New research centre will strengthen knowledge of legal issues pertaining to one of today's major societal challenges: Security

Danish security authorities operate in a reality where the situation is constantly changing and where simmering conflicts are continuously unfolding in a grey area between war and peace. This imposes demands on emergency management – also legally.

Drawing on perspectives from constitutional law, human rights law, international law, EU law and administrative law, CERES will provide comprehensive research, research-based public sector services and communication on highly relevant issues of great societal importance.

- The new centre provides an opportunity to pursue a common research agenda across those areas of public law that are particularly affected by the current security agenda. We are bringing together a range of research capabilities under one roof to create a solid platform for delivering focused legal research on one of the currently most important topics, says Astrid Kjeldgaard-Pedersen.

CERES's research will be aimed primarily at Danish authorities such as ministries (in particular the Danish Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Resilience and Preparedness), the armed forces, the police, the Danish Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) and the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET).

- CERES strengthens the faculty's research in law and security, which is an important issue for Denmark and the international legal community. I expect that the research centre will create good synergies with related research in other research centres and strengthen the University of Copenhagen's position in the field of law and security, says Jacob Graff Nielsen, Dean of the Faculty of Law.

Focus on a wide range of topics

The new centre will examine how authorities handle war, crises and security threats, including legal principles, the use of force, emergency powers and crisis legislation. Focus areas will include the role of the police and the armed forces, intelligence services, national security, health crises, climate disasters and cyber threats.

The research at CERES will primarily be based in jurisprudence, but may be supplemented by comparative and social science methods in collaboration with other research environments.

The centre's official opening day is 1 January 2026.

Save the date for the opening event on Friday, 23 January 2026, from 3:30 p.m.