Expanding excellence: 13 Danish Research Environments are Paving the Path for Diversity in STEM
A call to action: From leaky pipeline to broader excellence
Danish STEM research environments are globally recognized and highly cited, yet a persistent gender imbalance—visible across career levels through the “leaky pipeline”—signals untapped potential.
Unlocking this potential requires expanding the room and perception of excellence, and adapting solutions to the specific context of academia, where creativity, curiosity, and originality thrive.
13 Living Labs, 2.5 years, one shared ambition
Over the past 2.5 years, 13 university departments, faculties, and research groups have acted as Living Labs, co-creating and testing tailored interventions to improve diversity and inclusion in STEM research.
Supported by the Villum Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation, each Living Lab designed its own change pathway in close collaboration with IS IT A BIRD, who also facilitated learning, monitoring, and cross-institutional dialogue during the project.
What the new report delivers
General insights and learnings from 13 research environments working to make diversity a driver of better research and education and localized practices that fit academic culture rather than one-size-fits-all templates
The report presents three key insights, that are unfolded and followed by concrete and hands-on guidance on how to get started. The three key insights are:
- Anchoring the aspiration: Working towards diversity is working with complex systemic change in a highly fragmented and individualised environment. It requires solid anchoring of the ambition across all levels.
- Professionalising the organization: Replacing informal power with transparency and formal structures allows for a more diverse team. It requires new tools and practises, but once the new structure is in place, it can more easily be implemented across departments and universities.
- Taking action to initiate change: Action truly speaks louder than words and doing something is better than doing the right thing. Prioritizing any efforts to change a biased environment communicates importance, inspires others to get started and sets new standards.
Why this matters now
Denmark’s strong STEM profile risks stagnation if significant parts of the talent pool remain underrepresented.
Broadening participation strengthens research quality, innovation capacity, and Denmark’s long-term position as a world-leading STEM nation.
The report shows how manifold, context-sensitive approaches can accelerate inclusion without compromising excellence—indeed, by expanding it.
“The 13 research environments have taken on a challenging task, working tirelessly and creatively on their pioneering efforts to promote diversity to the benefit of all. These university environments are leading the way in creating more diverse research settings in STEM. We believe this will maintain and even increase the position Denmark keeps as a vigorous science nation,” the partners state.
The 13 living labs are:
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK (DTU)
DTU Bioengineering
DTU Physics - Quantum physics and Information Technology
DTU Compute
AALBORG UNIVERSITY (AAU)
The Department of Computer Science
UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN (KU)
Globe Institute
Department of Biology
Department of Computer Science
Department of Chemistry
Department of Matematical Sciences
AARHUS UNIVERSITY (AU)
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Department of Physics and Astronomy
Department of Agroecology and Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK (SDU)
Department of Green Technology
PIONEER CENTRE (AAU, AU, DTU, KU, SDU)
CAPeX
Report: Paving the path for diverse STEM research environments through Living Labs
The project was supported by Novo Nordisk Foundation and Villum Foundation and facilitated by IS IT A BIRD.
