Start-up work could now qualify for professor-job in district
Jobs as lecturers, readers, and professors used to go only to excellent researchers and teachers at Innovation District Copenhagen- partner University of Copenhagen. This changed on 1st May 2026. A new set of academic promotion criteria now allows assessors to take innovation qualifications into account, when they hire for academic positions at the university.
A focus on societal value creation
The new innovation criteria focus on how research-based knowledge is applied and how it creates value outside the University. Whether through collaboration with businesses, public-sector consultancy, entrepreneurship or contributions to public debate.
We wanted to make our expectations of researchers clearer. The best way to do this is by using our assessment criteria. UCPH has a strategic ambition to strengthen research-based innovation for the benefit of society. For that reason, it’s only natural that the criteria now reflect innovation as an integral part of the University’s core activities”: David Dreyer, Rector, University of Copenhagen.
Five criteria for employment
With the addition of innovation-merits, the criteria for academic employment at the university are now:
- Research
- Teaching
- Innovation and societal impact
- Organisational contribution
- Management
Balanced skills
Academic staff members can still have a stronger profile in some areas than in others. Not all criteria are equally important at all times or in all academic environments. Some may even be prioritised over others at certain stages of a career. Strong research-merits, however, remain a prerequisite for employment at the University of Copenhagen.
An incentive to take on innovation
The adjustment is in line with UCPH’s strategic focus on innovation and impact, as well as the recommendations of the national task force for enhanced knowledge and technology transfer. According to the task force’s recommendations, which were approved in a broad political agreement in January 2026, research institutions should work to improve researchers’ incentives for innovation, including as a merit-based effort.
Changes took effect on 1 May 2026
