News about Society

University of Copenhagen's Criminological Observatory publishes annual trend report from Roskilde Festival

In 2024, the Criminological Observatory once again conducted fieldwork as part of its multi-year collaboration with Roskilde Festival, focusing on drug trends in Danish party culture.

When politicians gain power, their language becomes garbled

New research shows that politicians speak less intelligibly when in government – losing voters can be the consequence.

New Visiting Researcher at iCourts - Mohamed Ben Achour

12 - 26 September 2025

Screen time: Passive and solitary use makes us most dissatisfied

What lies behind our dissatisfaction with our screen use – and why does the dissatisfaction rarely lead to action? A new Danish study sheds light on this.

CLIMA researcher Ana Stella Ebbersmeyer awarded Carlsberg Foundation Internationalisation Fellowship

Dr. Ana Stella Ebbersmeyer has received a Carlsberg Foundation Fellowship for her Arctic cruise tourism law-science project, EMBARC.

How first-time parents experience the first year with their baby

Most first-time parents in Denmark feel competent and experience low levels of parental stress during their child's first year of life. However, new research shows that some groups find it significantly more difficult –…

Mental health problems may spill over in mother groups

In mother groups, mental health challenges can spread among new parents. New research from the University of Copenhagen and VIVE shows that the risk of experiencing postnatal reactions, such as depression, increases if…

Good deals - bad for the climate: Supermarket volume discounts lead to food waste

A new study reveals an unfortunate effect of supermarkets' popular “2 for 1” offers: Not only do they make us buy more, these offers also lead to food waste at home.

Good deals - bad for the climate: Supermarket volume discounts lead to food waste

A new study reveals an unfortunate effect of supermarkets' popular “2 for 1” offers: Not only do they make us buy more, these offers also lead to food waste at home.

New Visiting Researcher at iCourts - Kilian Lueders

15 September - 3 October 2025

Christina Gravert has been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Council for the CEO of Société Générale

The purpose of the Scientific Advisory Council is to provide Société Générale's General Management with science-based advice on key emerging trends that will influence the Group’s business and activities in the future.…

Economists: Long-term investments can become more equitable

Two economists have developed a new way of looking at equity between later and earlier generations in the long-term investments we make as a society in areas such as climate change. The new theoretical framework could…

Call for applications: Scholarships for master students

MOBILE is now accepting project proposals from full time master students who would like to write their thesis in collaboration with the center and work with large datasets of asylum case files.

CMS conference on European security and defence policy

The conference was opened with remarks from Niels Byrjalsen, postdoc at the Centre for Military Studies. He highlighted the extent and speed of the ongoing changes in European security and defence policy.

New paper: "BROAD DATA: Ethnographic methods in the age of interdisciplinary collaboration"

On the 17th of June the DISTRACT researchers Sofie Læbo Astrupgaard, Emilie Munch Gregersen, Clara Rosa Sandbye and Morten Axel Pedersen published a new paper entitled “BROAD DATA: Ethnographic methods in the age of…

Asst Prof William Hamilton Byrne awarded prestigious John H. Jackson Prize

The award is considered the Journal of International Economic Law's highest distinction

New head of FAOS

Associate Professor Christian Lyhne Ibsen is the new head of FAOS. He takes over from Søren Kaj Andersen, who has been at the helm of FAOS for almost 20 years.

Centre Director Mette Birkedal Bruun engaged in two insightful panel debates at Folkemødet 2025

Centre Director Mette Birkedal Bruun participated in two insightful panel debates at this year’s Folkemødet on Bornholm, both addressing key questions about the ethics and future of research. In her roles as professor,…

Spontaneous Talk at Folkemødet for German Democracy Advocates

During this year’s Folkemøde, Morten Axel Pedersen was spontaneously invited to give a talk to a visiting group of German democracy advocates. During the talk, he shared his research outcomes on democracy festivals with…

DISTRACT at Folkemødet 2025

On Friday the 13th, DISTRACT researchers Morten Axel Pedersen, Emilie Munch Gregersen, Karoline Husbond Andersen and Magnus Nørtoft presented findings from studying the Danish People’s Meeting (Folkemødet) in 2021 and…

Prof Gammeltoft-Hansen elected to Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters

Prof Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, head of the MOBILE Center, has been elected as a new member of the prestigious Videnskabernes Selskab (Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters). Each year, a small number of leading scholar…

“Dark” personality thrives in societies with corruption and inequality

A new global study shows that people in societies characterized by corruption, inequality, poverty, and violence are more likely to develop aversive, “dark” personality characteristics such as selfishness or…

New model explains violent extremism

Jihadists and extremists on the far right may have something in common. Researchers have developed a model consisting of social and psychological factors that explain how violent extremism arises.

Conflict and coordination in the cost-of-living crisis

Christian Lyhne Ibsen et al. has written the introduction to a special issue on how European states and social partners have handled the inflation crisis in 2021-2023.