Calls for a suspension of the EU Association Agreement with Israel or even a boycott to the detriment of Israeli science and international university cooperation with Israel, as can currently be heard in some quarters of European academia, were once again clearly rejected by the President of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), Prof Dr Walter Rosenthal, in Berlin today: ”Israeli universities and the academic community in Israel as a whole have always been a strong liberal, democratic force and a central element of academic and ethical reflection and balance, especially in the Middle East conflict – within Israeli society, in cooperation with Palestinian partners and in the international context. Especially now, they make an important contribution to maintaining links and exchanges between people, institutions and societies affected by conflict and war.”

Professor Walter Rosenthal, President of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), is concerned about the political pressure that research and public and private universities in the United States have recently been exposed to: “The freedom of research and teaching and the autonomy of universities are essential guarantors of the performance and quality of universities and the research system. They are precious, indispensable – and at the same time, fragile. I am therefore deeply concerned about the growing political pressure on research and on public and private universities in the USA. President Alan Garber of Harvard University has made it clear: No government should seek to dictate what is taught or researched at universities. Ideological restrictions on who is admitted to study or who is employed at a university are equally unacceptable.”

The three rectors’ conferences from Germany (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz; HRK), France (France Universités), and Poland (Konferencja Rektorów Akademickich Szkół Polskich; KRASP), representing the university sector in their respective countries, urge adequate and future-proof EU research funding that is placed on an open and excellent footing. While they back current considerations within the European Commission to promote EU’s competitiveness by strengthening research and innovation, the conferences call for a 10th edition of the tried and tested funding programme for research and innovation.

On the occasion of the agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD on establishing a special federal fund for infrastructure investments and the associated deliberations in the current Bundestag, the President of the German Rectors’ Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz; HRK), Prof Dr Walter Rosenthal, said:"I strongly welcome the agreement to set up a special fund for urgently needed infrastructure investments. When it comes to the concrete implementation of the project, it will be important to strengthen academic and research infrastructures in the long term as well as to develop the full innovation potential of our universities."

The HRK, the German National Association for Student Affairs (Deutsches Studierendenwerk – DSW) and the Free Association of Student Organisations (freier zusammenschluss von student:innenschaften – fzs) welcome the package of demands made by the science ministers of the federal states to the future federal government. The organisations believe that increased cooperation between the federal and state governments and a greater financial commitment from the federal government in the new legislative period are vital for the promotion of science, universities and the social infrastructures of higher education.

Universities in Germany are increasingly becoming the target of cyberattacks. As large, intensively networked institutions with complex IT infrastructures and a high number of students and employees in research, teaching, technology and administration, they are particularly at risk. In view of the dangers, there is now an urgent need for action. The Executive Board of the HRK is therefore calling on the future federal government to make a determined effort to strengthen the cybersecurity of universities as a critical infrastructure with the appropriate funding. The HRK has compiled the measures to be taken in the recommendations of its Standing Committee on Digitalisation.