What will change and what will remain the same after almost four semesters of online-based distance learning at German universities? More than 200 students, teachers and employees of higher education support institutions came together at the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex – a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Essen – for HFDcon 2022, the fourth network day of Hochschulforum Digitalisierung (HFD, the German Forum for Higher Education in the Digital Age), to discuss good higher education teaching post-COVID-19.

This year, several German universities will make their premises and infrastructure available to refugees from Ukraine who are interested in studying in order to conduct standardised examinations for admission and continued studies at Ukrainian universities. The online examinations will take place between 22 July and 3 October 2022 in uniformly defined periods at six locations in Germany.

The budget proposals debated today in the German Bundestag (federal parliament) clearly show that the governing coalition parties are willing to strengthen universities and academia despite the additional burdens and uncertainties resulting from Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine. In this context, HRK-President Peter-André Alt commented: "The federal government's programme for this legislative period focuses on innovation, the transition to sustainability and strengthening resilience in all areas of society."

HRK-President Peter-André Alt has commented on the results published today of the evaluation of the effects of the 2015/2016 amendment to the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz, WissZeitVG): "The results of the evaluation of the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act required by the legislative and commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) are on the table – a thorough assessment must now be carried out by the ministry in close consultation with the stakeholders concerned."

At its meeting in Leipzig yesterday, the General Assembly of the HRK approved the admission of Gera-Eisenach University of Cooperative Education (DHGE) to the HRK. This means that the HRK currently has 269 members. DHGE, which emerged in 2016 from the Thuringia State Study Academy and its vocational academies in Gera and Eisenach, specialises in dual practice-integrated degree programmes in the fields of business, technology and social work.

Before the second reading of the 2022 federal budget, the General Assembly of the HRK expressed concern that the annual increase in funding for the "Zukunftsvertrag Studium und Lehre stärken" (Future Contract for Strengthening Studies and Teaching) agreed in the coalition agreement between the SPD, Bündnis90/Die Grünen and FDP might not be implemented. There is even a fear of cuts to the Innovation in Higher Education Teaching programme, which is already unable to fully meet the high demand from universities.