{"id":184572,"date":"2025-11-25T01:13:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T00:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/nu-rammer-fyringerne-bliv-klogere-paa-de-massive-besparelser-paa-science\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T12:44:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T11:44:01","slug":"cutbacks-begin-layoffs-hit-the-faculty-of-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/cutbacks-begin-layoffs-hit-the-faculty-of-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Cutbacks begin: Layoffs hit the Faculty of Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sweeping cutbacks at the University of Copenhagen’s (UCPH) Faculty of Science are now hitting home.<\/p>\n

A large number of staff \u2014 both academic (VIP) and technical-administrative (TAP) employees \u2014 were laid off on\u00a0Thursday 20 November.<\/p>\n

The University Post spoke to Nynne Christensen, union representative for technical-administrative staff at the faculty the day after.<\/p>\n

\u00bbYesterday was a tough day. It was hard, and it was long. It\u2019s not easy saying goodbye to colleagues who\u2019ve done a really great job,\u00ab she told the University Post.<\/p>\n

Nynne Christensen does not wish to disclose the exact number of dismissed employees, but says that including voluntary resignations and other mitigation measures, the faculty is losing more than 100 members of staff.<\/p>\n

Prior to the layoffs, the faculty had already been announced that 46 applications for voluntary redundancy and seniority schemes had been approved. The current hiring freeze<\/a> at the faculty has also led to a reduction in 20 staff positions.<\/p>\n

Costly building scandal<\/h3>\n

The deficit at the Faculty of Science is just over DKK 100 million a year and the cuts are intended to balance the budget by 2027.<\/p>\n

In an internal newsletter, Dean Bo Jellesmark Thorsen writes that the impact of the cuts varies significantly from department to department.<\/p>\n

University Post has requested access to information on how the cuts are distributed across departments, but the request was denied by UCPH.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Biology boycotts rector: \u00bbWe see no reason for him to come\u00ab<\/em><\/a>
\n
\nThe deficit is largely due to increased operating costs linked to two prestige construction projects: the Niels Bohr Building and the new Natural History Museum of Denmark.<\/p>\n

The dean of the Faculty of Science has previously told the University Post that the annual operating costs for the two new buildings amount to DKK 89 million a year.<\/p>\n

The new Niels Bohr Building ended up running more than DKK 3 billion over budget. According to a memo prepared for the University Board meeting on 1 October 2024, this affects the rent, which is now estimated to be DKK 150 million more costly than originally projected.<\/p>\n

The rent is paid collectively by UCPH, which leases the Niels Bohr Building from the Danish state which owns the new facility.<\/p>\n

But the bill for the high operating costs falls on the Faculty of Science and the faculty\u2019s cuts are therefore primarily due to these increased operating costs.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Rector on cuts to Faculty of Science: There\u2019s no way around it <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Drained savings<\/h3>\n

As the University Post has previously reported, management had been aware for years that operating costs would rise substantially once the Faculty of Science took the new Niels Bohr Building into use.<\/p>\n

The faculty had therefore set aside funds for this purpose. But as the scandal-ridden building project faced repeated delays, the savings ended up being used instead.<\/p>\n

\u00bbUniversities are not meant to hoard wealth. The funds that we have should be used on research and education. So we began drawing on our savings, and this led to several years of overspending,\u00ab was the explanation given by the Faculty of Science’s dean Bo Jellesmark Thorsen in an interview with University Post back in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nynne Christensen finds it puzzling that management didn\u2019t implement any preventive measures earlier, given that they knew a hefty bill was on the way.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI don\u2019t quite understand why nothing was done at that point. Maybe then we wouldn\u2019t have had to say goodbye to so many people yesterday,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

She emphasises, however, that despite the circumstances, the layoff process \u00bbwent well\u00ab.<\/p>\n

Deterioration inevitable<\/h3>\n

Nynne Christensen does not know the precise breakdown of dismissals between academic and administrative staff.<\/p>\n

But many of the administrative staff laid off on Thursday worked close to research and teaching.<\/p>\n

\u00bbA large part of the purely administrative staff have already been let go during the administration reform, so there weren\u2019t many left to choose from,\u00ab says Nynne Christensen.<\/p>\n

For this reason, according to the union representative, it is inevitable that the layoffs will affect research and \u2014 in particular \u2014 education at the faculty.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThat\u2019s why I hope that going forward, out of respect for the highly skilled employees we\u2019ve lost, we\u2019ll be honest about the fact that our education programmes are being degraded. And I hope people allow themselves to use the word \u2018degraded\u2019. I\u2019m a bit tired of hearing that things are being \u2018changed\u2019 or \u2018restructured\u2019. You can\u2019t cut this many staff members without lowering the quality,\u00ab says Nynne Christensen.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> The students are also affected by layoffs at the Faculty of Science<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article was first written in Danish and published on 21 November 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young<\/em>.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The faculty lets go of more than 100 staff members in total. Union representative wonders why management didn\u2019t act sooner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":177285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4539],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-184572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arbejdsmiljoe-en","expression-portrait_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nCutbacks begin: Layoffs hit the Faculty of Science \u2014 University Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/cutbacks-begin-layoffs-hit-the-faculty-of-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cutbacks begin: Layoffs hit the Faculty of Science \u2014 University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The faculty lets go of more than 100 staff members in total. Union representative wonders why management didn\u2019t act sooner.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/cutbacks-begin-layoffs-hit-the-faculty-of-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-25T00:13:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-01T11:44:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/nielsbohr.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Martin Juhl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" 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operating costs for the Niels Bohr Building and the new Natural History Museum of Denmark amount to DKK\u202f89\u202fmillion per year \u2014 money that the Faculty of Science now needs to find"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Layoffs","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>Sweeping cutbacks at the University of Copenhagen’s (UCPH) Faculty of Science are now hitting home.<\/p>\n<p>A large number of staff \u2014 both academic (VIP) and technical-administrative (TAP) employees \u2014 were laid off on\u00a0Thursday 20 November.<\/p>\n<p>The University Post spoke to Nynne Christensen, union representative for technical-administrative staff at the faculty the day after.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbYesterday was a tough day. It was hard, and it was long. It\u2019s not easy saying goodbye to colleagues who\u2019ve done a really great job,\u00ab she told the University Post.<\/p>\n<p>Nynne Christensen does not wish to disclose the exact number of dismissed employees, but says that including voluntary resignations and other mitigation measures, the faculty is losing more than 100 members of staff.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the layoffs, the faculty had already been announced that 46 applications for voluntary redundancy and seniority schemes had been approved. <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/faculty-of-science-freezes-all-hiring-to-stem-financial-shortfall\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The current hiring freeze<\/a> at the faculty has also led to a reduction in 20 staff positions.<\/p>\n<h3>Costly building scandal<\/h3>\n<p>The deficit at the Faculty of Science is just over DKK 100 million a year and the cuts are intended to balance the budget by 2027.<\/p>\n<p>In an internal newsletter, Dean Bo Jellesmark Thorsen writes that the impact of the cuts varies significantly from department to department.<\/p>\n<p>University Post has requested access to information on how the cuts are distributed across departments, but the request was denied by UCPH.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/boycott-at-biology-no-purpose-in-meeting-the-rector\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Biology boycotts rector: \u00bbWe see no reason for him to come\u00ab<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Quote","quote":"I\u2019m a bit tired of hearing that things are being \u2018changed\u2019 or \u2018restructured\u2019. You can\u2019t cut this many staff members without lowering the quality","quotee":"Nynne Christensen, union representative for technical-administrative staff at the Faculty of Science","style":"extended"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>The deficit is largely due to increased operating costs linked to two prestige construction projects: the Niels Bohr Building and the new Natural History Museum of Denmark.<\/p>\n<p>The dean of the Faculty of Science has previously told the University Post that the annual operating costs for the two new buildings amount to DKK 89 million a year.<\/p>\n<p>The new Niels Bohr Building ended up running more than DKK 3 billion over budget. According to a memo prepared for the University Board meeting on 1 October 2024, this affects the rent, which is now estimated to be DKK 150 million more costly than originally projected.<\/p>\n<p>The rent is paid collectively by UCPH, which leases the Niels Bohr Building from the Danish state which owns the new facility.<\/p>\n<p>But the bill for the high operating costs falls on the Faculty of Science and the faculty\u2019s cuts are therefore primarily due to these increased operating costs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/rector-on-cuts-to-faculty-of-science-theres-no-way-around-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rector on cuts to Faculty of Science: There\u2019s no way around it <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Drained savings<\/h3>\n<p>As the University Post has previously reported, management had been aware for years that operating costs would rise substantially once the Faculty of Science took the new Niels Bohr Building into use.<\/p>\n<p>The faculty had therefore set aside funds for this purpose. But as the scandal-ridden building project faced repeated delays, the savings ended up being used instead.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbUniversities are not meant to hoard wealth. The funds that we have should be used on research and education. So we began drawing on our savings, and this led to several years of overspending,\u00ab was the explanation given by the Faculty of Science’s dean Bo Jellesmark Thorsen <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/faculty-of-science-braces-for-tough-choices-as-budget-gap-widens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in an interview with University Post back in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Nynne Christensen finds it puzzling that management didn\u2019t implement any preventive measures earlier, given that they knew a hefty bill was on the way.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI don\u2019t quite understand why nothing was done at that point. Maybe then we wouldn\u2019t have had to say goodbye to so many people yesterday,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>She emphasises, however, that despite the circumstances, the layoff process \u00bbwent well\u00ab.<\/p>\n<h3>Deterioration inevitable<\/h3>\n<p>Nynne Christensen does not know the precise breakdown of dismissals between academic and administrative staff.<\/p>\n<p>But many of the administrative staff laid off on Thursday worked close to research and teaching.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbA large part of the purely administrative staff have already been let go during the administration reform, so there weren\u2019t many left to choose from,\u00ab says Nynne Christensen.<\/p>\n<p>For this reason, according to the union representative, it is inevitable that the layoffs will affect research and \u2014 in particular \u2014 education at the faculty.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThat\u2019s why I hope that going forward, out of respect for the highly skilled employees we\u2019ve lost, we\u2019ll be honest about the fact that our education programmes are being degraded. And I hope people allow themselves to use the word \u2018degraded\u2019. I\u2019m a bit tired of hearing that things are being \u2018changed\u2019 or \u2018restructured\u2019. You can\u2019t cut this many staff members without lowering the quality,\u00ab says Nynne Christensen.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/the-students-are-also-affected-by-layoffs-at-the-faculty-of-science\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The students are also affected by layoffs at the Faculty of Science<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article was first written in Danish and published on 21 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":800,"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":673,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/nielsbohr.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184572","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=184572"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185030,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184572\/revisions\/185030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}