The University of Copenhagen is reorganising. Every department has been assigned a place in the proposed new structure – except one. For the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports (NEXS), the future is uncertain. Senior management has explicitly raised the possibility of its dissolution.
This raises fundamental questions about the future of sport and nutrition research and education in Denmark. It also runs counter to powerful and growing recognition of the importance of sport, exercise and nutrition.
NEXS is not an underperforming department, ranking first globally in sport science in the ShanghaiRanking in 2018 and 2020, and fifth in 2025.
Across Europe, investment in sport continues to grow. Applications to the EU’s Erasmus+ Sport funding programme rose by 33% in 2026. Sport supports employment, education, community development, social inclusion and public health. According to Eurostat, sport-related activity directly contributed 1.78% of Denmark’s gross value added, rising to 2.55% including indirect effects. It supported more than 74,000 direct jobs in Denmark (2019 estimates).
The need for expertise in nutrition and physical activity is equally clear. Around 19% of Danish adults live with obesity. Preventative healthcare, exercise and nutrition are central to tackling chronic disease and building sustainable health systems. These fields also contribute to several UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Yet no academic or economic case for dissolving NEXS has been presented to our academic community.
As a member of staff, I have seen no meaningful consultation and no strategy explaining how its research, teaching and wider responsibilities would be protected.
I am not opposed to reorganisation. Closer collaboration with health sciences could strengthen our work. But strengthening collaboration is not the same as dismantling the academic environments that make it possible.
The consequences could extend well beyond the university – to the sports and nutrition organisations, municipalities, schools, healthcare services and industries that depend on specialist graduates and research. Academic environments built over decades cannot simply be recreated.
If university management has a compelling case for dissolving NEXS, it should present it. Explain the evidence, set out the strategy and consult those affected.
Adam B. Evans
Associate Professor, Sociology of Sport Development
- An open letter from all staff at NEXS to University of Copenhagen (in Danish)
- A critical assessment of the re-organisation threatening the existence of NEXS in Idrætsmonitor (in Danish)
- A short letter addressed to the Rector and Deans of the University of Copenhagen, outlining the principal concerns about the decision. If you share these concerns and feel able to lend your support, and should you wish to sign the letter, please send an email confirming your support, together with your name, academic title and institutional affiliation to Adam B. Evans, abe@nexs.ku.dk.
- A campaign aiming at collecting as many signatories os possible to protest the dismantling of NEXS (in Danish, although easily understandable, albeit a bit tricky. In the right-hand column “Skriv under” means Sign here, “Fulde navn” means Full name, E-mail, yes, “Postnummer” means Postal code, just put in any four digits (e.g., 1234) if you live outside Denmark. There is an option to keep Full name hidden. You have to accept terms and conditions. And finally, confirm that you are a human being, and click on the red button to add your signature. You will be informed that you have to confirm you signature in an e-mail delivered to the address given. Click the blue button and follow instructions. Phew!)
