BIO Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee

At BIO DEI, we strive to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment. We aim to support unique experiences and perspectives of all individuals regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, age, ethnicity, and cultural background. Our commitment is to promote policies and initiatives to promote respect, fairness, and sense of belonging in the Department.

Our Focus
The BIO DEI committee has, to date, typically focused on issues of gender inequality, as Denmark currently ranks among the poorest performing countries in Europe in terms of female representation in academia as highlighted by the EU Commission.
We are expanding our scope to take up other pressing issues, such as the feeling of inclusion among international staff and students. These initiatives fall under the broader mandate with the University of Copenhagen’s ‘Action plan for gender, equality, and diversity 2018-2024’:

HR Excellence in Research

Action plan for researchers 2018-2024


Initiatives and Progress
In 2023, BIO DEI coordinated a survey in collaboration with an external consultant. This survey revealed areas of gender disparity, in particular:
1. Gender Differences in Career Support
2. Inequal Access to Networks and Collaborations


BIO leadership's commitment
The BIO-leadership strongly endorse our committee's recommendations to actively pursue DEI initiatives. These include:

  • Continuation of our efforts via 4 transformative workshops organized by "It is a bird"
  • Introduction of a mandatory DEI training course across the Department
  • Increasing Visibility and Transparency through various initiatives


Current progress
BIO DEI believes that transparency is a vital step towards achieving our DEI goals. We will thus work with the leadership to present up-to-date statistics on gender and diversity staffing in the Department.

Professors

Associate professors

Tenured and non-tenured assistant professors

New faculty recruits (2015-2024)

Postdocs

Employed PhD students

Promotions to full professor (normalized to numbers of female/male professors)

Danish/non-Danish faculty

Note: While these gender data are current binned in two binary categories (male, female), we recognize that binary categories are not optimal and will aim for a more representative depiction in the future.


Resources
BIO DEI also aims to provide resources for those seeking information about the University and Department’s DEI policies:


Who are we?
Asscociate professor Ida Moltke - ida@bio.ku.dk
Asscociate professor Rasmus Heller - rheller@bio.ku.dk
Asscociate professor Jonathan Z. Shik - Jonathan.Shik@bio.ku.dk
Asscociate professor Mirna Perez-Moreno - mirna.pmoreno@bio.ku.dk
Tenure-track Assistant professor Jana Isanta-Navarro - jana.isanta-navarro@bio.ku.dk
Head of Department Niels Kroer - nk@bio.ku.dk


We want to hear from you
Please let us know by email if there are pressing DEI issues that require attention!