Movement for a Free Academia says it is a step in the right direction that academic freedom is now an explicit political goal.<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe\u2019re genuinely pleased that politicians from across the political spectrum have now recognised that academic freedom in Denmark is under serious pressure,\u00ab writes UCPH associate professor and Movement for a Free Academia board member Jes S\u00f8e Pedersen in a written comment on the University Post.<\/p>\n

\u00bbTestimonies from our own #SafeToSpeak<\/em> campaign are just the latest in a long series over recent years.\u00ab<\/p>\n

He argues that society as a whole loses out when academic freedom is compromised.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s a form of pressure that stops researchers from speaking out freely \u2014 whether at the university or in public debate. A pressure that prevents researchers from investigating topics and asking the questions that research itself identifies as the most important. This means society doesn\u2019t get full value for the billions that it invests in research,\u00ab he writes.<\/p>\n

According to Jes S\u00f8e Pedersen, the new research policy agreement marks the end of the era of lip service to academic freedom.<\/p>\n

That the minister is planning a summit where researchers will be given the floor is seen by the movement as a sign that dialogue is finally opening up:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s a promising first step towards a future where trust in knowledge and academic freedom is more important than ever.\u00ab<\/p>\n

This article was first written in Danish and published on 12 November 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em>
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And when colleagues see it happening, the fear spreads,\u00ab says Maria Toft from the Movement for a Free Academia."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"#SafeToSpeak","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\">R<\/span>esearchers at Danish universities are increasingly finding that speaking out can have consequences.<\/p>\n<p>This is according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forskerbevaegelsen.dk\/safetospeak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new campaign by the Movement for a Free Academia <em>Forskerbev\u00e6gelsen<\/em><\/a>, which has brought together 130 anonymous testimonies from researchers across the country. They describe everything from work environments marked by fear and managerial pressure, to social exclusion and career-related reprisals.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">130 testimonies<\/p>\n<p>As part of the #SafeToSpeak campaign, the Movement for a Free Academia <em>Forskerbev\u00e6gelsen<\/em> has brought together 130 anonymous testimonies from researchers across disciplines. Their personal stories fall into seven main categories:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Employment and career-related sanctions<\/strong><br \/>\nResearchers report being fired, denied promotions, or facing unwarranted reprimands after criticising management.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Interference with research ethics<\/strong><br \/>\nPressure to change or omit findings, external control of data, and violations of academic independence.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Social and professional exclusion \/ bullying<\/strong><br \/>\nIsolation, slander, and being shut out of research projects or publications.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harassment and threats (internal and external)<\/strong><br \/>\nPersonal attacks, online harassment, threats, and fabricated personnel cases used as pressure tactics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Administrative burdens as punishment<\/strong><br \/>\nExcessive documentation requirements, extra tasks, and increased teaching loads as penalties for criticism.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A combination of all types of reprisals from aggressive management<\/strong><br \/>\nMultiple sanctions at once, often accompanied by stress and psychological strain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Identity-based reprisals <\/strong><strong>(gender, ethnicity, political orientation)<\/strong><br \/>\nSexism, discrimination based on ethnicity, religion, or political views.<\/p>\n<p><em>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forskerbevaegelsen.dk\/safetospeak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Movement for a Free Academia\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The campaign is called <em>#SafeToSpeak<\/em> and, according to the Movement for a Free Academia, gives a voice to the many researchers who are afraid to speak out.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbNumbers and statistics don\u2019t move people, but stories and emotions do,\u00ab says Maria Toft, founder\u00a0 and board member in the organisation.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe know from many studies that academic freedom is under pressure, but numbers quickly get drowned out by politics. It\u2019s only when you read about the people behind the statistics that the full impact hits home,\u00ab she explains to the University Post.<\/p>\n<p>The problems cannot be solved without a critical look at how universities are governed, the organisation argues.<\/p>\n<h3>Cycle of coercion<\/h3>\n<p>The 130 personal stories have been collected during the autumn of 2025 and range from PhD students to professors, from the natural sciences to the humanities.<\/p>\n<p>What they have in common is the sense that even mild criticism of management decisions triggers off sanctions.<\/p>\n<p>One account describes how a researcher was pressured to rewrite parts of an article because the results were seen as politically inconvenient.<\/p>\n<p>Others speak of being denied promotions or removed from projects after raising legitimate concerns about leadership.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s rarely just one incident,\u00ab says Maria Toft, and continues:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s a pattern of many small and large pressures that together create a climate you could justifiably be described as psychological violence. And when colleagues see it happening, the fear spreads. You learn that speaking up isn\u2019t worth it.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Widespread silence<\/h3>\n<p>Several researchers report that they refrain from speaking out \u2014 both internally and publicly \u2014 out of fears of retaliation. This applies in particular to temporary staff and to those in controversial fields.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Movement for a Free Academia, universities have cultivated a climate of fear and silence, where criticism is seen as disloyalty.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbUnion representatives say it\u2019s almost dangerous to step forward. You risk being fired. That says a lot about where we are,\u00ab says Maria Toft.<\/p>\n<p>One of the testimonies confirms exactly that picture.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbNo one at my department dared run for office as union rep after the previous one was dismissed for speaking critically about management decisions,\u00ab it reads.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Quote","quote":"Democratic culture has been replaced by an almost militarised top-down management style, and the silence reinforces itself.","quotee":"Maria Toft, founder and board member of the Movement for a Free Academia.","style":"extended"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>According to Maria Toft, the problem is not just poor management, but the very structure of the Danish University Act, which, in her words, centralised decision-making in 2003 without independent or democratic checks and balances.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAt first, you couldn\u2019t feel the difference, but now the old type of managers are gone. Democratic culture has been replaced by an almost militarised <em>top-down<\/em> management style, and the silence reinforces itself,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<h3>System without a safety net<\/h3>\n<p>The testimonies paint a picture of researchers being pushed out of their academic communities \u2014 or out of research altogether.<\/p>\n<p>One of them recounts how they were isolated from their research group and removed from publications. Others describe threats, harassment, and stress-related sick leave.<\/p>\n<p>Several of the personal stories mention that complaints about management end up with the very same managers that the complaints are about \u2014 and that the outcome is often sick leave, not justice.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbMy own complaint which included reprisals from management was handled by the very same managers who it concerned. Unsurprisingly, they decided to show mercy towards themselves,\u00ab writes one researcher.<\/p>\n<p>According to Maria Toft, the consequences ripple outwards:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWhen fear takes hold of the system, critical voices disappear. It creates a contagion of silence, where those who thrive in that culture often end up in leadership roles. That\u2019s a democratic problem \u2014 not just a workplace problem,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>The Movement for a Free Academia argues that Denmark is left with a system where researchers, in practice, lack legal protections. The in-house structures \u2014 academic councils, workplace safety committees, and union representatives \u2014 lack independence, and\u00a0 unions are criticised for being too passive.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIn Norway, far more complaints are lodged on behalf of researchers than in Denmark. Here, almost nothing happens \u2014 even when people are clearly subjected to reprisals,\u00ab says Maria Toft.<\/p>\n<h3>Minister: \u00bbI think it\u2019s serious\u00ab<\/h3>\n<p>For the Movement for a Free Academia, <em>#SafeToSpeak<\/em> is not just about mapping out the problems \u2014 it’s also about starting a conversation on university governance.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why the movement has presented the collected testimonies to Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund.<\/p>\n<p>In the new national research policy agreement published 6 November, and backed by nearly the entire Danish parliament, the importance of academic freedom is explicitly addressed, according to the minister.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/danish-universities-to-benefit-from-billion-kroner-funding-reform\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Danish universities to benefit from billion-kroner funding reform<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The agreement allocates funding to strengthen academic freedom and promote a more open climate for debate at universities. As part of this, a national summit on academic freedom will be held in early 2026, where researchers, university managers, and politicians will meet up to take stock of the state of free research.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe now agree that the principles and values that protect researchers\u2019 freedom and the free exchange of ideas are something we have chosen to safeguard through legislation. I think that sends a very strong signal from Denmark \u2014 especially at a time when those safeguards are weakening in other parts of the world,\u00ab said Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/danish-universities-to-benefit-from-billion-kroner-funding-reform\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the University Post.<\/a><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Quote","quote":"We fall short as a society if we don\u2019t dare to do research on difficult subjects.","quotee":"Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund","style":"extended"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>In an interview with the University Post, she elaborates on her response to the Movement for a Free Academia\u2019s <em>#SafeToSpeak<\/em> campaign and the 130 testimonies of fear and pressure in research:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI think it\u2019s serious. Especially the part about how certain topics in society have become so difficult to talk about that researchers lose the courage to engage with them. That\u2019s not acceptable. It undermines freedom of thought.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>The minister points to a 2023 survey of Danish research on antisemitism, which showed that there is very little current research in the field in Denmark.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI can easily imagine that this is linked to the taboo around the topic, making it easier to focus on something else \u2014 but that\u2019s not acceptable either,\u00ab says Christina Egelund, and continues:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s extremely important that we have open dialogue within and around research communities \u2014 just because you research a topic doesn\u2019t mean you should personally be held accountable for all possible opinions. We fall short as a society if we don\u2019t dare to do research on difficult subjects.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Encouraging signs<\/h3>\n<p>The Movement for a Free Academia says it is a step in the right direction that academic freedom is now an explicit political goal.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe\u2019re genuinely pleased that politicians from across the political spectrum have now recognised that academic freedom in Denmark is under serious pressure,\u00ab writes UCPH associate professor and Movement for a Free Academia board member Jes S\u00f8e Pedersen in a written comment on the University Post.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbTestimonies from our own <em>#SafeToSpeak<\/em> campaign are just the latest in a long series over recent years.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>He argues that society as a whole loses out when academic freedom is compromised.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s a form of pressure that stops researchers from speaking out freely \u2014 whether at the university or in public debate. A pressure that prevents researchers from investigating topics and asking the questions that research itself identifies as the most important. This means society doesn\u2019t get full value for the billions that it invests in research,\u00ab he writes.<\/p>\n<p>According to Jes S\u00f8e Pedersen, the new research policy agreement marks the end of the era of lip service to academic freedom.<\/p>\n<p>That the minister is planning a summit where researchers will be given the floor is seen by the movement as a sign that dialogue is finally opening up:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s a promising first step towards a future where trust in knowledge and academic freedom is more important than ever.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was first written in Danish and published on 12 November 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"}]},"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":796,"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\/11\/istock1362757481-1280x853.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183733","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\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183733"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183765,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183733\/revisions\/183765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}