Experienced leader to head Department of Sociology

The Department of Sociology at the University of Copenhagen has a new head. It will be Bjarke Oxlund, who will take up the position on 1 February 2025. He will be in charge of 500 students and 70 employees.

Bjarke Oxlund is 49 years old and comes from a position as Dean at Roskilde University. He has previously been Head of Equal Treatment at the Danish Institute for Human Rights and Head of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen.

‘Bjarke has broad experience in top management and extensive knowledge of the social sciences' contribution to society, which will benefit both the Department of Sociology and the rest of the Faculty of Social Sciences. He not only has a strong public profile, but also a great dedication to the internal processes, so I'm really looking forward to the collaboration,’ says Dean of Social Sciences Vibeke Jenny Koushede.

In his own research, Bjarke Oxlund has worked with gender, education, inequality, health and ageing. For a number of years, he was Deputy Director of the interdisciplinary Centre for Healthy Ageing at the University of Copenhagen, while he has worked extensively with the political system in Denmark and Europe as Head of Equal Treatment. Bjarke also has many years of experience as board leader for the civil society organisation Sex & Samfund and has just joined the board of the EGV Foundation (Social inclusion of Older Adults).

‘I look forward to working on the further development of the Department of Sociology towards the highest international level. The department is already very strong, and I have every intention of continuing the upward curve together with the department's researchers for the benefit of both staff and students,’ says Bjarke Oxlund.

‘For a number of years, I have been an employer of talented sociologists, so I bring a clear awareness of the great impact of sociological knowledge with me into the job. In my view, the development of the welfare society is entirely dependent on sociological insights.’

Bjarke Oxlund replaces Professor Benedikte Brincker, who continues as a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Sociology.