English > About the Faculty > SCIENCEnews > News from the Dean > 2010 > Week 06

Current situation at SCIENCE

At the time of writing, what is alleged to be this year's worst snow storm to date is moving in across Denmark. At the same time, students from the Department of Biology and the Department of Geography and Geology have spent the past couple of days out in the cold venting their frustration and disapproval of the staff cuts by mounting blockades and demonstrations. At the two departments, managements and employees face having to say goodbye to good colleagues who have been hit by the cuts which are necessary to balance our budgets in the coming years.

There is no doubt that the employees affected are having a tough time. It is a regrettable process which will leave its mark throughout the entire organisation. It leaves the students feeling uncertain about the future of their study programmes, and employees feeling insecure about their jobs. Together, managements and collaboration committees are having to make tough decisions and communicate them to those who are directly involved as well as their colleagues. Employees and students are witnessing their workplace becoming the focus of media attention, which can only give rise to further feelings of insecurity and frustration.

At the moment, the Faculty of Science is seeing changes which are also happening at other faculties and universities around the country. It is imperative that we adapt to the new funding structures and levels which have been introduced at the universities in recent years.

In line with the University of Copenhagen's management, I would be delighted to see a significant increase in basic funding, which would give us more freedom to decide our priorities. However, the fact of the matter is that the taximeter system and basic funding have for many years been cut by 2 per cent a year and are expected to be cut even further in future. We are receiving more funds earmarked for PhDs, postdocs, infrastructure etc., and we are having to compete to a much higher degree with other universities for public and private research funding. Our educational grants are increasingly dependent on our ability to recruit, reduce student drop-out rates and improve completion times.

People have different views about the speed at which the organisation should be adapted to this new framework. In autumn 2009, the Dean and the heads of department, the Faculty Collaboration Committee and the Academic Council introduced a new model for distributing the funding between the departments. This took place after a thorough process in 2008/2009, where we in the Management Team (NFLT) scrutinized the organisation, our core tasks and the funding scenarios we can expect in the coming years.

For the individual department, the budget model reflects the level of income-generating activities. The management team also jointly supports a gradual phase-in of the model over three years, which means that some departments over the next two years will be under-financed in relation to the model, while the adjustments at the Department of Geography and Geology and at the Department of Biology can be spread over several years to ensure that we can still deliver quality in both education and research.

I would like to mention the joint responsibility which the departments have assumed in this process and the constructive and important contributions which have been made by the Faculty Collaboration Committee and the Academic Council. The heads of department have a difficult job reconciling the interests of their own units and groups with those of the University as a whole. It is very positive that the members of NFLT in such difficult times can stand together behind the difficult decisions such as the new and activity-based budget model and its gradual phase-in with a view to supporting the affected departments. It bodes well for their ongoing collaboration to provide education and research, boost income and optimise the organisation with a view to focusing resources on tackling the core activities - education, research and communication.

Thanks to the impressive efforts of the heads of departments, collaboration committees and the many committed teachers, it has been possible to mitigate the effects of the staff reductions on the teaching activities in the current academic year. The two departments are chiefly responsible for teaching five BSc study programmes and six MSc study programmes in all to approx. 2,400 students, with a total of 250 courses being offered each year at the two departments. It has been necessary to cancel three elective courses, and 29 MSc students from Geology and Geoscience and Biology have been asked to choose another course. All the thesis contracts which have been started can be finished. In the coming year, it will probably be necessary to adjust the number of courses available under several study programmes, both because, based on the recommendations of study boards, we are constantly developing the study programme profiles, and because it is clear that the teaching economy associated with the very large number of courses we offer is poor.

There is no doubt that the uncertainty and frustrations at having to say goodbye to colleagues and teachers will last beyond the winter. However, at the same time, the major challenges which we are currently facing are being accompanied by some positive news and results within both our research and our educational activities which I would like to end by mentioning, while also thanking all the employees and students for their hard work.

As regards education, a number of key figures show that things are progressing steadily and solidly with regard to several of the main parameters which lie at the heart of a good teaching economy. During the coming weeks we will be ready to announce the architectural competition for the Niels Bohr Science Park, and in so doing take the next specific step to realising the Nørre Campus Plan's main project. Our five new centres for basic research are about to be formally established, and in the coming years we can expect many significant research results which will make a unique contribution to our research-based educational activities. Finally, Carsten Rahbek, who is Head of the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the Department of Biology, has just been presented with the Elite Researcher Prize 2010.

Best regards,
Nils O. Andersen