Today, the federal and state governments have agreed on a comprehensive programme to accelerate the modernisation and renovation of universities and academic institutions in the short term. This means that the federal states will have up to €1 billion per year from 2026 to 2029 for the construction, renovation and modernisation of research infrastructure and daycare centres.
HRK President Prof Dr Walter Rosenthal explained today in Berlin:“The universities expressly welcome the fact that the federal and state governments have agreed on a legal framework in a short space of time so that the federal government can provide urgently needed funds for investment in university construction, including for the renovation of existing buildings. We must finally clear the backlog of renovation work at universities. The universally recognised need for investment is in the hundreds of billions. This need cannot be met within four years with the funds that have now been made available. It is therefore clear that the agreement that has now been reached can only be the start of a long-term cooperation between the federal and state governments in university construction.”
According to Rosenthal, the funds from the federal-state agreement reached today, the special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality and their own budgets will provide the federal states with a unique opportunity to rapidly implement the renovation and modernisation of research infrastructures together with the scientific community. “The agreement can significantly accelerate ongoing or planned renovation projects at universities and, above all, enable additional measures,” explained Rosenthal. “However, this will only succeed if the federal states honour the funding commitments they have made to date, simplify planning and approval procedures and expand the universities' room for manoeuvre.”
To ensure the success of the agreement, he added, it is now important to quickly start additional construction, renovation and modernisation measures together with the universities. In addition, the federal states should set up a strategic planning process to address in the long term the continuing backlog of refurbishments, which will at best be slowed down by the current agreement.
