{"id":99266,"date":"2020-01-15T13:11:37","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T12:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/efter-forskerflugt-og-fusionskollaps-statens-naturhistoriske-museum-er-igen-et-selvstaendigt-institut\/"},"modified":"2020-01-15T13:54:55","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T12:54:55","slug":"after-brain-drain-and-collapse-of-merger-natural-history-museum-now-yet-again-an-independent-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/after-brain-drain-and-collapse-of-merger-natural-history-museum-now-yet-again-an-independent-department\/","title":{"rendered":"After brain drain and collapse of merger: Natural History Museum now, yet again, an independent department"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you scrolled far enough down the ‘news from management\u2019 newsletter which the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) sent on 17 December, you would see a small item<\/a> about the Natural History Museum of Denmark.<\/p>\n

In the news article, which had also been shared on the Faculty of Science\u2019s own website in November, the outgoing dean John Renner Hansen said that the museum had once again become an independent department.<\/p>\n

Not, at first glance, a news item that required a breaking news ticker. But this brief item was actually a kind of full-stop to a long dispute at the University of Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

It included: An aborted merger with the Department of Biology, a horde of angry staff, and a handful of internationally acclaimed researchers who ended up abandoning the Faculty of Science altogether and settling at a brand new department, at a brand new faculty, in protest. Along the way, the ministry, and the Board of the University of Copenhagen got involved with the case, which developed into a real headache for university management.<\/p>\n

Blindsided by merger<\/h3>\n

If you are to believe the employees at the Department of Biology, nobody had the faintest suspicion that their place of work would change so dramatically before it did. At the beginning of November 2018, employees learned that the dean John Renner Hansen was in the process of pushing a merger of their department with the Natural History Museum of Denmark.
\n
\nThe idea was to pick up a number of research groups from the financially challenged museum and put them under the Department of Biology, which would make it the biggest department at the Faculty of Science with a staff of 7-800 employees.<\/p>\n

This had six employees at the Department of Biology using strong words in the University Post.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe decision has been a one hundred per cent ‘top down’ decision, and it goes against everything the university stands for. The open dialogue and debate has been totally absent,\u00ab Professor Olaf Nielsen said at the time.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe way in which it was taken is not only contrary to the university’s soul, it also contravenes the University Act, which clearly states that in the event of major and significant changes, staff must be involved,\u00ab said academic staff member Caspar Elo Christensen.<\/p>\n

Dean John Renner Hansen write in a comment that it was not \u00bba decision that could be taken in plenary.\u00ab He promised, however, that employees would be \u00bbdeeply involved in the implementation phase of the merger\u00ab.<\/p>\n

Appeal from top scientists<\/h3>\n

It was not only the employees of the Department of Biology who were dissatisfied.<\/p>\n

In the Danish newspaper Politiken<\/a> on 16 November 2018 five top researchers at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Eske Willerslev, Tom Gilbert, Martin Bizzarro, Minik Rosing and Carsten Rahbek warned about the consequences of the merger.<\/p>\n

According to these high profile researchers, some of the most-cited natural science researchers in the world, the merger would damage their research, because they would lose their special access to the museum’s collections.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI find it incredibly sad and a big loss for Danish research,\u00ab DNA scientist Eske Willerslev said, and geologist Minik Rosing added that it was \u00bbto cry for.\u00ab<\/p>\n

The merger had more to do with the museum than with the Department of Biology. The Natural History Museum of Denmark housed the five researchers and their research sections, but was also suffering from such huge financial losses that 17 employees had to be fired<\/a> at the end of November 2018.<\/p>\n

The reasons vary, depending on who you ask, but according to the dean, John Renner Hansen, the numbers were in the red<\/a> partly due to the fact that it was expensive to host the five research sections, while the department only picked up minimal government subsidies for education to cover the costs.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO<\/strong>: Staff representatives at Natural History Museum of Denmark: Management has failed<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

There was certainly no money left in the till as the new Natural History Museum in the Botanical Gardens was to be set up \u2013 a\u00a0 DKK 1 billion construction project.<\/p>\n

Ministry intervenes<\/h3>\n

In a review of the merger case by the Politiken newspaper, it came out that the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) had negotiated with Eske Willerslev to accommodate the research sections. In documents rendered after a Freedom of Information request from the University Post to the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Anders Johannes Hansen, a former research director at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, wrote that the University of Southern Denmark was ready to invest DKK 1 billion in a new department in Copenhagen to attract the scientists.
\n
\nIn an email to the University of Southern Denmark, the former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Agnete Gersing, did however write on 9 April that it was \u00bbthe first priority\u00ab that researchers should stay at the University of Copenhagen:<\/p>\n

At no point did we have any strong opinions about where the researchers should be.<\/p>\n

Former permanent secretary Agnete Gersing<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00bbIn this light, I ask you to wait to proceed with the case until you hear more,\u00ab she added.<\/p>\n

To the University Post, however, the permanent secretary later rejected the idea that the Ministry had got involved in the dispute.<\/p>\n

\u00bbAt no point did we have any strong opinions about where the researchers should be. From the outset, we have made it very clear to the researchers, to SDU and to UCPH that it is entirely up to the researchers where they want to be. Nor is there anything that has forced the researchers in question to stay at the University, \u00ab said Agnete Gersing.<\/p>\n

The FOI request also showed that SDU did not want to compete with the University of Copenhagen:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIf the university can reach an agreement with the groups, there is no reason why SDU should try to maintain them. Our priority is to ensure that the groups stay in Denmark, \u00ab Chairman of SDU Niels Thorborg wrote back in a response to Agnete Gersing.<\/p>\n

Say hello to the Globe Institute<\/h3>\n

Whether it was through the efforts of the ministry, the University of Copenhagen management and board, or the researchers, a solution was found at the University of Copenhagen. On 30 May 2019, what was first rumored became official when the museum’s five famous research sections were given a brand new institute, the Globe Institute.<\/a> Not at the Faculty of Science, but at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

\u00bbAfter a very chaotic time, it is my hope that the establishment of the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen can give us the peace and stability that is the foundation of a strong, interdisciplinary research environment at an international level, \u00ab said Eske Willerslev.<\/p>\n

It ended up being a very contentious issue. And when it could end up damaging the university\u2019s image, it becomes a Board matter.<\/p>\n

Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, former chairman of the board of the University of Copenhagen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As part of the larger FOI request from the Ministry of Education and Research, the University Post received a memo outlining the Globe Institute’s finances. The document states that the department receives DKK 20.7 million in annual subsidies, DKK 15.2 million of which is from the University of Copenhagen, i.e. money that the rector has found in the joint university budget.<\/p>\n

It looked like the result of a successful negotiation by the five researchers. \u00bbFinancially, some of the Globe Institute\u2019s research environments have probably been strengthened,\u00ab the former chairman of University of Copenhagen Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said in a later interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

At the same time, Krogsgaard Thomsen explained that the board had been involved in the merger case because it simply risked damaging the University of Copenhagen’s image:<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe reason why the board ended up talking quite a lot about this matter is of course that it ended up being a very contentious issue. And when it could end up damaging the university\u2019s image, it becomes a Board matter.\u00ab<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> We hate it when politicians micromanage the university<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

With the new department, the museum’s veteran scientists moved to the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, even though many of them deal with topics that do not have much to do with the health sciences (geology and planetary research are a few examples).<\/p>\n

Their new colleagues welcomed them:<\/p>\n

\u00bbThere is no dissatisfaction. I think you should take a more long-term view of things. It may be that something like this doesn’t look health-related now, but once we get talking, we can probably figure something out,\u00ab \u00a0said Claus Juul L\u00f8land,<\/a> a professor and a member of the Academic Council at the faculty.<\/p>\n

Board sides with the staff<\/h3>\n

While the staff at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences were satisfied with the outcome, the resentment continued to spread at the Department of Biology. On 11 June 2019, staff sent an open letter to the Board of the University of Copenhagen with nearly 200 signatures asking the members to look into the process.<\/a><\/p>\n

And the board did so, most unusually, a week later.<\/p>\n

\u00bbAs the board now sees this process, we must recognize that the involvement of the Department of Biology staff in connection with the Biology- Natural History Museum merger has not been good enough,\u00ab they wrote to the employees.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO<\/strong>:<\/strong> UCPH Board agrees with Biology employees that they should have been consulted<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

In a later interview with the University Post, former board member Signe M\u00f8ller Johansen said that it is not the task of the board to interfere in individual cases. But she defended the letter to the Department of Biology.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThis case, in particular, has been going on for a long time, and it ended with the Board being drawn into it, which we really shouldn’t have been. But when we got involved in the case, I think it was good that we finally came up with a response … I pushed for this myself, and I stand by it,\u00ab she said.<\/p>\n

The Board’s response generated some restrained enthusiasm from the researchers at the Department of Biology:<\/p>\n

\u00bbWhat is in the letter is very positive,\u00ab Professor Lars Ellgaard said, but added:\u00a0 \u00bbWe are also excited to see what this will really mean in practice.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Election campaign with a clear theme<\/h3>\n

The canceled merger clearly was an issue in the election campaign when University of Copenhagen staff had to elect new representatives to the Board in late 2019.<\/p>\n

Two of the researchers ran for the Board, Olaf Nielsen from the Department of Biology and Eske Willerslev, the new Globe Institute researcher, who had already sat on the board of the University of Copenhagen previously.<\/p>\n

Both Willerslev and Nielsen pointed to the merger as the reason they ran for office, and they described the process as an example of the lack of leadership at the University of Copenhagen:<\/p>\n

\u00bbThere has been no responsiveness towards the people who know where it hurts and where it doesn\u2019t, i.e. the researchers and students. The only tool they could find in their toolbox was the sledgehammer,\u00ab said Eske Willerslev.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO<\/strong>: Eske Willerslev and Jesper Grodal:\u00a0It feels like the decision makers do not know what they are doing<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

Willerslev ended up being re-elected to the board, and his running mate candidate Jesper Grodal was also elected.<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

Renner quits<\/h3>\n

The man behind the failed merger, John Renner Hansen, was supposed to continue as dean until the summer of 2020, but on 4 April 2019, he announced that he would quit early.<\/p>\n

The outgoing dean explained the decision would give the next dean of the Faculty of Science \u00bbbetter working conditions\u00ab and the opportunity to hire two new heads of department and one associate dean to the faculty.<\/p>\n

From the turn of the year, Renner has taken up a new role as advisor to the rector, while Katrine Krogh Andersen has taken over the top job at the Faculty of Science.<\/p>\n

An independent institute<\/h3>\n

And now we have reached the small item at the bottom of the newsletter. \u00a0That is: the story of the Natural History Museum of Denmark once again becoming an independent department.<\/p>\n

In the news item, the former dean John Renner Hansen writes that the premises for the merger between the museum and the Department of Biology had been \u2018substantially changed\u2019 after the establishment of the Globe Institute, before adding:<\/p>\n

\u00bbAt the same time, sustainable financing has been set up at the museum and provides a strong scientific environment around the museum for the benefit of the exhibitions and the collections.\u00ab<\/p>\n

All without the five top scientists who fled because of the merger. A merger that is now completely dead.<\/p>\n

Translation: Mike Young<\/em>
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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dekan John Renner Hansen, professor Eske Willerslev, departementschef Agnete Gersing og tidligere bestyrelsesformand Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/after-brain-drain-and-collapse-of-merger-natural-history-museum-now-yet-again-an-independent-department\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"After brain drain and collapse of merger: Natural History Museum now, yet again, an independent department"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/","name":"University Post","description":"Independent of 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Zieler"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/christoffer.zieler"],"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/author\/christoffer\/"}]}},"advancedCustomFields":{"layout_group":[{"acf_fc_layout":"Headline","use_post_title":true,"headline":"","style":"classic","highlighted_words":"","text_size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":99166,"id":99166,"title":"skandalefusion1","filename":"skandalefusion1.png","filesize":1072384,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/skandalefusion1.png","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/efter-forskerflugt-og-fusionskollaps-statens-naturhistoriske-museum-er-igen-et-selvstaendigt-institut\/skandalefusion1\/","alt":"","author":"71","description":"","caption":"Tidligere dekan John Renner Hansen, professor Eske Willerslev, tidligere departementschef Agnete Gersing og tidligere bestyrelsesformand Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen.","name":"skandalefusion1","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":99098,"date":"2020-01-09 14:59:54","modified":"2020-01-09 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dean John Renner Hansen, Professor Eske Willerslev, former head of department Agnete Gersing and former chairman of the Board of the University of Copenhagen, Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"From the beginning","text":"Just before Christmas you could find a brief story at the bottom of a newsletter about the Natural History Museum of Denmark. The news item was a small, low key conclusion to a huge conflict at the University of Copenhagen.","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":true,"user":{"ID":67,"user_firstname":"Rasmus","user_lastname":"Friis","nickname":"rasmus","user_nicename":"rasmus","display_name":"Rasmus Friis","user_email":"rasmus.friis@uniavisen.dk","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-01-31 09:36:50","user_description":"","user_avatar":"<img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e63c8484da290a4fdf7a435d972fda1c53e6da4cc7cd9a6e440cb0f28061d48?s=96&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e63c8484da290a4fdf7a435d972fda1c53e6da4cc7cd9a6e440cb0f28061d48?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>If you scrolled far enough down the ‘news from management\u2019 newsletter which the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) sent on 17 December, you would see a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.ku.dk\/presse\/nyhedsarkiv\/2019\/museet-bliver-igen-selvstaendigt-institut\/\">small item<\/a> about the Natural History Museum of Denmark.<\/p>\n<p>In the news article, which had also been shared on the Faculty of Science\u2019s own website in November, the outgoing dean John Renner Hansen said that the museum had once again become an independent department.<\/p>\n<p>Not, at first glance, a news item that required a breaking news ticker. But this brief item was actually a kind of full-stop to a long dispute at the University of Copenhagen.<\/p>\n<p>It included: An aborted merger with the Department of Biology, a horde of angry staff, and a handful of internationally acclaimed researchers who ended up abandoning the Faculty of Science altogether and settling at a brand new department, at a brand new faculty, in protest. Along the way, the ministry, and the Board of the University of Copenhagen got involved with the case, which developed into a real headache for university management.<\/p>\n<h3>Blindsided by merger<\/h3>\n<p>If you are to believe the employees at the Department of Biology, nobody had the faintest suspicion that their place of work would change so dramatically before it did. At the beginning of November 2018, employees learned that the dean John Renner Hansen was in the process of pushing a merger of their department with the Natural History Museum of Denmark.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Quote","quote":"It has been a one hundred per cent 'top down' decision, and it goes against everything the university stands for.","quotee":"Olaf Nielsen, Professor at the Department of Biology","style":"extended"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>The idea was to pick up a number of research groups from the financially challenged museum and put them under the Department of Biology, which would make it the biggest department at the Faculty of Science with a staff of 7-800 employees.<\/p>\n<p>This had six employees at the Department of Biology using strong words in the University Post.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe decision has been a one hundred per cent ‘top down’ decision, and it goes against everything the university stands for. The open dialogue and debate has been totally absent,\u00ab Professor Olaf Nielsen said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe way in which it was taken is not only contrary to the university’s soul, it also contravenes the University Act, which clearly states that in the event of major and significant changes, staff must be involved,\u00ab said academic staff member Caspar Elo Christensen.<\/p>\n<p>Dean John Renner Hansen write in a comment that it was not \u00bba decision that could be taken in plenary.\u00ab He promised, however, that employees would be \u00bbdeeply involved in the implementation phase of the merger\u00ab.<\/p>\n<h3>Appeal from top scientists<\/h3>\n<p>It was not only the employees of the Department of Biology who were dissatisfied.<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/politiken.dk\/kultur\/art6842552\/Danmark-kan-miste-sin-position-som-naturhistorisk-fyrt%C3%A5rn\">Danish newspaper Politiken<\/a> on 16 November 2018 five top researchers at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Eske Willerslev, Tom Gilbert, Martin Bizzarro, Minik Rosing and Carsten Rahbek warned about the consequences of the merger.<\/p>\n<p>According to these high profile researchers, some of the most-cited natural science researchers in the world, the merger would damage their research, because they would lose their special access to the museum’s collections.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI find it incredibly sad and a big loss for Danish research,\u00ab DNA scientist Eske Willerslev said, and geologist Minik Rosing added that it was \u00bbto cry for.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>The merger had more to do with the museum than with the Department of Biology. The Natural History Museum of Denmark housed the five researchers and their research sections, but was also suffering from such huge financial losses that <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/natural-history-museum-fires-17-staff\/\">17 employees had to be fired<\/a> at the end of November 2018.<\/p>\n<p>The reasons vary, depending on who you ask, but according to the<a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/staff-reps-at-natural-history-museum-management-has-failed\/\"> dean, John Renner Hansen, the numbers were in the red<\/a> partly due to the fact that it was expensive to host the five research sections, while the department only picked up minimal government subsidies for education to cover the costs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/staff-reps-at-natural-history-museum-management-has-failed\/\">Staff representatives at Natural History Museum of Denmark: Management has failed<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>There was certainly no money left in the till as the new Natural History Museum in the Botanical Gardens was to be set up \u2013 a\u00a0 DKK 1 billion construction project.<\/p>\n<h3>Ministry intervenes<\/h3>\n<p>In a review of the merger case by the Politiken newspaper, it came out that the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) had negotiated with Eske Willerslev to accommodate the research sections. In documents rendered after a Freedom of Information request from the University Post to the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Anders Johannes Hansen, a former research director at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, wrote that the University of Southern Denmark was ready to invest DKK 1 billion in a new department in Copenhagen to attract the scientists.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":99180,"id":99180,"title":"Regeringens Udvalg om bedre universitetsuddannelser pr\u00e6senterer sine anbefalinger","filename":"20180312114059l1920x1280we.jpg","filesize":171260,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/efter-forskerflugt-og-fusionskollaps-statens-naturhistoriske-museum-er-igen-et-selvstaendigt-institut\/regeringens-udvalg-om-bedre-universitetsuddannelser-praesenterer-sine-anbefalinger\/","alt":"","author":"71","description":"","caption":"Agnete Gersing, tidligere departementschef i Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet.","name":"regeringens-udvalg-om-bedre-universitetsuddannelser-praesenterer-sine-anbefalinger","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":99098,"date":"2020-01-09 15:32:10","modified":"2020-01-09 15:33:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we-1280x853.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":853,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we-1536x1024.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/20180312114059l1920x1280we-990x660.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":660}},"style":"narrow","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"The former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Agnete Gersing, wrote to University of Southern Denmark that it was \u00bbthe first priority\u00ab that the researchers stayed at the University of Copenhagen."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>In an email to the University of Southern Denmark, the former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Agnete Gersing, did however write on 9 April that it was \u00bbthe first priority\u00ab that researchers should stay at the University of Copenhagen:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>At no point did we have any strong opinions about where the researchers should be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Former permanent secretary Agnete Gersing<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"quotee\">\u00bbIn this light, I ask you to wait to proceed with the case until you hear more,\u00ab she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">To the University Post, however, the permanent secretary later rejected the idea that the Ministry had got involved in the dispute.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAt no point did we have any strong opinions about where the researchers should be. From the outset, we have made it very clear to the researchers, to SDU and to UCPH that it is entirely up to the researchers where they want to be. Nor is there anything that has forced the researchers in question to stay at the University, \u00ab said Agnete Gersing.<\/p>\n<p>The FOI request also showed that SDU did not want to compete with the University of Copenhagen:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIf the university can reach an agreement with the groups, there is no reason why SDU should try to maintain them. Our priority is to ensure that the groups stay in Denmark, \u00ab Chairman of SDU Niels Thorborg wrote back in a response to Agnete Gersing.<\/p>\n<h3>Say hello to the Globe Institute<\/h3>\n<p>Whether it was through the efforts of the ministry, the University of Copenhagen management and board, or the researchers, a solution was found at the University of Copenhagen. On 30 May 2019, what was first rumored became official when the museum’s five famous research sections <a href=\"https:\/\/nyheder.ku.dk\/alle_nyheder\/2019\/05\/globe\/\">were given a brand new institute, the Globe Institute.<\/a> Not at the Faculty of Science, but at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAfter a very chaotic time, it is my hope that the establishment of the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen can give us the peace and stability that is the foundation of a strong, interdisciplinary research environment at an international level, \u00ab said Eske Willerslev.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It ended up being a very contentious issue. And when it could end up damaging the university\u2019s image, it becomes a Board matter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, former chairman of the board of the University of Copenhagen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As part of the larger FOI request from the Ministry of Education and Research, the University Post received a memo outlining the Globe Institute’s finances. The document states that the department receives DKK 20.7 million in annual subsidies, DKK 15.2 million of which is from the University of Copenhagen, i.e. money that the rector has found in the joint university budget.<\/p>\n<p>It looked like the result of a successful negotiation by the five researchers. \u00bbFinancially, some of the Globe Institute\u2019s research environments have probably been strengthened,\u00ab the former chairman of University of Copenhagen Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/we-hate-it-when-politicians-go-in-and-micromanage-the-university\/\">later interview.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Krogsgaard Thomsen explained that the board had been involved in the merger case because it simply risked damaging the University of Copenhagen’s image:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe reason why the board ended up talking quite a lot about this matter is of course that it ended up being a very contentious issue. And when it could end up damaging the university\u2019s image, it becomes a Board matter.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/we-hate-it-when-politicians-go-in-and-micromanage-the-university\/\">We hate it when politicians micromanage the university<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>With the new department, the museum’s veteran scientists moved to the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, even though many of them deal with topics that do not have much to do with the health sciences (geology and planetary research are a few examples).<\/p>\n<p>Their new colleagues welcomed them:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere is no dissatisfaction. I think you should take a more long-term view of things. It may be that something like this doesn’t look health-related now, but once we get talking, we can probably figure something out,\u00ab \u00a0said <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/after-protest-board-admits-it-should-have-heard-employees-views-on-merger\/\">Claus Juul L\u00f8land,<\/a> a professor and a member of the Academic Council at the faculty.<\/p>\n<h3>Board sides with the staff<\/h3>\n<p>While the staff at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences were satisfied with the outcome, the resentment continued to spread at the Department of Biology. On 11 June 2019, staff sent an open letter to the Board of the University of Copenhagen with <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/aabent-brev-til-bestyrelsen-for-koebenhavns-universitet-fra-193-ansatte-ved-biologisk-institut\/\">nearly 200 signatures asking the members to look into the process.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And the board did so, most unusually, a week later.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAs the board now sees this process, we must recognize that the involvement of the Department of Biology staff in connection with the Biology- Natural History Museum merger has not been good enough,\u00ab they wrote to the employees.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong><em><strong>:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/after-protest-board-admits-it-should-have-heard-employees-views-on-merger\/\">UCPH Board agrees with Biology employees that they should have been consulted<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>In a later interview with the University Post, former board member Signe M\u00f8ller Johansen said that it is not the task of the board to interfere in individual cases. But she defended the letter to the Department of Biology.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThis case, in particular, has been going on for a long time, and it ended with the Board being drawn into it, which we really shouldn’t have been. But when we got involved in the case, I think it was good that we finally came up with a response … I pushed for this myself, and I stand by it,\u00ab she said.<\/p>\n<p>The Board’s response generated some restrained enthusiasm from the researchers at the Department of Biology:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWhat is in the letter is very positive,\u00ab Professor Lars Ellgaard said, but added:\u00a0 \u00bbWe are also excited to see what this will really mean in practice.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Election campaign with a clear theme<\/h3>\n<p>The canceled merger clearly was an issue in the election campaign when University of Copenhagen staff had to elect new representatives to the Board in late 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Two of the researchers ran for the Board, Olaf Nielsen from the Department of Biology and Eske Willerslev, the new Globe Institute researcher, who had already sat on the board of the University of Copenhagen previously.<\/p>\n<p>Both Willerslev and Nielsen pointed to the merger as the reason they ran for office, and they described the process as an example of the lack of leadership at the University of Copenhagen:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere has been no responsiveness towards the people who know where it hurts and where it doesn\u2019t, i.e. the researchers and students. The only tool they could find in their toolbox was the sledgehammer,\u00ab said Eske Willerslev.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/it-feels-like-the-decision-makers-dont-know-what-theyre-doing\/\"><em>Eske Willerslev and Jesper Grodal:\u00a0It feels like the decision makers do not know what they are doing<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Willerslev ended up being <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/eske-willerslev-and-jesper-grodal-win-the-board-researcher-seats\/\">re-elected to the board, and his running mate candidate Jesper Grodal was also elected.<\/a><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":59140,"id":59140,"title":"Dekan John Renner Hansen","filename":"danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011.jpg","filesize":140213,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/renners-boksekamp-han-laerte\/fotograf-daniel-hjorth-for-uniavisenjohn-renner-november-2017\/","alt":"Dekan John Renner Hansen","author":"5","description":"Dekan John Renner Hansen","caption":"Dekan John Renner Hansen","name":"fotograf-daniel-hjorth-for-uniavisenjohn-renner-november-2017","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":59138,"date":"2017-11-20 11:54:51","modified":"2019-04-03 13:37:01","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2391,"height":1597,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011-480x321.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":321,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011-768x513.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":513,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011-1280x855.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":855,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1026,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1368,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011-290x194.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":194,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011-700x468.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":468,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/danielhjorthuniavisjohnrennerhighres0011-990x661.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":661}},"style":"narrow","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"The former dean John Renner Hansen has, after the turn of the year, become an advisor to Rector Henrik C. Wegener."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<h3>Renner quits<\/h3>\n<p>The man behind the failed merger, John Renner Hansen, was supposed to continue as dean until the summer of 2020, but on 4 April 2019, he announced that he would quit early.<\/p>\n<p>The outgoing dean explained the decision would give the next dean of the Faculty of Science \u00bbbetter working conditions\u00ab and the opportunity to hire two new heads of department and one associate dean to the faculty.<\/p>\n<p>From the turn of the year, Renner has taken up a new role as advisor to the rector, while Katrine Krogh Andersen has taken over the top job at the Faculty of Science.<\/p>\n<h3>An independent institute<\/h3>\n<p>And now we have reached the small item at the bottom of the newsletter. \u00a0That is: the story of the Natural History Museum of Denmark once again becoming an independent department.<\/p>\n<p>In the news item, the former dean John Renner Hansen writes that the premises for the merger between the museum and the Department of Biology had been \u2018substantially changed\u2019 after the establishment of the Globe Institute, before adding:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAt the same time, sustainable financing has been set up at the museum and provides a strong scientific environment around the museum for the benefit of the exhibitions and the collections.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>All without the five top scientists who fled because of the merger. A merger that is now completely dead.<\/p>\n<p><em>Translation: Mike Young<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"Dansk","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Receive a weekly newsletter in your inbox ","button_text":"Tilmeld nu","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":796,"filter":"raw"},"enable_comments":true,"align_content":"alignleft","feature_color":"#bf6e0d"},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":48,"name":"Politics","slug":"politics","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":48,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1035,"filter":"raw"},{"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":[{"term_id":2867,"name":"Globe Institute","slug":"globe-institute-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2867,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":2613,"name":"Merger","slug":"merger","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2613,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":251,"name":"Natural History Museum of Denmark","slug":"natural-history-museum-of-denmark","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":251,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":14,"filter":"raw"}],"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":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/skandalefusion1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99266","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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99266"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99424,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99266\/revisions\/99424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}