In a statement, HRK President Walter Rosenthal welcomed today's news that the European Commission and the British government have reached an agreement on the UK's association to Horizon Europe. “The decision is very good news”, Rosenthal said, “for British research institutions and universities, as well as for international academic relations as a whole.”
The DEAL Consortium, representing the German research institutions, and Elsevier, a global leader in scientific information and data analytics, are delighted to announce a transformative open access agreement for Germany. The landmark five-year agreement, signed on 1 September by Elsevier and the DEAL operating entity, MPDL Services gGmbH (MPDLS), is set to run until the end of 2028 and is designed to make a large part of German research openly accessible worldwide.
The HRK and the German National Association for Student Affairs (DSW) are jointly appealing to the federal government to promptly tackle the structural reform of the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) announced in the coalition agreement and to provide the necessary funds in line with demand. Otherwise, the two organisations believe, this central instrument for greater educational equality will soon loose its purpose completely, because fewer and fewer students benefit from funding.
At the fifth Global University Leaders Council (GUC) Hamburg, university leaders from around the world adopt recommendations in relation to competition and collaboration in the Hamburg Declaration. Both principles fundamentally shape the relationships between universities as well as the research and teaching mission.
HRK President Prof Dr Walter Rosenthal has commented on the draft bill for a reform of the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act (WissZeitVG) presented by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF): "The draft bill for the amendment of the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act (WissZeitVG) is finally available. The text, which has been long awaited after an intensive and transparent consultation process, will help to further objectivise the discussion on the appropriate design of the necessary special fixed-term contract law in academia and on accompanying sensible measures, which, however, are not the subject of the Act."
With funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the HRK is supporting universities nationwide in the further development of holistic diversity concepts within the framework of the initiative "Diversity at German Universities". After an independent review process, a total of 33 universities were selected to receive funding of €25,000 or €50,000 in the coming winter semester to implement institutional diversity projects. The projects include innovative event formats, new approaches to monitoring and creative information campaigns.
