Statement by Prof. Dr. Walter Rosenthal, President of the German Rectors‘ Conference, on the personal threat to Israeli and Jewish academics via an anonymous, now-closed website that offered financial rewards for intimidation and harassment attempts, including death threats, related to the Middle East conflict:

"This inhumane action is breaking taboos and shocks me deeply. Right now, we need a constructive, academic discourse and a rule-based culture of debate instead of boycotts, intimidation, open threats and hatred. Academic freedom and the personal integrity of scholars must be protected at all costs, even in situations of political conflict. That a bounty has been placed on the heads of individual academics, explicitly because they are leading Israeli and Jewish researchers, is intolerable, unprecedented and cannot be justified by any means. My solidarity is with the colleagues affected and their families."

The General Assembly of the HRK approved the admission of the Saxony Cooperative State University and the Medical University of Lausitz – Carl Thiem. Membership of the HRK is open to higher education institutions operating in Germany that are public or state-accredited universities in accordance with state higher education legislation. Furthermore, they have to be similar to the higher education institutions in the HRK member group to which they are assigned upon admission in terms of organisational structure, management structure and quality assurance.

The General Assembly of the HRK elected or re-elected seven Vice-Presidents for one-year terms on the recommendation of the HRK President, Professor Dr Walter Rosenthal. Professor Dr Ingeborg Schramm-Wölk, President of Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSBI), was newly elected. From 1 December 2025, the biologist and medical informatics specialist will focus on the topics of transfer and sustainability as HRK Vice-President. She succeeds Professor Dr Dorit Schumann, President of Trier University of Applied Sciences, who did not stand for re-election after a total of five years on the HRK Executive Board.

The Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, the world’s biggest multi-sport event of the summer, kicks off on Wednesday in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region and in Berlin. From 16 to 27 July 2025, almost 8500 student athletes, coaches and officials from around 150 nations will come together at 23 different locations to compete for medals in a total of 18 disciplines. In addition to top sporting performances at the highest international level, it is also about an unforgettable community experience.

After five successful years, the “MODUS – Enhancing student mobility across educational boundaries through recognition” project of the HRK will end on 30 June 2025. It supported German universities in strengthening and structurally developing their recognition practices for educational achievements and competences. The recognition of credits earned at other universities or in another degree programme, as well as the recognition of competences acquired outside of higher education for university studies, aims to promote the national and international mobility of students, lifelong learning and flexible learning paths, and to make the education system more permeable in general.

The President of the German Conference of Science Ministers, Minister Martin, and HRK President Professor Rosenthal congratulate the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on its 100th anniversary in difficult times and also signal solidarity with Israeli partners in academia.