Society, Politics & Law

Impatient and risk-tolerant people more often become criminals

A new study published in the prestigious journal PNAS confirms the assumption that risk-tolerant, impatient and self-centered people are more likely to commit crimes than risk averse, patient and altruistic people are. …

Pharmaceutical residues in sewage sludge and cattle manure do not have the feared effect

Pharmaceutical residues and chemicals from personal care products in sewage sludge and cattle manure do not have a detectable toxic effect on nematodes living in agricultural fields, according to 14-year-long experiment…

Researchers make non-alcoholic beer taste like regular beer

Finally, researchers have found a way to brew non-alcoholic beer that tastes just like regular beer. Even more, the method is far more sustainable than the existing brewing techniques. “It’s a game changer for…

Researchers will enlighten us about insurance and pensions

With DKK 45 million (€6M) over the next 12 years, the University of Copenhagen has landed a historically large agreement for additional research and educational programming in the insurance and pension field that will…

New intervention to strengthen efforts against diabetes in Vietnam

As one of four new Danida-supported projects involving researchers from the Department of Anthropology, a collaborative health anthropological project addresses diabetes among pregnant women in Vietnam.

Will infants in sync with their parents develop better social skills?

In a new project funded by the Carlsberg Foundation, Psychology Professor Victoria Southgate will measure the synchrony of brain activity in parents and children while they interact.

Consumer behaviour

Healthy shopping peaks in January

Year after year, January is the month when we load our shopping baskets with the healthiest foods, according to new data from the University of Copenhagen. Is it because so many New Year's resolution makers are seeking…

After thousands of years, an iconic whale confronts a new enemy

The iconic tusked whale of the Arctic has a new enemy – noise. A unique study from the University of Copenhagen and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources shows that narwhals are highly affected by noise from ship…

The effect of earmarked parental leave must be researched

The Carlsberg Foundation has granted Jakob Egholt Søgaard, assistant professor at the Department of Economics, 4.5 million DKK for a project that will expand our understanding of the interplay between gender norms and…

Millions for research into green transition on the roads

The Independent Research Fund Denmark has allocated almost 12 million to the project GREENCAR, which will show the way to a green transformation of the car sector.

Research project will crack the code behind green neighbourhood communities

With support from THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS, new research anchored at the Department of Anthropology will examine how to create green neighbouring communities in housing associations.

We prefer farmed salmon – as long as we don't know what we're eating

A blind taste test by University of Copenhagen researchers demonstrates that Danes prefer the taste of both conventionally and organically farmed smoked salmon over wild-caught salmon. However, the picture is turned…

Schools managed to prevent increased learning gaps during the corona crisis

School closures during the corona crisis had little impact on the reading proficiency of Danish pupils, even when you factor social background into the equation, new analyses conclude.

artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence favours white men under 40

Publicly available language models of the sort used for everything from Google and Siri, to insurance and legal casework systematically favour the language of young white men. At the same time, they discriminate in…

Living with chronic disease: Three questions that still need answering

We still lack knowledge on how best to help patients with chronic diseases. Ayo Wahlberg, who just completed a large-scale study on the everyday lives of people living with chronic disease, calls for new initiatives.

Danes have reduced meat consumption – but we lag behind other Europeans

A major new survey on meat consumption in Europe reports that Europeans have a growing appetite for plant-based foods and that meat consumption has dipped. While this applies to Denmark as well, Danes lag behind the…

The gulf between rich and poor is increasing

The economic inequality is decreasing on a global scale, and the gulf between rich and poor is growing fast. This is the conclusion of an international research project with Danish participation.

CLIMATE CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY

The green transition starts in your municipality

Local citizens need to be involved in the green transition if the climate crisis is to gain broad public support, researchers argue. Local citizens’ assemblies focussing on climate issues may prove an important part of…

Companies recruit more female board members through family ties

The introduction of a gender quota in Denmark has increased the number of women on company boards, but it also led to more family driven hiring, a new study finds.

The climate researchers

Economics of climate change: One per cent makes a world of difference

Frikk Nesje and his colleagues have created international awareness by building bridges in the political debate as to how much we should invest in the climate.